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Monthly Archives March 2009

Polyphemus Moth

Giant Moth
Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 7:04 AM
My husband found this moth outside of his work. He thought it was fake at first and tried to pick it up, to his surprise it began to flutter a little and then settled back to sleep. Knowing that I love bugs he brought it home in a shoe box to show me. I was able to take some amazing pictures before this amazing creature passed on. Someone said they believe they only live for a couple of days but they couldn’t remember what the name of this moth was. It is hard to tell in this picture but this moth is huge. It is significantly larger than my opened hand. His antennae look like beautiful ferns. We saved him , we really wanted to release him but he only lived for about 45 mins. Thanks so much for checking it out for me. icon smile Polyphemus Moth
Rachel Riot
Tampa, Fl. USA

polyphemus rachel 300x133 Polyphemus Moth

Polyphemus Moth

Dear Rachel Riot,
This stunning moth is a Polyphemus Moth, one of the Giant Silk Moths that do not feed as adults.  Moths in this family, Saturniidae, only live long enough to mate and lay eggs, generally a few days to a week.  The Polyphemus Moth ranges over much of the continental U.S.  The antennae indicates that this is a male moth.  The male moth uses his antennae to locate a female moth through her pheromones.  The female moth has less feathery antennae.

polyphemus head rachel 300x226 Polyphemus Moth

Head of male Polyphemus Moth

Posted 12 March 2009 § Giant Silk Moths ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Red Wasps

Curiousity Hopefully Wont Get Me Stung
Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 12:18 PM
Hello and thanks for taking time to help me out. Just this morning I realized Ive got quite a build-up of new ‘friends’ on the roof of my house. I found out about them from my crazy husband and his friend who were out having a cigarette. They came running in quickly, afraid of the evil bugs lol. Between my husband and son im the big bad bug killer because they are both highly creeped out by the creepy crawlies. Never bothered me. But back to the main event….
I went to check these, what I believe to be wasps, out and ive been searching all morning on what kind they could be. They are quite large for any wasp ive ever seen. Their bodies appear to be hard and are a darker red tent. The wings appear to be either a crimson purple or a black tent. Antennae are straight and black.
Me being the curious person I am I stood out there for awhile to watch them for a bit. I might be wrong but I think they are doing some sort of strange mating thing. One or more will wait for another to come and ‘clean’ their head by, what appears to be, bitting on it. Then once they’ve done this for a moment , both parties back off and clean and rub on themselves almost as if applying a lubricant of some sort.
Again, im no expert and these are just theories of my observations. I snapped a few pics as best I could with the lack of good zoom on my camera.
I would love to know what this species is and definately if they are something that needs to be taken care of immediately due to my small child. Thanks for everything!
Curious Mind
Little Rock, Arkansas

red wasps arkansas 255x300 Red Wasps

Red Wasps

Dear Curious Mind,
These look to us like Red Wasps, Polistes carolina. Wasps in the genus Polistes are known as Paper Wasps and though they are not aggressive, they can sting if their nest is disturbed. Paper Wasps chew wood pulp into a material used to build the nest. We suspect they are attracted to the exposed wood beneath the peeling paint on your roof. It is possible that the nest is in the eaves of the house since BugGuide indicates: “This species may prefer to nest in very sheltered locations, such as hollow trees–this should be investigated.” A similar species with the same range is Polistes perplexus, also pictured on BugGuide. In our opinion, these Red Wasps pose no threat to your small child, but the wasps will protect their nest.

Update: Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 6:08 PM
Thanks very much for responding and especially finding out what they are. Im very relieved to know that these arent agressive by nature. I think it will put us all at ease. Now Im not so eager to call someone to get rid of them. They have to have a home someplace also. And there’s enough room for everyone to keep peace. I hate to kill things if there’s no need. Thanks once again and keep up the awesome work!!

Ed. Note:  April 11, 2011.  We have gotten so many comments of first hand accounts of aggressive Red Wasps that we feel compelled to withdraw our statement that the Red Wasps pose no threat.  Something is making Red Wasps angry with the human presence.  Perhaps this is a newly introduced species or subspecies that is more aggressive than the native species.  For whatever reason, it seems Red Wasps may be initiating attacks that do not directly result from a threatened nest.

