JJ and his red bug, go searching for red bugs!

 

I know! A whole lot of water has gone down the pan since I was last here; coincidentally, that's also where my health has been heading! 

Anyhow, I am here now and there is a lot more going on in this world to worry about than my own frailties. 

As we are talking about it being a crazy world right now though; these lyrics spring to mind...

'I am the god of hellfire! And I bring you...'

But wait. I am getting ahead of myself. Let me set the scene, if I may. 

This is what was once known as the Isle of Thanet. 

It's a former island that gradually became connected to mainland UK between the 12th and 16th centuries. It lies on the north-eastern tip of Kent. It's also home to one of the major roads in Kent, the A299 which is also known as The Thanet Way.

It was The Thanet Way that interested me a couple of days ago, and in particular a stretch of the road nine miles from where I joined it, and just over an hour's drive from home. 

 

Thanks to some really kind, and helpful advice from somebody who I will name-check at the end of this update, my mission on this particular day was to seek-out and hopefully photograph a species of bug, which although fairly commonplace, has thus far avoided me.

And so, on Wednesday March 19th with the weather set fair, I jumped into my own little red bug and headed north...

I guess it would have been around 10:30 by the time I had parked up. It then took another 90 minutes of walking and searching, before I found what I came to see. I don't know if it was just too early/cold on my first sweep of the area, but it wasn't until I was retracing my steps back towards the car that I found any bugs. 

And so I suppose you are desperate to know exactly what it was that I saw, and what the relevance of the quoted lyrics from the Crazy World of Arthur Brown at the start of this update were all about? 

Well this was the environment, and top right of the image is a phone grab of what I first spotted...

Yes...'Fire' Bugs! (The Firebug, Pyrrhocoris apterus)

I was so pleased to find these cool critters. I love it when I can add something new to the long list of invertebrates I have seen and photographed over the years.

Of course I wish that I had made a better job of photographing the bugs, but my excuse is that it's early season, and so I still need practice. Plus, I foolishly tinkered with my diffuser the previous day, and hadn't even had a trial run (it needs more work for sure).

It didn't escape my notice that these bugs are surviving, and probably thriving, in an environment that is less than ideal for them. Right beside a busy highway, with all of its attendant problems, and even the pathway where they seemd to congregate holds its own dangers. Besides the footfall of pedestrians, there seem to be many mobility scooters that use the path regularly.

 The only previous encounter with a very similar bug came when I was in California back in 2023 and spotted these...

And so to quote 'Tin Tin Out' Here's where the story ends, Oh, here's where the story ends. (Apologies for these lyric references, it's just something I've always done). 

But does it end here? Well, it can if you have the attention span of a....of a...of a...of something that has a very short attention span!

Or, if you perhaps cannot even be bothered to learn about what researchers at Harvard University in the United States discovered about these creatures? By these creatures, I mean the species I found, and not the ones I photographed in America.

Oh GOOD! Because this IS really interesting...

P. apterus was the subject of an unexpected discovery in the 1960s when researchers who had for ten years been rearing the bugs in Prague, Czech Republic, attempted to do the same at Harvard University in the United States.

 After the fifth nymphal instar, instead of developing into adults, the bugs either entered a sixth instar stage, or became adults with nymphal characteristics. Some of the sixth instars went on to a seventh instar, but all specimens died without reaching maturity.

The source of the problem was eventually proven to be the paper towels used in the rearing process; the effect only happened if the paper towels were made in America.

The researchers could replicate these results with American newspapers such as the New York Times, but not European newspapers such as The Times.

The cause was found to be hormones found in the native balsam fir tree used to manufacture paper and related products in America, and in some other North American conifers. This hormone happened to have a profound effect on P. apterus, but not on other insect species, showing the diversification of hormone receptors in the insects. 

The most potent chemical component was later identified as 'juvabione' which is produced by the trees in response to wounding; it mimics juvenile hormone closely at the chemical level, defending against vulnerable pests.

That's about it for this update. I did stop off at a nature reserve on the way home and took a few photos, but after such a long wait for me to get back here, I don't want to bore the pants off you - I'll leave those images for a future update.

It only remains for me to say a huge and heartfelt thank-you to Francesca Partridge for providing both the detailed location, and the inspiration for this whole experience.