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Western Conifer Seed Bug?
Hi,
Found this neat bug on my doorway on night of 11/6/06. Next morning it was on an electrical cord in my kitchen (about 2′ away). It moves very slowly like a chameleon and it didn’t seem bothered by my close inspections or having its picture taken (about 10 times) until I started using the flash mode. Then it slowly moved away. Offered it the Monterey Cypress bark with a pine nut after going to your site & the "more about" link. That’s what it’s on in the photo, in my kitchen in Aptos, CA. It didn’t seem interested in the pine nut though. Assuming this is a Western Conifer Seed Bug, I’m puzzled about 2 things I read on the link… 1. The weather has been unusually warm (70F/day, 55F/night). Isn’t it a bit premature for it to look for an overwinter place? Maybe it knows what’s ahead weather-wise. 2. Don’t understand why anyone would be annoyed by this wonderful bug. I think it would make a good pet. You said you had only 2 photos — here’s #3.Download this as a file Thanks for your great site! First time I visited it (quite awhile ago) I was amazed to find the monster I saw in our swimming pool in Lake Forest, IL, circa 1963. I was a little kid and I ran into our house, screaming for my mom & dad and locking all the doors and windows. Told them not to go outside — "there’s a monster out there!" Never saw it again (fortunately) til my visit to your web site. Had a good laugh when I found out the monster’s gigantic "stinger" was in reality an ovipositor. The monster was a Pigeon Horntail.
Sharon

Hi Sharon,
We actually believe this is a closely related species to the Western Conifer Seed Bug, Leptoglossus occidentalis. We think it is the Western Leaf-Footed Bug, Leptoglossus clypealus. According to BugGuide: ” A spine extending forwards from the tip of the nose (technically known as the clypeus) distinguishes this species” and though your photo is a bit blurry, it appears to have this clypeus. Thank you for your nice letter.

Hi, Thanks for your reply and what a treat to find my letter & photo on your site! Told a bunch of my friends to go see it — they thought your site was great too. Read your info about Western Leaf-footed Bugs; your site is the only one in my internet history that has had the answers to all my questions. So hats off to you folks; keep up the good work!
Update: At my husband’s request I moved the bug from our kitchen to the garage. When I found out its food was juniper, I went to put it on the juniper in our front yard. I found the poor creature in a spider web (black widow, I think). Fortunately the spider hadn’t gotten to it yet. Hope the bug is happy in the juniper and will stay out of trouble there. By the way, temperature dropped to 41F last night and a storm is coming in tomorrow, so my WLF Bug is indeed a good weather forecaster.
Sharon

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