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Monthly Archives January 2009

Flat Headed Borer Grub

White worm w/ odd head
Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 8:50 AM
White worm w/ odd head
Hi. Two of these worms have come off the firewood in the last couple days, here in PA. Just wondering what they are. The picture should provide a lot of info.
Thanks!!
Diane B.
SE Pennsylvania

flatheaded borer grub diane 300x223 Flat Headed Borer Grub

Flat Headed Borer Grub

Hi Diane,
This is a Flat Headed Borer Grub in the family Buprestidae, known as the Metallic Wood Borers or Jewel Beetles.  You can match your photo to one we located on a Forestry Images website or to the images on BugGuide. Many of the adult beetles are quite gorgeous and are sometimes made into jewelry in tropical counties.  Sadly, we are not skilled enough to tell you the exact species.  Flat Headed Borers often live many years as grubs feeding on wood.  We have heard reports of the Golden Buprestid, Buprestis aurulenta, emerging from furniture 50 years after it was built.  You can confirm this online in numerous places including a Canadian Forestry site.  We have received our own report of an adult Golden Buprestid emerging from an 8 year old pine cutting board.  If your firewood is local, you have a different species of Flat Headed Borer as the Golden Buprestid is native to the Pacific Northwest.

Posted 11 January 2009 § Grubs § Metallic Borer Beetles ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Barnacle Scales

Unknown insect eggs(?)
Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 11:24 AM
Unknown insect eggs(?)
I found these on a plant in my backyard in Southern California. The plant is low and spindly and sits about two feet from a fountain that is always running. When I first took the pictures I didn’t notice the spider in the background. Yesterday, the two spiders were “face to face”. Now I notice that the one ate the other. Are they spider eggs? Did she eat him, like a black widow? What struck me about whatever these things are are their uniformity, abundance and metallic looking details.
SoCal Soundguy
Monrovia, CA

barnacle scale monrovia 300x193 Barnacle Scales

Barnacle Scales

Dear SoCal Soundguy,
These are Wax Scale Insects known as Barnacle Scales, Ceroplastes cirripediformis. You can confirm the ID on BugGuide which indicates that it is a pest on quince and citrus in Florida. It is also reported from California. Images on BugGuide include specimens found on pomegranate, camellia and sage. We located a PDF online that pictures another similar looking species, Ceroplastes ceriferus, listed as the Indian Wax Scale. Soft Scale insects are plant sucking insects that can do major damage to plants if they get too plentiful. We wish you were able to provide us with the host plant name. It looks like it might be lantana, but we are not certain.

barnacle scale monrovia 2 300x189 Barnacle Scales

Barnacle Scales

Follow up: Wax Pests
Sun, Jan 11, 2009 at 2:53 PM
Daniel,
Thanks for your prompt, informative reply. You were interested in the
plant the finding came from. Not only did I send you a picture of the
plant but I did you one better: I included a picture of the plant tag
that the horticulture garden I bought it from (Huntington Gardens)
identified it with. The plant is Salvia Ulignosa.
I didn’t realize how many of these things were on the plant until I
pulled them off (they came off easily) or clipped high denisty clusters
like the branch shown. Then I burned them with a blow torch. I figured
that was the most definitive way to destroy them, lest they survive a
trip to a landfill and cause someone else a headache. …
Chuck
SoCal Soundguy
P.S. I have so tell you how satisfying it is to write your site. Answers are typically prompt, but always knowlegable and succinct. Thank you!

barnacle scales 3 chuck 213x300 Barnacle Scales

Barnacle Scales

2

Posted 11 January 2009 § Aphids, Scale Insects, Leafhoppers, and Tree Hoppers ‡ Comments (0) °

Walkingstick from Borneo

Big Stick Insect
Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 6:21 AM
Hey there.
More than 30cm long, including legs. For sure one of the longest insects in the world.
When it saw me, it starting to move in my direction, leaving the handrail, and trying to grab my lens!
Found during the morning, on the handrail of the plank walk.
Joana Garrido
Niah National Park, Sarawak, Borneo

walkingstick borneo joana 300x219 Walkingstick from Borneo

Walkingstick

Hi Joana,
Thank you for sending us your spectacular images. This Walkingstick is so delicate looking. While it may be one of the longest insects in the world, it definitely falls into the rail-thin fashion model category. That headshot is priceless. We will try to get a species identification.

