Winter Visitor

 This is the blog for SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 2018. I forgot I had taken a picture of a bug today, and so I am writing this late.

We humans provide ourselves with shelter against the elements, which have been rather disagreeable lately, and sometimes lucky insects manage to find a way inside to take advantage of the coziness. I am sure today's Backyard Bug of the Day came into the house months ago, when it was warmer outside and bugs of its kind were active. Or maybe it came in with the Christmas tree a couple of weeks ago. What I am pretty certain about today is that even though I found this bug near the front door, it did not come in today; it would not have been active in the weather we have been having lately. But today it crawled out of whatever hiding place it was in, and happened to wander across my path.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I do feel a little sorry for insects that decide to try to overwinter in the house, because for most of them, there is nothing to eat. This is a Hemiptera, and it looks kind of like a western conifer seedbug, which I guess means it could have been feeding on the Christmas tree all this time. But the Christmas tree is going out tomorrow, and then there won't be anything for it to eat, unless it plans to dine on my spider plant, which I don't think will appeal to it. On the other hand, it might be some other species of Hemiptera, and some of those are insectivorious. Now, I am sure this is not the only insect hiding out in my house for the winter, but chances are there isn't such a great, easy-to-find pool of prey for it, if that is what it eats.

Still, I let it wander off. It's not hurting me, or anything in the house, so I didn't feel the need to send it outside into the cold. Maybe I have just sentenced it to a protracted death. Maybe if I had tossed it out it would have gone dormant from the cold, and revived in the spring. And maybe it will just find its own way back outside. But for now, at least it's cozy in here.