Here are some more observations I made along the nature trail at Feather River College last Friday. See part 1 for the intro. I'm seeing lots of Assassin Bugs these days, especially on Tansy, a non-native plant common on roadsides but also often chosen for landscaping. The blooms, which look like the center disk flowers of a daisy without the white ray flowers (petals). This plant has a pleasant fragrance, but I'm not sure if it's smell or taste that attracts so many insects and spiders.
So far, I haven't been bitten by one of these, and I'm not sure what they assassinate.
Grasshoppers, like most bugs at this time of year, are eating and mating - a last fling, one might say - before frosty weather moves in.
There are many "plant bugs" - that's actually what they are called - in the Family Pentatomidae. Their backs come in many colorful patterns, and, while they can fly they seem reluctant to do so, making it easier for photographers to get a good look.
The Red Breasted Sapsucker visits this tree in the FRC parking lot every day.
Lots of skippers buzzing around, and the one time I saw one being consumed by an Ambush Bug, I didn;t have my camera.
I wonder if this is a scary visage to all the bugs and spiders I photograph. Maybe even the flowers.
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