Swimming lesson

So the bugs think it's spring, too. A western conifer seed bug, Leptoglossus occidentalis, woke up from his winter's nap somewhere in my woodwork, and went exploring. The water in the aquarium looked good and he stopped in for a drink. I found him there, struggling, upside-down under the flow from the pump, and rescued him; salt water is no place for a landlubber bug!

I poured some tap water over him to wash off the salt, and dried him off with a J-cloth. Afterward, he was quite content to sit on the cloth and watch me, so I took a couple of quick photos.

"Thanks for the bath!"

He was quite interested in the camera, and left the J-cloth to walk up my hand for a closer look.

These bugs are always so calm, and so interested in their surroundings; as curious as kittens, but without the brain power to account for it. I wonder what goes on in their tiny heads. And whether they remember what they just discovered. Will this guy, once he gets back inside, go for a drink in the tank again?

I put him outside in the rain; it's warm enough already, and the water's fresh.