Saturday, May 15, 2010

Burrowing Bug Sehirus cinctus

Behold the true bug ( or bugs as there's a whole family of them ) that has very spiny legs making it look more like a cockroach or a beetle with those things ( the body structure helps too ).

But they're not and alot of people mistake them for beetles. Hell people mistake all Pentatomidae for beetles because the poor things ( people ) are too stupid to go and get an education. Well that's what I'm here for! To give you an education!

But me telling you how to tell a Pentatomid from an actual beetle will be for another post hopefully in the near future but since life's being a bitch again atm I might forget so I'll make a reminder. But for now we focus on the adorable little guy in the photo who I must say I want in a jam jar of sorts in this house for the day.

But I highly doubt that'll happen unless I went searching. Now there's quite an obvious reason why these ( and all it's other little friends ) are called burrowing bugs.

Yup that's right. They're commonly found in the soil......

.......making tunnels and things.

But this one is the rule breaker here. This one is the "exception" to the rule that "All burrowing bugs live in the soil making tunnels for various reasons" And with that we get to the info:

Hooray! *Cue "Nature documentary music"*

A small (4-7mm), shining blue-black insect is abundant in gardens and turf right now (May, 1998). It is Sehirus cinctus, a member of the burrowing bug family. Unlike most burrowing bugs (some of which can be agricultural pests in crops grown in sandy soils), however, Sehirus cinctus lives its life above ground, feeding on the developing seeds of mints and nettles. It is frequently seen feeding on henbit, a small mint plant and common weed in some lawns.

Despite its sometime alarming numbers, this tiny bug is not harmful and will not affect the growth or development of flowers.

Haha! You see! Rule breakers around ever corner! For every rule there is a rule breaker ( in this case Sehirus cinctus ), for ever rule there is an exception and for every exception there's an "exception breaker" which is why you should never assume that every rule in the insect world cannot be broken.

Because you'll just be proven wrong over and over and over again. I know as I speak from experience. But this is one of the reasons that I love the whole entomology thing because of this "rule breaking" thing it makes insects and their kin even more fascinating.

At least to me. Well I think I've done enough rambling for today. I think I needed to "vent" on something and this was it. Congratulations to me! :P

Until next time. Sorry for boring you this time but I tend to ramble sometimes.

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