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Update: Our Book is back from the Copy Editor

March 16, 2010
Yesterday, we received the proofed manuscript of our book, The Curious World of Bugs, from the copy editor with all the spelling and grammar errors corrected.  We have two weeks to provide an introduction, a reference page, and a list of illustrations and their placement within the manuscript.  This has to be a priority for us, so between now and the beginning of April, we may not be able to answer and post as many letters, but we vow to post at least one new letter per day.

Posted Site News § Administrative ‡ Comments (0) °

BUG OF THE MONTH March 2010: Snowfly and a Snow Flea

Ed. Note: February 28, 2010
Selecting the Bug of the Month each month is always a careful decision, and we like to try to select a recent submission that is timely in its appearance.  Insects that appear while there is still snow on the ground are unusual, but not at all rare.  This Snowfly is a creature that may be encountered by a sizable portion of our readership in the coming month.

Snow bugs?
February 24, 2010
Sorry to bug you all again (pun not intended, I assure you!)
But today at the river getting some photos of the snow, I saw these black things scurrying across the top. On a closer look, I noticed they were some kind of flying insect. Some were hitching a ride on another (or mating, not sure). I was careful not to step on any of them. (I hope I didn’t!). I’m sorry the photos aren’t great, but I don’t have the right lens for that. To be honest, they looked like miniature Dobson flies! Some were about almost an inch long. They were only at the river. What are these little guys?
Thanks a bunch, Terra
River, Massachusetts

Snowfly

Hi Terra,
Despite the snow, many insects are active during the winter months.  In the winter we frequently get images like yours of Snowflies, a group of Winter Stoneflies in the family Capniidae.  Though we do not refrain from posting photos that our readership takes during the summer months when the short cold days of winter allow people kept people indoors to work on the computer more, we much prefer timely postings like yours.  According to BugGuide Snowfly:  “nymphs live beneath rocks and gravel on the bottom of streams and rivers adults are often seen on snow, or resting on concrete bridges over streams” which explains your sighting near the water in the snow.  We wish you had provided an image of a mating pair for our Bug Love section.  One of your images contains a tiny Springtail in the genus Hypogastrura, and the species that are found on the snow are known as  Snow Fleas.  You may read more about these in our archive as well as on BugGuide.

Snowfly and Snow Flea

Wow! Thank you so much for the fast reply! I’m quite interested to hear more about these guys- they’re quite cute!
I’ll have to have a read on them, thank you!
(And sorry for the quality of the images- it was dark out!)

Ed. Note: After posting this letter and photos, a second photo of a Snowfly resulted in a request from the Xerces Society to use the image in an Endangered Species Act petition .  Read about that here.

Posted § Springtails! § Stoneflies and Snowflies ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged:

WTB? Makes List of top 25 Entomology Blogs

What’s That Bug?
January 27, 2010
Hi,
I just published an article on my site, “Top 25 Entomology Blogs” ( http://www.onlinedegree.net/top-25-entomology-blogs/ ). First, I am happy to let you know that your site has been included in the article and if you have any questions about that article, how your site is described, etc. I wanted to let you know that you should feel free to email me. In addition, I thought I would bring it to your attention in case you think your readers might find it interesting and consequently would consider giving the article a mention on your site.
In any case, thanks for your time!
Best,
Anna Miller

Hi Anna,
Thanks for including us on your list and we have posted the link on our homepage.  It will eventually archive to fanmail.  We checked out the competition, and we are proud that unlike most of your awardees, we actually post daily.
Daniel

Posted § Administrative ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Springtails in the UK

Tiny aquatic insects
March 15, 2010
About a three weeks ago I noticed, what can only be described as, a “raft” in tiny insects floating in a bucket of rainwater at my front door. They are about 3-4mm in length and, when disturbed, dart around in the water before coming back togather again.
Ann Sutherland
Longhope, Island of Hoy, Orkney, Scotland, UK

Springtails

Hi Ann,
These are Springtails, primitive insects that are believed to be the most common arthropod on the planet.  Springtails are highly diverse in their habitats depending upon the species.  Some species are found on the surface of the snow and are known as Snow Fleas, and others are found on the surface of the ocean.  Springtails similar to the ones you found are sometimes found in great numbers on the surface of swimming pools.  Others are found in damp soil and in moldy conditions indoors.

Posted 16 March 2010 § Springtails! ‡ Comments (0) °

Aquarium Update: Lefty’s and Digitalis’ brood is growing

March 16, 2010
Lefty and Digitalis laid eggs on February 24, and the hatchlings began swimming on March 2.  They have been swimming for two weeks, and there seem to be about 100 fry.  They are not all growing at the same rate.  I feed them newly hatched brine shrimp and frozen baby brine shrimp at least twice a day, and on days that I don’t have to work, I feed them four or five times a day.  Since the young have been swimming freely for two weeks, I expect that their chances of survival are good.  Last weekend, I took 12 of the largest fledgling Angelfish that were born last summer to Tropical Imports and traded them for $30 of food.  If the current youngsters grow at about the same rate as their older siblings, I will need to move them out of the aquarium they currently share with the parents and into the grow out aquarium in about a month.  At that time, I may need to have traded in all the older siblings.

