Mystery Bug
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What is your guess?
 Can you identify these bugs? Every year in the fall they are thick on this one tree. I've never seen any birds eating them and they don't seem to try very hard to hide. They just gather in a crowd around the
bottom of this tree. If you get too close to them they do go into a frenzy running every which way. It's not an organized retreat, but looks more like the three stooges running into each other. The net effect is that
they spread out over a wider area, some go up the tree, some get on the ground and run around some more.
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| I believe that the picture above shows three stages or sizes of the same bug. The little pink dot on the center
left seems to be the baby. The larger pink ones have the beginnings of black areas on the wing area, and the big black ones have pink edges on their wings.
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It's almost like the black ones are baby sitting the pink ones. They seem to wonder around checking here and checking there, just looking around. The pink ones walk into them and over them and the black ones don't
seem to pay any attention to them. They do get on other trees, but not nearly as many. There will be some on the sweet gums, and a few on the hickories, but I don't remember seeing more than one or two on
the maples. The big black ones will get in the holly and hedge bushes around the front of the house. I don't recall ever seeing any of the pink ones there. These black ones will fly when disturbed, usually up
on the front of the house. They don't go far. Well, several people have emailed me to say that the bugs are box elder bugs. Is that what you thought they were? Or were you like me and didn't have any idea?
In any case they are interesting to watch and don't seem to bother anybody so I will keep watching them in the fall.
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I don't know what kind of tree it is that is their favorite. It's just a little scraggly thing that hasn't
grown hardly any in the 21 years that I have lived here. They always gather on the south face at the bottom. I figure that is because they are in the evening sun there. I try not to bother them too much, but this
is the front yard right out next to the street so I have to cut the grass here. The lawn mower really drives them crazy, but they calm back down almost as soon as you get past them. They never fly, only run, even
the big black ones that it seems obvious are flying insects.