Bug On My Desk

Better a bug on my desk than one in my computer.

The other night I was typing away at my computer when I noticed a small black object with orange stripes sitting to my side. It was just sitting there, maybe taking a break or hoping I wouldn't see it.

I was curious. I had seen similar bugs before. The other day a couple of them were hanging around on the siding to my apartment building. Since I was already online, I used Google to learn what kind of insect critter had entered my sanctum sanctorum. The search phrase "black beetles orange stripes" lead me to the answer.

My visitor was a boxelder bug, Boisea trivittata to you Latin fans. Once source says that they don't bite; they do leave after a while so just ignore them. When the weather gets cold in autumn, the boxelder bug (it's not a beetle) heads inside for a place to hibernate. Other sources stated they can be a pest when a horde of them -- 200 or more -- show up in the springtime or early summer and swarm all over a sunny spot. They're pesky when the sunny spot is on the side of your building or on your car.

After IDing my harmless visitor, I set up my tripod and camera with macro lens. I don't like flash as a rule so I used the indirect light coming from my floor lamp. This meant long exposures, even as long as three seconds. So when the bug moved around or cleaned his leg, I ended up with some interesting time exposures.

My gigantic camera and lens did spook him but I managed to wrangle him to more or less stay on my desk. At one point he ended up on the end of a pencil.




I noticed that the bug was missing an antenna. Maybe I accidentally injured him when I moved a pile of papers on my desk. Anyway, there was no reason to kill him -- or to keep him in my apartment. So I carefully scooped him up and released him back into the wild.

Now I can add the description "bug wrangler" on my resume under skills.