Digitalis and Fry

Posted 16 March 2010 § aquarium ‡ Comments (0) °

Elephant Beetle from Costa Rica: Megasoma elephas

Big Costa Rican Beetle
March 15, 2010
A friend of mine is in Costa Rica and found this on his tool box yesterday (March 14, 2010. You can see that it is quite large! I am so curious–what is it, what does it eat, do they bite humans? How long do they live
Kat D.
Costa Rica

Elephant Beetle

Hi Kat,
This magnificent Elephant Beetle, Megasoma elephas does not bite.  Encyclopedia Britannica is a source for the common name Elephant Beetle.  The grubs feed on rotting wood, and the adults .  The Natural Worlds website has some nice photos, and according to the Absolute Astronomy website:  “For their diet, Elephant Beetles eat the sap of particular trees and ripened fallen fruits such as pineapples. They also eat longan, lychee fruit, and bark from certain trees like the poinciana.”

Thank you so much!  I love Whatsthatbug.com.   Very cool!
K

Posted 16 March 2010 § Scarab Beetles ‡ Comments (0) °

Giant Scale Insect from Australia

Orange furry bug
March 16, 2010
Hello, I saw someone posted a similar insect as this, and I was wondering if you found anything more out about it? I found it under a bunch of old wet leaves tucked inside an old candle holder. (i was cleaning out the candle holder and that’s how i stumbled upon it).
Thanks! Kimberly
Brisbane, Australia

Giant Scale Insect

Hi Kimberly,
This appears to be a Giant Scale Insect, and we did not have much luck identifying the species that was sent last month.  Eric Eaton made the tentative identification, but we would like to match both your images and the previous image to a species.  The do not appear to be the same species.

Giant Scale Insect

Posted 16 March 2010 § Aphids, Scale Insects, Leafhoppers, and Tree Hoppers ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Common Crow Caterpillar

Common Crow Caterpillar
oh i just took a photo of one of these a couple of days ago!  i’m new to the site so once i figure out how to post it, i will!

Common Crow Caterpillar
March 16, 2010
Hello!
I took a great photo of a common crow caterpillar a couple of days ago, and i just wanted to share! here ya go!
Kimberly
Brisbane, Australia

Common Crow Caterpillar

Hi Kimberly,
Welcome to our humble website.  We are thrilled to have received your excellent photo of a Common Crow Caterpillar to add to our archives.  According to the Australian Museum website, the Common Crow is also called the Oleander Butterfly because the caterpillar feeds on the leaves of oleander as well as milkweed.  The website lists the food plants for the caterpillar:  “The female Common Crow Butterfly lays its eggs on the leaves of plants that have a milky sap. In Sydney, these include: oleander (Nerium oleander, Family Apocynaceae), and two species of figs (Family Moraceae), the Port Jackson Fig (Ficus rubiginosa) and the Weeping Fig (F. benjamina). Other food plants include garden plants such as Chilean Jasmine (Mandevillea laxa), Chinese Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), Stephanotis spp, and Milkweeds (Asclepias spp).“

Posted 16 March 2010 § brush footed butterfly caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Immature Black Widow

White spider with hour-glass dots on back
March 15, 2010
Found on a dead rabbit, amid the fluff of it’s shed fur. The rabbit had been under an old tin bucket and when I lifted it up, this spider was on the fur.
Colleen
Albuquerque, NM

Immature Black Widow Spider

Hi Colleen,
This is an immature Black Widow, probably a Western Black Widow, Latrodectus hesperus.  The immature spiders often have patterns on the back which become a solid glossy black as the spider matures.

Posted 16 March 2010 § Black Widow ‡ Comments (0) °

Giant Shield Bug from Macedonia

what that bug?
March 15, 2010
my friend found this under her window
none
skopje, macedonia

Giant Shield Bug

Dear none,
This is a Giant Shield Bug nymph from the family Tessaratomidae.  We located a similar image on TrekNature, possibly from Thailand, that was only identified to the family level.  We could not locate an exact match on the Illustrated Catalog of Tessaratomidae website.  Most species from this family are found in Southeast Asia and China, so we thought this would not  be a difficult species identification, but we are having difficulty.  Perhaps one of our readers will have better luck.

Posted 16 March 2010 § Stink Bugs and Shield Bugs ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Multicolored Asian Ladybird Beetles

Midwest beetle??
March 14, 2010
Can you identify this? I live near Chicago. I’m noticing these in the winter season, near one of our windows, but inside. There must be 50 of them lying on the window paine or carpet. They seem to dead, some w/ their “wings” sprouted and others as you see in the pic. I’d like to know how I can prevent these from being in my house.
Thanks in advance
Vik
Midwest – Chicago suburbs

Multicolored Asian Ladybird Beetles

Hi Vik,
Now that you know that these are Multicolored Asian Ladybird Beetles, and introduced species that often seeks shelter indoors to hibernate, you should be able to locate copious information online.

Multicolored Asian Ladybird Beetle

Posted 15 March 2010 § Lady Bug ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged:

Proposal for National Insect Week

National Insect Week
I would like to get a insect week started in the US, (see the link to the UK national insect week: http://www.nationalinsectweek.co.uk/ ) Since you guys have a great web presence I wanted to be the first official person to sign the “petition” to start a US based- National Insect Week (preferably during the school year so students can participate) Entomologists Unite!!
Michelle Gunter

Posted 15 March 2010 § Administrative ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

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