A Mimic
Leaf-footed bugs (in several different species) have an interesting way of protecting themselves from predators such as birds: they mimic wasps; when simply resting, it is quite a stretch to imagine this resemblance but when the insects fly, and they often take flight when frightened, they make a buzzing sound that will make you duck, also have a reddish color on their back (hidden when their wings are closed), and finally, have large flanges that cause their hind legs to droop as they fly, giving the general image they present in flight as admirably wasp-like, which in case that doesn't work well enough and the bug is caught in spite of its disguise, it does have one more defense, squirting stinky liquid out of small orifices on each side of its body, the scent glands on their thorax
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Album – Charlotte, NC – 2018AUG03 – Eastern Leaf-footed Bug:
I saw this bug – sorry, a window screen is not so good for photos – so here's 50% of 8 eastern leaf-footed bug photos I took today!
A Mimic
Leaf-footed bugs (in several different species) have an interesting way of protecting themselves from predators such as birds: they mimic wasps; when simply resting, it is quite a stretch to imagine this resemblance but when the insects fly, and they often take flight when frightened, they make a buzzing sound that will make you duck, also have a reddish color on their back (hidden when their wings are closed), and finally, have large flanges that cause their hind legs to droop as they fly, giving the general image they present in flight as admirably wasp-like, which in case that doesn't work well enough and the bug is caught in spite of its disguise, it does have one more defense, squirting stinky liquid out of small orifices on each side of its body, the scent glands on their thorax
__________________________________________________
Album – Charlotte, NC – 2018AUG03 – Eastern Leaf-footed Bug:
I saw this bug – sorry, a window screen is not so good for photos – so here's 50% of 8 eastern leaf-footed bug photos I took today!