Subject: holy cow, there’s a lot of ’em
Location: Chicago, IL
September 27, 2015 2:15 pm
I was weeding this afternoon, in a spot that I should have weeded months ago. The weeds were a low ground-cover, pervasive. As I moved along, each time I cleared an area, there’d be a bunch of these guys under the weeds, anywhere from as small as 1/8 inch up to about 1/2 inch. This was along the south wall of the house along the field-stone-and-mortar foundation that rises about 4 feet above the soil bed (we’re told the house was built around 1900 in the city of Chicago).
You were kind enough to post my last submission: 2006/03/03/newly-emerged-polyphemus-moth/
I waited 9.5 years to ask again, I didn’t want to seem greedy 😉
Signature: Todd
Dear Todd,
We hope you don’t wait another 9.5 years to write back to us. Your image clearly depicts both winged adult and immature Long-Necked Seed Bugs, Myodocha serripes, a species that according to BugGuide: “Two generations per year; overwinters as adult in leaf litter or under bark of trees in woodlands.” BugGuide also indicates it feeds on “Seeds of strawberry and St. John’s wort. Sometimes a pest of strawberries.”