walkingstick borneo headshot 300x235 Walkingstick from Borneo

Walkingstick

Update: Mon, Jan 12, 2009 at 4:42 PM
Daniel:
What an amazing creature! I can’t be certain about this one (I think I will continue looking) but it looks like it is probably in the genus Phobaeticus, possibly P. kirbyi. The genus has the distinction of having the two longest insects in the world (the record holder is P. chani, also from Borneo). According to Wikipedia, the holotype for P. kirbyi “…measures 328 millimetres (12.9 in) excluding legs and 546 millimetres (21.5 in) including legs. This makes it the second longest known insect in terms of body length, behind Phobaeticus chani with 357 millimetres (14.1 in).” The specimen in the photo looks like it is probably a male, which are typically smaller and less robust than the females. The following link connects to the best image I was able to find, showing a mating pair (it’s a little hard to figure out the tangle). Regards.
Karl
Link: http://phasmatodea.com/index. php?module=xd_gallery&func= image&xdpage=&xgi=1433&xgc=356

Posted 11 January 2009 § Walkingsticks ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Mournful Sphinxes

What is this moth? Is it a hawk moth?
Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 10:01 AM
Found these moths on a poinsettia here in Katy (Houston) Texas, January 2, 2009. They may have arrived with the plant which came down from Cheyenne Wyoming, or possibly from Dayton, Ohio where the car carrying the plant came from, or they may be a Texas bug since we didn’t notice the bugs at first.
K Whitley
Katy, Texas 77450

mournful sphinxes texas 300x210 Mournful Sphinxes

Mournful Sphinxes

Hi K,
You are correct. These are Hawk Moths in the family Sphingidae, more specifically, they are Mournful Sphinxes, Enyo lugubris. You can see more images and read information about this species on Bill Oehlke’s excellent website.  It is a Texas species.

Posted 10 January 2009 § Hummingbird Moths, Sphinx Moths or Hawk Moths ‡ Comments (0) °

Bee Hawk Moth from Australia

Moth with clear wings and colourful body
Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 6:14 PM
Please can you tell me what this bug is? It flew into the house, struggling under it’s own weight! The body is over 3 cm long but including antennae it’s over 4 cm in length. It’s bottom goes feathery and flares out when it is flying. It is also quite loud in flight. My son insists that it isn’t, but I am placing my bet on ‘moth’.
Ann H
Artarmon, NSW Australia

bee hawk moth australia ann 230x300 Bee Hawk Moth from Australia

Bee Hawk Moth

Hi Ann,
Your son is correct.  This is a Bee Hawk Moth, Cephonodes kingii.  We identified it on the Brisbane Insect Website.  An Australian Caterpillar Website has images of the entire metamorphosis and identifies it as the Gardenia Hawk Moth because the caterpillar feeds on gardenia.

Posted 10 January 2009 § Hummingbird Moths, Sphinx Moths or Hawk Moths ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Brown Pansy from Zambia

African butterfly
Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 7:06 AM
What is this pretty butterfly? It looks a little similar to the American buckeyes.
Judy Gallagher
Victoria Falls, Zambia

nymphalidae zambia 300x206 Brown Pansy from Zambia

Zambian Brush Footed Butterfly

Hi Judy,
Your observation that this Zambian Butterfly resembled an American Buckeye was a good one. Both are in the same family, Nymphalidae. We searched the web for about 20 minutes trying to identify your specimen, but we did not have any luck. Perhaps one of our readers will write in with an answer.

Update: Zambian Brushfoot
Sun, Jan 11, 2009 at 6:24 AM
Hi Daniel:
You and Judy are closer than you thought. The butterfly is called the Brown Pansy (Junonia natalica), a brushfoot in the same genus as the Common Buckeye from North America (Junonia coenia). It’s quite a large genus, with representatives in tropical and sub-tropical regions of most continents. There aren’t many good images on the internet (Judys is now one of them) but the UK Butterflies site has an article on the butterflies of Kruger National Park – scroll down to Brown Pansy and click on the thumbnail. Regards.
Karl
Here is the link: http://www.ukbutterflies.co. uk/reports_kruger.php

Posted 10 January 2009 § Brush Footed Butterflies ‡ Comments (0) °

Namibian Stone Grasshopper

Big namibian grashopper
Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 2:01 PM
Big namibian grashopper
Hi, we stumbled across this large and very well camouflaged grasshopper in august in a mountain range in Namibia. When we were getting very close, it started to rub its hind legs against its abdomen – making quite a loud noise (obviously to scare us away). Very fascinating bug this one. What species can it be?
Geir
Namibia

grasshopper namibia 300x261 Namibian Stone Grasshopper

Grasshopper from Namibia

Hi Geir
Wow, that is some impressive looking grasshopper. It is toadlike. We need to do some research to try to identify its family, genus and species, but perhaps by posting your magnificent images, one of our readers will be able to assist with the answers.

