April showers brings May flowers but also bugs...

Preston LaFarge - UNT Anthropology Major

2015 has been a wet year so far for North Texas. In several months we have already had over 11 inches of rain which is half of the total amount for 2014. With the rains comes the explosive growth of plants. The mandala has never been greener. The dry empty branches of the Mexican plum and redbud are now thick canopies.

I cannot remember a time when the plants have been so green. But the rains also bring growth for all other organisms. While they often go unnoticed the bugs in the mandala are experiencing a season of growth as well. Because over half of the insect word is herbivores when plants are experiencing growth insects will share in the bounty.

I have observed yucca plants closely for the last two years, which in some people is a trivial amount of time, but in my own community is ages. But I have never seen the bugs I observed today. They first appear to be dirt or inanimate but when I get closer for observations the spot begins to move and scatter away from my gaze.

Yucca bug: photo courtesy of bugguide.net.

What I was seeing was the yucca bug Halticotoma valida in its nymph stage. The bugs cannot fly yet and spend their day on dry yucca plants. I did not notice them on the cooler yucca plants that were being shaded by the plums/redbuds. The yucca bug uses mandibles to puncture the yucca leaf and drink the plants juices. Since the bugs can have 5 generations in a season the bugs can cause considerable damage to the plant.

I have always been fond of the yucca plant, it has countless uses and can stand up to Texas’ summers but I will have to learn that growth for plants and animals that I am fond of also means growth of plants and animals that I am not so fond of.