Shields at a Fort
It has been way too long since my last biology class in high school. And though I never excelled academically, the living world still continues to fascinate me. A lot has changed in the last ten years though. Where earlier students had to pore over large totes in order to identify the animal they saw from the rather blurry, grainy photograph in their hand, social platforms such as Flickr make identification as simple as posting a digital picture to the forum and waiting for someone to respond. And if you wish to be more proactive than that, there are vast resources available, indexed by name, location, colour, size or any other possible classification you could dream of. All it takes is some searching.
These shield bugs were found by my wife at Malhargadh Fort near Sasvad. Mid-spring is an ideal time for them to be up and about, feeding and procreating. The small red one is a nymph, which looks nothing like the black with white striped adult. The shape of the abdomen gives the bug its name, while the brilliant markings warn predators of their ability to emit a malodorous smell.