grasshopper namibia hand 300x258 Namibian Stone Grasshopper

Grasshopper from Namibia

Update: Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 4:08 PM
Hi Daniel:
Wow indeed! This looks like a Stone Grasshopper (sounds appropriate), in the genus Trachypetrella . There are apparently 3 species reported, although a recent paper suggests they are likely conspecific ( Irish and Roberts 2006 ) under T. anderssonii . Interestingly, they are referred to as raniform (i.e. froglike) grasshoppers and one of the species synonyms is T. rana , although I would agree with you that they look more ‘toadlike’ than ‘froglike’. Regards.
Karl

Posted 10 January 2009 § Grasshoppers ‡ Comments (1) °

Unknown Predatory Red Hemipteran Nymphs feeding on Imbrasia wahlbergi Caterpillar in South Africa

Unidentified predatory red bug/beetle
Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 3:29 AM
This bug (beetle?) appeared about five years ago in our rural, coastal area (Cintsa, East London, South Africa) and has been terrorizing the undergrowth ever since. Individuals patrol paths and garden areas, seeking prey. Groups participate in the kill, biting or stinging the victim repeatedly until it stops moving. They will then sit on the prey, presumably feeding, sometimes for the rest of the day. They have been observed attacking and feeding on centipedes, spiders and caterpillars (particularly the large black caterpillars that feed on African plum trees – see image).
They are red/orange with darker areas around where wings should be. They appear to have a pointed snout. We have observed them clustering under cover in larger groups overnight.
Dave Roberts
Cintsa, East London, South Africa

hemipteran predatory red south africa 300x229 Unknown Predatory Red Hemipteran Nymphs feeding on Imbrasia wahlbergi Caterpillar in South Africa

Unknown Predatory Hemipteran Nymph

Hi Dave,
You just made us late for work. We really wanted to identify your predatory red Hemipteran nymphs as well as the Saturniid Caterpillar they are feeding upon, but our internet connection is so slow right now, we need more time. We are posting this as unidentified right now, but we are confident we will be able to assist you in a proper identification either alone or with the assistance of our readership. The Hemipterans don’t look like Assassin Bugs, which would be a likely candidate.

hemipterans caterpillar south africa 273x300 Unknown Predatory Red Hemipteran Nymphs feeding on Imbrasia wahlbergi Caterpillar in South Africa

Predatory Hemipterans feed on Saturniid Caterpillar

Update:Predatory Red Hemipteran Nymphs feeding on Unknown Saturniid Caterpillar
Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 2:20 PM
Hi Daniel:
I think the predatory bugs are probably immature assassin bugs of some kind, but I am out on a limb even with that. The Saturniid caterpillar looks like Imbrasia wahlbergi . An adult of this spectacular species appeared on WTB previously (Saturniid Moth from South Africa: Imbrasia wahlbergi – May 7th, 2007). Regards.
Karl

Thanks for the ID on the Imbrasia wahlbergi Caterpillar Karl. As we wrote to Dave this morning, we were running late for work. As things played out, we got to LACC to teach about 6 minutes before class started. We were going to search the World’s Greatest Saturniidae Site which contains the Kirby Wolfe link you provided. We will have to spend some time researching the Hemipteran nymphs now. They behave like Assassin Bugs, but don’t look like Assassin Bugs. Perhaps they are Predatory Stink Bugs, but they don’t look like Stink Bugs either. They actually resemble plant eating Hemipterans. We have run several images in the past of social feeding Assassin Bugs that feed on Millipedes, Ectrichodia crux, but these individuals look different if our memory serves us correctly.

Update from Eric Eaton
Sayturday, January 10, 2009
The hemipterans are likely in the family Lygaeidae. Many (most?) of the Heteroptera are opportunistic scavengers or predators. I once saw two small milkweed bugs feeding on a dead honeybee, for example. But, the bugs in the image are nymphs, so no way to be certain for sure (though I think it is safe to rule out assassin bugs).
Eric

Update from Dave:  January 11, 2009
Thanks, bug masters! Apologies for the omission of some info. Length is around 8-12mm, and it was a millipede they were eating, not a centipede. The millipede assassin bugs look pretty close, but they’re a little too red, and the bugs in question don’t have the third black spot on their back. I think you nailed the caterpillar – thanks again.
I’ll get the search going to find the adults.

Posted 09 January 2009 § Silkworms § True Bugs ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: ,

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