An insect for all seasons

By Aaron Horrell

My outdoor thermometer registered a nighttime low temperature of 8 degrees above zero for Jan. 29. Five days later the afternoon high temperature reached into the mid-60s and of course I headed into the woods with my camera.

Although I found several kinds of fungus doing well in the winter woods, I also found a little green bug crawling in the leaf litter. The insect is the southern green stink bug, also called the green shield bug.

This bug lives by sucking juice from the leaves of numerous kinds of trees, bushes, crops and garden plants. It seldom bites people even when handled. But it will leave you with very stinky fingers that will take lots of washing with soap to remove.

Wild turkeys and other birds love to eat green stink bugs.