caterpillars in coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis) in Carpinteria, CA
Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 9:38 PM
I’m not sure what these green caterpillars are. There were hundreds of them in the Coyote Brush (Baccharis pilularis) at the Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park this past weekend.
John Callender
Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park, Carpinteria, CA
Skeletonizing Leaf Beetle Larvae on Baccharis
Hi John,
We will check with Eric Eaton, but we believe these are Sawflies and not Caterpillars. Sawflies are the larval form of a non-stinging member of the order of insects that includes ant, bees and wasps, Hymenoptera.
Update:
Daniel:
Hard to tell from the image, but either sawfly larvae or chrysomelid leaf beetle larvae.
Eric
Update: May 29, 2011
Upon searching for the identity of a Skeletonizing Leaf Beetle on BugGuide, we discovered that these are the larvae of Trirhabda flavolimbata.
Dragonfly Love
Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 7:23 AM
I was working in my yard yesterday when this pair of dragonflies flew in and stuck around long enough for me to get a camera and take some pictures of them while they were on their “honeymoon” 
Thought you might like this for your Bug Love page.
Paul
Garland, TX
Dragonflies mating
Hi Paul,
Thanks for sending the mating Dragonfly image. Many Dragonflies mate in this position, with the male grasping the female by her neck with his claspers. We don’t want to even attempt to identify your species since Dragonflies still tend to baffle us after all these years. Perhaps one of our readers who is more adept at Dragonfly identification can assist in this matter.
Is this a Lantern Moth?
Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 3:43 PM
This moth stayed on our terrace in Zihuatanejo, Mexico for a day and a night last fall.
Abigail
Zihuatanejo Mexico
Lanternfly
Hi Abigail,
This is a Lanternfly, and it is a planthopper in the family Fulgoridae, not a moth. The Lanternfly is sometimes called a Peanut Headed Bug as well as an Alligator Bug because of its appearance. It is thought to mimic a lizard to escape predators. Your photo illustrates this nicely. According to Wikipedia , this insect, known as the Machaca in the Amazon, has a very interesting superstition surrounding it: “In several countries, such as Ecuador ,Colombia and Venezuela , there exists the myth that if somebody is bitten by the machaca , he or she must have sex within 24 hours to prevent an otherwise incurable death. The insect is actually harmless to people.” Your photo of the underside of the Lanterfly shows the eyespots on the lower wings. This is another form of protective mimicry, because when the Lanternfly reveals those eyespots, it gives the illusion of being a large predator.
Lanternfly
I like This