Posted 11 March 2009 § Paper Wasps ‡ Comments (27) °

Banded Hickory Borer from Oklahoma

another unknown longhorn not on wtb!
Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 7:18 PM
Hi,
I found this little guy in our pool on Friday, and have found several others since then. I haven’t seen these before, and I have no idea what kind of longhorn they are. I searched through all your longhorn pages and couldn’t find them. They are about 1 ½ inches long, and are light grey with two light brown marks on their wings. They were found in central Oklahoma. I appreciate any help you can provide.
Josh Kouri

bycid josh unknown1 238x300 Banded Hickory Borer from Oklahoma

Banded Hickory Borer

Hi Josh,
We want to format all three of your photos for posting and we don’t recognize your Longhorn Borer Beetle. We hope Eric Eaton or another reader can supply an answer that may take us considerable time to research, so we are posting it as unidentified.

bycid josh unknown b 300x103 Banded Hickory Borer from Oklahoma

Banded Hickory Borer

As with many male Longhorn Borer Beetles or Longicorns, your specimen displays some mighty impressive antennae. The photo of your beetle about to take flight nicely illustrates how the hardened elytra are positioned when the soft flying wings are needed.

bycid josh unknown c1 300x270 Banded Hickory Borer from Oklahoma

Banded Hickory Borer prepares to take flight

Update: Hi, Daniel:
The lovely longhorned beetle is a male “banded hickory borer,” Knulliana cincta.  We actually have a subspecies of that beetle emerging in Arizona right now!  I didn’t know they came out this early.  I got some in Missouri when I lived there, but seem to recall it was later in the year….They are not a destructive species.
Eric

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

Robber Fly eats Bee in Australia

Robber eats bee foodchain
Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 11:34 PM
Hi guys,
This robberfly has caught itself a native bee. It is dull and windy here today with a cyclone off the coast so I took the flash with me and was quite pleased with the result. Hope you like it too.
aussietrev
Queensland, Australia

robber eats bee trevor australia 300x237 Robber Fly eats Bee in Australia

Robber Fly eats Bee

Hi Trevor,
Thanks for sending us a photo demonstrating your new technique. It looks like a studio portrait. We are a bit behind in our posting since we have embarked upon fulfilling a longtime desire to establish a home aquarium. This endeavor has occupied much of our free time since the cabinet needs to be stained and sealed before we can even begin to stock the aquarium with freshwater Amazon species.

Posted 10 March 2009 § Robber Flies ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

Green Orchid Bee

Metallic Green Fly
Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 2:34 PM
As shown in the picture, it has a blue-green metallic color to it. It looked like a fly and it was flying to different flowers. I located this bug in Southern Florida. There’s not much else I can think of.
Jenna Marie
Coconut Creek, Florida

orchid bee jenna 207x300 Green Orchid Bee

Green Orchid Bee

Dear Jenna Marie,
This is a Green Orchid Bee, Euglossa viridissima, a tropical species that has become well established in Florida in recent years, perhaps due to global warming. In a general sense, species range expansion and species range declines are both evidence of climate changes.  While range expansion might be considered a benefit in some cases, it also becomes harmful to the environment by crowding out of established species that are native to the area.

Posted 10 March 2009 § Bees ‡ Comments (1) °

Stink Bug likes Bathrooms in Germany

Toilet bug from Germany
Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 4:58 AM
Hey Bugman,
I’ve got a problem with my bathroom and the area around it. For a few weeks now these kind of flying bugs are hanging around here all the time. I keep throwing them out of my house but they must nest somewhere in the house.
They are winged and they can fly, but only for a short period. They get exhausted quite fast. Once you annoy them, like with throwing them out, they spit at you in a last attempt of telling me to back off. And since I don’t want to end up in the unneccessary carnage section, I ask you to tell me what kind of bug that is and what I should do, to get rid of it.
Greetings,
Philipp
Germany

stinkbug germany 300x210 Stink Bug likes Bathrooms in Germany

Stink Bug

Dear Philipp,
It is with great amusement that we post your letter with an image of a Stink Bug that is fond of the toilet.  While we are not prepared to comment on why the toilet is the most area of the home where you are finding the intruders, we can tell you that Stink Bugs in the family Pentatomidae, and other True Bugs often enter homes when cold weather sets in so they can escape the winter cold.  The Stink Bugs are not breeding in your home and they will not do any damage.  They are merely waiting out the winter so they can return to the great outdoors in the spring.

