A “new to us” Anglekeep spring surprise might actually have been a long-overlooked visitor. Angelkeep goes to great lengths not to ignore a newbie in its humble habitat, but such a mistake may have been shamefully neglected and years have passed without a proper introduction. Shame on Angelkeep. With a sincere apology that can be bestowed on an insect, Angelkeep presents Western Conifer Seed Bug, or WCSB for short.
The acronym – WCSB – makes this error appear as if it came from Wells County. Such as WCPL, Wells County Public Library. WCHS, Wells County Historical Society. WCGS, Wells County Genealogical Society. WC4-H. WCYMCA. WCHD, God bless your strained, healthy endeavors. You have the idea.
To be fair, WCSB was first mentioned as a shortened nickname on Wikipedia. Angelkeep came up with the name independently and later discovered the duplication of Wiki.
To be fair, WCSB may have been spotted before and written off as an unwanted stink bug. Angelkeep watched seven gorgeous butternut squash ripen one fall, only to find that overnight an army of stink bugs brought the food to a harvestable zero. That stinks. The SB, Stinkbug, Pandemic was an Asian import that was first recognized in PA in the fall of 1998. By 2010 it had become an eastern nuisance, a disaster for many food growers. Angelkeep gave up growing winter squash because of self-service. It is not profitable to fight them in a home garden bed.
When WCSB popped up on the back of Angelkeep’s patio rocking chair, it looked like a mutated stench. Greater. WCSB measured three-quarters of an inch without counting the longer legs and protruding antenna, which nearly doubled its length. It appeared as a stink bug that was stretched lengthways with steroids. It could fly and click audibly.
One salvation for WCSB to SB, Stinkbug, was the fact that it was visited alone and was not part of an army that was killing vegetables. It seemed friendly, if peculiar, so photos and even videos that were taken were for future research.
WCSB had a similar shield-like back (technically called elytra, hardened fore wings) with an interesting design in bright brown and black colors with brown and black stripes on the outside. The legs turned out to be a bit longer, but at the time it just appeared to be a brutal SB.
During the zoomed photo session, the peculiar legs showed something completely different than any old smelly normal SB. A joint in both rearmost legs of the WCSB had a flat, flared appearance. This brought back Angelkeep’s childhood memory of a favorite cartoon character, Popeye the Sailor Man, who “got … strong because I eat spinach” as he sang at the end of each cartoon character. His skinny sweetheart, Olive Oyl, loved him for it.
WCSB did not receive a touch test because it was originally assumed the bug was SB. It wasn’t handled to see if it offered a stinking protective odor. It would have. WCSB mimicked SB again in this way. Some claim, again not tested by Angelkeep, the scent of WCSB is more of a pungent scent of pine, musk, if you will. A real stink bug was tested at Angelkeep, and the “aroma” is enough to choke a maggot.
WCSB’s scientific classification and binomial name help explain the strange appearance of the leg. Western Conifer Seed Bug is Leptoglossus occidentalis from the Coreidae family. Coreidae refers to “leaf foot bugs”. The protrusion of the hind legs, which appears like Popeye’s forearms, is in fact leaf-shaped and thin as a leaf. It seems like the leg would have swallowed a whole leaf if the legs could swallow leaves.
Wikipedia admitted that WCSB was colloquially known as the Stinkbug, but that bug’s family is Pentatomidae, not Coreidae. See the difference Who cares? Law? They both stink. But those sexy leaf-like legs are a sight to behold if you haven’t seen them before.
WCSB, a man born in the western Rocky Mountains around 1910, first discovered Indiana in 1990. It is only in recent years that fishing keepers conifers have produced large amounts of cones, which may be the reason for the delayed WCSB compliance as it changes from sap in Cones nourishes. Where Did Angelkeep Find Western Conifer Seed Bugs Abundant? Ouabache State Park. Buy the annual pass, OSP is a nature that goes far beyond what Angelkeep offers.
Mr. Daugherty is a Wells County resident and enjoys their garden with his wife, Gwen, and has called it “Angelkeep”.
