Army Boy
As you will know if you're a regular reader, we have three sons. They are little characters and our days are full of fun and frolics and there's never a dull moment. Our middle son has always been interested in Armies and he has lots of camouflage clothes which are pretty popular in the children's clothes section of the clothes shops these days.
He even sometimes calls himself Army Boy and wants to be "an Army" as he says himself, although not until after he has owned and ran his own hotel, has finished his career as a rockstar, oh an he is going to be an artist too. Most kids have one profession or job they want to do as an adult, not our little man! He has lots of plans!
Little Visitor
So you can imagine his utter excitement when one of God's many creatures landed on my sunchair a few days ago and to be fair to him, he was the one that noticed it.
Here are a few photos of the little guy:
Man Learning from Nature
That little guy looks more camouflaged than many a soldier I've seen. If birds and insects were not flying in the sky, would we have aeroplanes and air travel? There are so many examples of man taking inspiration from nature. I wonder is this little Camo-critter yet another?
Have a look more closely at this little guy and there is no chicken and egg uncertainty here, no doubt but the little critter came first, meaning that it may well have inspired the first camouflage uniforms used by soldiers in the first world war in and around 1915.
The word Camouflage comes from the French term to make up on stage The earliest French users were mainly artists and actors and were known as camoufleurs. The idea was soon picked up by armies and many Nations started to use the cunning technique to make guns, tanks and soldiers less detectable, which is always a good is idea in warfare.
So what are they?
I believe this little guy is a brown marmorated stink bug and if you are a tillage or fruit farmer or just grow a few bits out the back, then this is bad news, as this little critter is new to these parts. They are known to make black marks on fruit which has a detrimental impact on fruit like apples and plums.
These little fellas are not from Europe and are most common in Asian countries like Korea, China and Japan. In recent years they have been introduced unintentionally to USA and more recently Europe. They can take a foothold in an area very quickly, as they are fast-breeding insects. Luckily we didn't scare the little guy with our photo shoot or he may well have opened up his lunchbox and unleashed his stink. Yep that's right the aptly named stink bug will unleash a stinky smell if frightened, so approach with caution!
These little guys are bad news for farmers and will have a negative impact on the prices fruit can fetch if they leave their trademark black blotches on the fruit. When they take hold in a crop they can really cause havoc, as they breed very quickly and are difficult to deter. Often the damaged fruit will end up in juices and yogurts.
There you have it, the brown marmorated stink bug - great for kids who like Camouflage and terrible for farmers who grow fruit.
Peace Out and thanks for reading
