Potato Bug Graveyard

The other night when I let my dog out I noticed quite a few potato bugs roaming around by my back door. I was a little surprised because I have never seen that many potato bugs at one time. I couldn’t help but wonder why they weren’t underground. Has the soil become too cold for them? Surely it has to be warmer underground than above. Then I started thinking about a zoology class I took a few semesters ago and how short lived bugs lives actually are; deaths are usually caused by freezing. Now for most bugs, earwigs mostly, I could care less since they are more of a nuisance or just plain creepy, but I have always had a fondness for potato bugs.

I remember digging them out of the dirt at my grandparent’s house when I was little and watching them curl up in their shielded balls to protect themselves even though I meant them no harm. Then shortly after setting them back down they would unravel themselves and go about their day as if nothing had ever happened. I felt sad for these bugs knowing ultimately what their fate would be by morning. Mind you, not bad enough to bring them all in the house and have a potato bug farm, but still I felt bad. The next morning as I let my dog out again, sure enough, I had a potato bug graveyard at my back door. Poor guys.