Bugshot

Wheel Bugs, Arilus cristatus
mating pair

I walk my trails often, looking for life.
Seeking that bug peering out from beneath a leaf or the spider hidden deep within her narrow tube of a funnel web.
Creeping along on my knees or chasing a setting sun before it slips over the edge of the world.
Sometimes the end result betrays its arduous capture.

And, then I stumble upon a pair of bugs.
So plainly displayed on the peeling white door of our little red shed—
as if holding a sign, “Please take our picture.”
These Wheel Bugs, in the morning sun of an autumn day, assure me there will be many to capture next year, as well.

Wheel bugs, Arilus cristatus, are one of the largest "true bugs" of North America, having sucking mouth parts and able to deliver a painful bite.
A great fixture for your garden; a great predator of other insect pests.

And the one bug I seem to run into everywhere!

For more Camera Critters, look here!