Dragonfly on my verandah

Writing a blog after a long time. Now this blog is about dragonflies that often visit the garden of our co-operative society. I had a chance to click some pics with my Gionee P5W smartphone when it sat on my verandah and I think the snaps have a lot of clarity. Though dragonflies have a number of similarities with damselflies, which belong to the suborder Zygoptera, damselflies are lighter in weight. Damselflies also fold their wings when taking rest but dragonflies keep their wings straight and distant from their body. Dragonflies have a lot of agility as fliers which damselflies don't have.

About dragonflies

Dragonflies are quite special type of insects. It belongs to the order Odonata and infraorder Anisoptera. Their hindwing is wider than their forewing and they have big multifaceted eyes. They have two pairs of wings that are both transparent and powerful. They have a long body structure with occasional color spots on their body. Some of them even feature very bright colors, which give them a blazing appearance as they fly. There are around 24,000 ommatidia in the compound eye of an adult. They are predator insects, both as nymphs and adults. They mostly inhabit wetlands and have a number of uses in drug manufacturing. Dragonflies are also depicted as cultural symbols with different implications in many countries throughout the world. Next blog coming up soon! See you till then.

Photo album link: The photo album link is given below: <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fsusmitbphotography%2Fposts%2F1471084896257197&width=500" width="500" height="626" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true"></iframe>

Shield bug in my room (30/06/2015)

Yesterday evening, when I was browsing Facebook and other sites on my personal computer, I noticed an uncommon type of bug on the floor of my room. When I observed it closely, I found that it was a shield bug. The size is not bigger than a conventional 50 paise coin (quite rare nowadays) but it is quite different from the ants and insects that we see on a daily basis. It spurred my curiosity.

About shield bug

The shield bug belongs to the Pentatomoidea superfamily of insects of which the stink bugs and chust bugs are also a part. The shield bug is a part of Acanthosomatidae family (order - Hemiptera) and there are 54 genera in this family, comprising approximately 200 species. The Acanthosomatidae family is one of the least varied families of the Pentatomoidea superfamily. All bugs of this superfamily are characterized by their sucking mouthparts.

The scutellum or the toughened elongation of the thorax above the abdomen is quite well developed in these bugs. The shape varies from semi-elliptical to triangular and there are normally five sections of the antennae. There are two or sometimes three parts of the tarsi.

There is a gland in the thorax of the shield bug within the 1st and 2nd pair of legs which they use to emit a stinking liquid. They use this liquid as a means for protection from probable predators and also when they are treated incautiously.

The nymphs, like the adult bugs other than tinier and minus wings, have stink glands as well.

Some of these bugs feed on other insects and most of them (both adults and nymphs) make use of their sharp mouthparts for absorbing sap from plants. When these bugs create big groups, they can turn into substantial pests. The photo album link is given below.

Photo album link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1001731619859196.1073741886.672990912733270&type=3