My husband found this Leaf-footed Bug crawling on his leg after we had been outside. He noticed 3 tiny white dots on its head and I assumed they were eggs from another insect. After taking this photo we took the bug outside and removed one of the "eggs". I used a 60X hand-held microscope to look at one of them. What a surprise it was to see a small head and tiny legs! They were parasites, probably a type of mite. The humor of "debugging a bug" didn't escape Kenny since he is a computer programmer! :) Note the long probing proboscis (mouth). Leaf-footed bugs eat plant juices, it was probably trying to see if Kenny's finger was a source of food!
spp. Oak Ridge, TN June 11, 2008 We found this Shield Bug eating a caterpillar during a walk through the field at the 2008 AMSE Science Camp. I was thrilled to be able to photograph the harpoon-like piercing mouthpart (brown part) of the bug. It appears to be kept in a "sheath" when not in use. How cool is that!?
These interesting ambush bug eggs were on the basement window screen.
