Harlequin Cabbage Bug, or Calico Bug or Fire Bug
We shared these a few weeks ago and I just now had time to look it up in my field guide.
Habitat: Crop fields, orchards, gardens, and meadows
Food: Juice of cruciferous plants, including commercial cabbage, kale, and broccoli crops; also turnip, horseradish, potato, beet, bean, grape, squash, sunflower, ragweed, and citrus foliage.
The field guide says that this insect causes white and yellow blotches on the foliage of infested plants…..
These bugs are right on my sunflowers and the sunflowers are right next to my squash plants.
It is always nice to put a name with an insect.
“Some insects go through all the stages of their development on land; these are the insects of fields and woods. This group includes some of the most interesting and beautiful of insects. They are especially well adapted for nature-study because specimens are constantly available.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 301
Here is my very first sunflower of the summer.
If you are interested in focusing on insects this summer, you can go back and work through Outdoor Hour Challenges 22-28. These challenges cover butterflies, moths, crickets, houseflies, ladybugs and aphids, honeybees, and dragonflies. These can be found on the Insects tab.