—Henry Meyers, Associate Director of Forest Education
Last summer I got to know an insect, and I’m afraid this may be a tough year for it.
My lockdown summer began like most, wiping down groceries and going for walks with my family around the neighborhood. It was on one of these walks that I met, a new-to-me insect, the Four-banded Stink Bug Hunter (Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus).
Now before we go any further, the start of this article is a bit dramatic. The Four-banded Stink Bug Hunter will be fine. They have plenty of food, you probably guessed from the name they eat stink bugs and their population looked healthy last year. I meant “tough” in a Cinderella before the ball kind of way.
You see, the Four-banded Stink Bug Hunter is in the same family as the large, flashy Eastern Cicada Killer (Sphecius speciosus). In a normal year, the Cicada Killer steals the show, and this year is Brood X – the number of cicadas expected to emerge is in the trillions! So naturally, the Cicada Killer is going to get a lot of press, and rightfully so. But I want to get ahead of the big story (Brood X) and give some press to the often overlooked, definitely underappreciated Four-banded Stink Bug Hunter.
DID YOU KNOW?
Four-banded Stink Bug Hunters...
are pollinators!
don’t just hunt stink bugs but they also hunt the invasive Brown Marmorated Stink Bug.
paralyze their prey, so that their larva will have fresh food to eat (yes, the poor stink bugs are eaten alive).
are non-aggressive.
like to nest in sand.
Watching and photographing them as they went about their lives hunting and building nests, seemingly unaffected by the current global crisis was comforting. Learning about their amazing life cycle and watching their aerial acrobatics was entertaining. And helping me connect with nature was just what I needed! So, this summer, when Brood X and the Cicada Killer are on the front page of every newspaper, don’t forget to look for the Four-banded Stink Bug Hunter, you just might find a glass slipper.