Dean M. Chriss
Photography
Bug Contemplating a Rose, Cleveland Metroparks, North Chagrin Reservation, Ohio

Bug Contemplating a Rose, Cleveland Metroparks, Ohio

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Although we tend to call any insect a "bug", to an entomologist a bug is one of about 35,000 species of the order Hemiptera. Hemiptera means "half wing" and refers to the fact that part of the first pair of wings is toughened and hard, while the rest of the first pair and the second pair are membranous. Hemipterans have modified piercing and sucking mouthparts. Some suck plant juices and others can bite animals and people. This particular bug may be Metrior hynchomiris, but it is nearly impossible to tell with certainty. The rose is a wild rose, most likely Rosa acicularis.