A few weeks ago, when it was still so warm that we hadn’t busted out our winter coats yet, I found this fellow sauntering across our dining table. Sauntering extremely deliberately, possibly due to a missing forelimb. It was pretty cool, and the colors on its wings were gorgeous (something I haven’t quite been able to capture on, er, ‘film’).

We had no idea what it was, and I had some initial fears that it suddenly might start flying and make a sudden beeline for my nose. Trish busted out our Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders and after some discussion, we decided we had a squash bug on our hands. All the while I kept taking pictures and showing our kids what a cute coppery bug that we want nowhere near our garden was like.

It tried to rise up and scare me with its shadow.

Once it found some water, it drank deeply.

Seeing the probiscis was neat – we hadn’t noticed it before. It kept it flat against its belly when it wasn’t in use, but it would’ve been way cooler if it had been retractable.

J loved it!

I think we didn’t notice the missing leg at first because we kept counting the probiscis when we counted its legs. We kept it in a jar for a few days, then found it a new home in the woods.