Here's another view of 'plant bugs' that appeared in my last post. This time they're mating on Sierra Currant. I want to explain the name. Plant Bug is a name that may be casually applied to any number of unrelated bugs that are often seen on plants. However, it's also a more specific name applied to pentagon-shaped bugs in the Family Pentatomidae, which is the case with the ones I've pictured here and will show up again in Part 3 of this series.
The Small Milkweed Bug sown here is not just a small bug that appears on Milkweed. In this case it is specifically
Lygaeus kalmii, and is nearly always found on Showy Milkweed,
Asclepias speciosa, although I have occasionally seen them on Narrow-leaf Milkweed,
Asclepias fascicularis.
Note the butt-to-butt mating position all these bugs assume. That raises the question o communication. We humans tend to rely a lot on the visual sense for our communication, but with insects there can be smells that we can't smell, sounds that we can't hear, and perhaps senses that we haven't discovered. The next set of photos will be of insects mating in positions more familiar to humans, for what that's worth. It's all interesting. And to some extent inspired by a cute little field guide I have called
Six-legged Sex.
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