Posted 09 March 2009 § Stink Bugs and Shield Bugs ‡ Comments (0) °

Mating Indian Meal Moths

Indian Meal Moths
Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 4:25 PM
First of all, let me say I love your website. I moved from a fairly new and well-insulated family house into a pretty old appartment building, ground level, a few months ago. I’m no more a bug lover than the next person, so I’m just happy I found this site, which has saved me from freaking out a couple of times. First time with a classic case of house centipedes. Now, I only wish! I haven’t killed them (at least not once I knew what they were), but for some reason there are none around anymore. Maybe because of winter? Anyway, now I found out that I have some Indian Meal Moths. They’ve been around on and off. During summer and fall I was pretty sure they were just some normal moth that came in from outside (especially since there was only one or two of them), but in the middle of the winter, much less probable. So I researc hed your website, ended up cleaning my whole pantry (and yes, some stuff was infested, I’m still grossed out). I do still have a few questions, though. Do these types of moths also have cases at the larva stage, or am I dealing with more than one type of moth if I find discarded or unhatched cases? Might meal moths also infest pasta, raisins or even chocolate (I found a larva in an old Nutella jar, which fortunately I hadn’t eaten from in very long)? Also, they seem to be able to munch through thin plastic wrappings….just how thick a plastic bag can they break open? Last question, apart from transferring everything to plastic and glass containers, is there anything that might keep them away, sort of like cedar wood with clothing moths? I tried a bit of rosemary branches in the past, seemed to work, but when I cleaned up, the little pile of rosemary needles had unhatched cases in it….gross. (For the record, I have cleaned the pantry regularly since I moved and I do throw out anything that sits around too long…)
Thanks for your time, I know there are a lot of questions. I’ve included a picture of two meal moths apparently reproducing, which I found while cleaning the said pantry. Thought it might be an interesting addition to the nice pictures on your website. I guess spring is coming for everyone! icon razz Mating Indian Meal Moths
Genevieve
Ottawa

meal moths mating genevieve 300x205 Mating Indian Meal Moths

Mating Indian Meal Moths

Dear Genevieve,
The cases you are finding may be the cast off larval or pupa skins. when the insect metamorphoses, it leaves behind the exoskeleton. The caterpillars form a silken webbing in the food source. According to BugGuide, the larvae of the Indian Meal Moth “infests a wide variety of stored food products such as flour, oatmeal, dried fruits, seeds, nuts, powdered milk, biscuits, chocolate, and bird seed ” and “spin silken threads as they crawl through stored products, creating a matted layer of product, frass, and pupal cases.” Vigilance is the best method for controlling Indian Meal Moths and other pantry pests. Your question regarding chewing through plastic may need an expert to answer.

Update: Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 8:32 AM
Thank you for the information. I read somewhere online that bay leaves might be a good way to repel insects from your food stores, so I might give it a try. I’ve captured the remaining adults, so as to limit the damages, and was a bit surprised this morning to find eggs in the jar. They’re still laying them, it’s sort of interesting to see. Anyway, I’m keeping tabs on that (taking pictures and everything) from now on, because I strongly suspect an already-infested bag of rice was the source of the problem (the need to pinpoint a source has become quite strong to my curious mind). I put a few rice grains and a bit of what looks disturbingly like eggs in another jar, and I’m also keeping tabs on that. The egg-like grains were already in the bag before I even opened it. Well, this said, I’ll let you know if anything interesting comes up from all of this.
Genevieve, Ottawa, Canada
P.S. I don’t know if it’s of any interest, pantry moths being very common, but I’ve enclosed pictures of the said moths and eggs…they’re kind of blurry, but it’s the best quality I could get out of my generic Canon. The whitish blurs are the eggs (but obviously not the pile of rice grains!)

Thanks for teh update Genevieve.  Your photo is a bit too blurry to post.  Many aromatic plants are said to repel moths, including your previously mentioned rosemary.  We have also heard wormwood (Artemesia), lavender and mint will repel moths.  The cedar you mentioned may also work.

Posted 08 March 2009 § Pantry Moths, Clothes Moths, Case-Bearers and Meal Moths ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

Feather Horned Longicorn from Australia

Green Beetle with “eye brow” like antennae
Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 11:34 PM
While typing a research paper “Do big buttresses break with passing wind” in the Australian jungle within the Atherton Table lands, this “Groucho Marx” bug flew onto my keyboard and despite much prodding wouldn’t leave me alone. Could you give me a less affectionate name to call it?
Lonely Dinosaur
Atherton Table lands, NE Australia

feather horned longicorn australia 300x253 Feather Horned Longicorn from Australia

Feather Horned Longicorn

Dear Lonely Dinosaur,
This is the second submission of this spectacular beetle we have received since Christmas. This is a Feather Horned Longicorn Beetle, Piesarthrius marginellus, indeed a longhorned beetle native to Australia. You can find photos online on the Up Close and Spineless website as well as at http://www.cerambycoidea.com/foto.asp?Id=830.

feather horned longicorn australia 2 300x170 Feather Horned Longicorn from Australia

Feather Horned Longicorn


Posted 08 March 2009 § Longhorn Beetles ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

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