#leaf-footed bug

A leaf-footed bug relaxing on a peach tree leaf, basking in the sunlight! This individual was so unbothered by my approach that it hardly moved throughout me taking photos and continued as it was after I left. Leaf-footed bugs tend to be quite skittish and are big fans of shuffling away from the camera just fast enough to make focusing on them difficult. This guy definitely saw me, and I know this because it leaned away from me at first, but it must have sensed my benign aura because it was perfectly tolerant of me after the initial hesitance. I always love it when bugs sit still for me—it's like they want to be photographed!

Leaf-footed bug! I know they’re technically a suuuuper nasty pest or whatever- but I love ‘em! Very fun to hold when able :3

image by thirty_legs

A very pretty leaf-footed bug eyeing me warily from its fence post perch! This photo isn't the best, but there are several things I really like about it despite that. The pleasant purple-gray of this individual, the sun shining through the white spots on its hind leg, the peach of its antennae and tibiae—what's not to love? This is such a solid animal!

some kind of meeting

A vivid pink leaf-footed bug sticking out of the dead grass! This individual was the first of its group to molt into adult form, being surrounded by brown nymphs on all sides. It is sitting on the grass and spreading its legs out in an attempt to dry off a quickly as possible so that it won't stick out so much. The soft exoskeleton of this insect is extremely colorful, offering no camouflage from either birds or other insects, so this guy is at its most vulnerable freshly molted. Luckily, it's surrounded by its younger siblings which will greatly increase its odds of survival!

One of several brightly-colored leaf-footed bugs living in a colony amongst some shrubs! I'd never actually seen nymphs of this species at this age before, so I totally thought it was a new species for me lol. Turns out this species goes from red to orange to brown as it gets larger, and I'd only seen the red and brown stages before. Despite their larger size, these guys still had a pretty substantial colony going on, maybe a little over a dozen individuals. Much like stink bugs, leaf-footed bugs stick together as nymphs to increase survival, traveling as a tightly-packed group. I only got a solo picture of this guy because I accidentally disturbed them into scattering. That's okay, though, because they group right back up after the threat has passed!

Northern Leaf-footed bug