Bugs Mating

Here are a couple true bugs I've shown you before, though in this picture they're mating. This seems to be the most common position for insects to mate, facing away from each other with the tips of their abdomens touching. At least this is what I've observed with true bugs, flies, and butterflies. (In contrast, beetles and mantises do more of a mounting, while dragonflies/damselflies do more of a mounting that includes contorting their long abdomens.)

These bugs may not be flagship species or keystone species, but they do fill a role in our ecosystem, and so it's important that they're out there reproducing.

The first is a pair of Small Milkweed Bugs.

July 31, 2021 at Duke Farms
Photo 149014375, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

And next are their cousins, a pair of False Milkweed Bugs.

July 31, 2021 at Duke Farms
Photo 149014241, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)




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