Immature and shy

The other morning when I was taking photos of the bee blanketed with dew, I noticed an interesting little bug trying to hide from me.

Based on a few years of experience in identifying things that look like this in the garden, I had a good idea that this was a stink bug of some kind, and was not yet mature. For some reason the nymphs of stink bugs are much more attractive than the adults, and I took some time to get some good photos of this one.

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Using bugguide.net it wasn't too difficult to find the exact species -- I just went to the site and used the search function for "stink bug".

Lots of photos returned, and I just scrolled until I found one that matched.

I found out that I was right -- it's a green stink bug Chinavia hilaris. The adults of this species are pretty much entirely green -- boring!

If I got the camera too close to this one, it moved underneath the stem or leaf. I had to actually turn the plant over to get some shots from different angles.

Stink bugs feed on plants and can do some damage, especially to food crops. In my garden though they're not enough of a problem to be worried about.

Interestingly, this page about this species gives much more detailed information, and from it I learned that the nymphs go through five instars, molting like most insects (and caterpillars) do to grow. This one appears to be close to its 5th and final molt.

I just like it because it's interesting and beautiful, and a nice find for a cool, dewy morning.

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