Shots of a Brown Stink Bug

[Pizzazz]

Howdy Gang

This guy is amazing. The abdomen is curved to accept the wings. Looks
like a tiny spoon to allow the wings to be protected when not flying around
the neighborhood.


Mike

[MarkSturtevant]

The abdomen is probably dried out a bit. But the colors on it, and on the hind wings are pretty striking, and unexpected for an otherwise camouflaged insect.

[Pizzazz]

Mark

For this specimen, I decided to let it pass naturally in a small jar.
I spent a lot of time trying to get the specimen posed and then had to wait
several days for him to dry out allowing the wings and legs to harden.

The photos do not show the dimension of the abdomen, but it is really
cool how it serves to "store" the wings. Kind of like how our aircraft house
their landing gear.

I am impressed at how the bland color appears when the wings are in and
then you see the color when they are out.

Mike

[rjlittlefield]

wait several days for him to dry out allowing the wings and legs to harden

Just to be clear, I think Mark's point was that when the critter dried out, the abdomen probably shrank and collapsed in on itself. When live, I expect that the upper surface of the abdomen was pretty much flat. I don't have any live ones to check, though.

--Rik

[Pizzazz]

Rik/Mark


I monitored this specimen every day after I had caught it, and when it
passed, I started working with it. I do not know how long it takes for the
body to react, but I began working on the wings because I know that they
tend to become brittle at the joints quite soon after death, at least that is
what I have experienced.

Anyway, the "recess" where the wings are "at rest" immediately caught
my eye. However, it is quite possible that I did not get to the specimen as
soon as I should.

For now, I will claim I had a "senior moment" and retract my observation
of thinking the anatomy was fully intact.

Thanks to you both

Mike