Family Pentatomidae, in other words, if your latin fails..."a stink bug!" You know it has been very cold here of late and quite a few inches of snow fell last night in the mountains but here on the limb of a small pine tree here at home, there was this stink bug.
Canon 30D
Manual mode
1/125 sec. @ f/10 ISO 125
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Canon 430EX ETTL Flash @ 1/3
Afternoon, sunny and cold
Right you are Joan, the temperatures are down to being bitterly cold at night now. Still there this thing was sunning itself on a pine tree branch, I think it made it up to 41°F today but it did not last. Thanks Joan
What a little mean looking beauty. I am sorry to hear it is so cold there, it has always sounded like a tropical paradice to me, i thought we had it bad here, although there is nothing other than a spring tail or two for hundreds of kilometeres it sounds like it is even warmer, shame. But the stink bug is wonderfull the portrait is just right, lovely and sharp.
During the warmer months North Carolina can seemingly be a paradise depending on what your interests are but even during the winter it has much to offer, just not in insects Thanks Tim
Several weeks ago when the frosts started, a critter that looks just like this literally dropped off a fence front of me, "obviously" having reached the end of its last walkabout before dying to make room for the next generation. So of course I threw it in the refrigerator, figuring maybe I'd have time to photograph it later.
Problem is, every time I pull it out of the refrigerator and it starts to warm up, it starts crawling around again! So now I don't know what to do. I hate to give up on the possibility of a photo op, but with the holiday here, I'm a bit worried that if the critter gets loose and starts dancing on the Christmas lasagne, it might upset the guests, you know? (Nah, on second thought, probably not with my guests.)
Anyway, your picture and story here has got me to thinking that these critters overwinter as adults. Wonder what else I'd find if I went out and dug around under the leaves??
Funny thing Rik I read about a hummingbird somebody found high up in the Andes (Andean Hillstar I think). It was obviously dead and frozen to the branch so they brought it back to their house at a lower altitude as a curiosity, only to find that about an hour later it thawed out and flew away!
Apparently these hummingbirds go into a state of torpor overnight at these high altitudes as a means of surviving the cold, with all their bodily functions virtually stopping, plus their heart virtually stops beating until they thaw out in the sun next day again.
I think this time of year, they are Acclimated to the low temperatures. If you try to chill them in the summertime, it will kill them right away. This morning , the temp was -8F and we have 16" of snow on the ground "No bugs around Here". Excellent photos Ken.
Take Nothing but Pictures--Leave Nothing but Footprints.
Doug Breda
You know it has been very cold here of late and quite a few inches of snow fell last night in the mountains but here on the limb of a small pine tree here at home, there was this stink bug. 
