Episode 1
After a short span of time had lapsed, I returned to the thistle. I found that the tortoise beetle larvae had grown substantially, along with their shields, and that we had a newcomer.
I could tell by the piercing mouth parts that it was from the order Hemiptera, which contains "true bugs". Yes, that's right, there are a group of insects that it is perfectly acceptable to call them "bugs" without anyone being snobby and going "I think you mean, 'insect'." Anyway, I know the image isn't the best, but this guy was racing around so much I could barely catch up (plus I was using my phone's camera). So with my cruddy image, I tried to ID this guy. I figured with such a striking coloration of brilliant lime green contrasting with the black I wouldn't have any trouble. Unfortunately, I needed to get a better dorsal picture to be confident in my ID'ing, but I'm fairly certain it's a Fourlined Plant (or Leaf) Bug.
These are considered pests of perennials, and leave a distinct mosaic pattern on the leaves they feed on. The thistle did not exhibit this sign of feeding, so I assumed it was more interested in the flowering plant the small plot was originally intended to grow.
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