The stink bugs I usually see are brown, but this one I snapped a photo of last summer is a green stink bug. You should be able to find this stink bug throughout North America as you are on your nature scavenger hunt.
One summer during college I assisted in an aquatics laboratory. Any time a graduate student needed a helping hand, I was at the ready. Need somebody to transfer handwritten field notes about dragonfly swarms into a computer spreadsheet? You can count on me! Need another person to wear an electorfisher and waders to collect data from streams? Absolutely!
On the day I went on a trip electrofishing we observed a lot more than just fish. We also noted which nymphs were in the stream. A nymph is an immature form of an insect, which may look nothing like its adult stage. An example we all know of is a butterfly and how it changes from a caterpillar.
Once you get the hang of finding the adult stage of a green stink bug, you might want to up your game and see if you can find every stage. Can you find a green stink bug egg, nymph and first through fifth instar (see what the other stages look like here)? If you do find a green stink bug or any of its stages, then share a picture of your discovery on my Facebook page.
P.S. The scientific name of the green stink bug is Chinavia hilaris. It’s also known as green soldier bug.
