Harlequin Bugs
Harlequin Bugs, Murgantia histrionica
San Joaquin Wildlife refuge, Irvine, CA, 2007-02-18
Despite the warm weather, there aren’t a lot of macroscopic insects out here in southern California just yet. These are the first really interesting ones we’ve found.
March 4th, 2008 at 4:53 PM
They’re a lot less interesting in your garden. A number of years ago we grew some Brussel Sprouts, which take a long time to grow and are better after the first frost. So we let them grow, and grow, waiting for that first frost in October/November. But about the same time along came the Harlequin Bugs and totally decimated them. 4-6 months of growing down the drain.
I’ve seen them eat the incredibly coarse leaves of Horseradish. To my mind they’re not just a step above Japanese Beetles and Potato Beetles for thugs that you’d best keep out of your garden.