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Monthly Archives June 2009

Unknown Butterfly Chrysalis

Green Swallowtail Chrysalis??
Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 7:12 PM
Dear Bugman,
Thanks so much for your amazing site!! Yours is a favorite around here!
My husband accidentally washed this Chrysalis off of one of our children’s outdoor toys today. After visiting your site it looked like a some sort of swallowtail, but I haven’t seen such a beautiful green one before. He didn’t see it until after it was washed off so I don’t know if it was right side up , held with a girdle or upside down.
Also is there any way we can save it? It was undamaged and I have been very gentle in my handling of it.
It’s June st today, we live in southern central Washington State in a wooded area at about 200 ft. As you can see the chrysalis is about 1.5 inches long.
Thank you so much, Heidi
cental southern Washington state

mystery chrysalis heidi 300x195 Unknown Butterfly Chrysalis

Mystery Chrysalis, probably Swallowtail

Dear Heidi,
The main distinguishing feature of a Swallowtail Chrysalis is the silken girdle that keeps the pupa upright. Since this Chrysalis has been dislodged, it if impossible for us to be certain if the girdle was present. That said, we are not certain that this is a Swallowtail Chrysalis, but it is definitely a butterfly and not a moth. If the Chrysalis is undamaged, it may “hatch” and regarding color, the color of a Chrysalis changes as the metamorphosis occurs. We would love to hear back if and when this Chrysalis hatches , especially if you can provide images of the butterfly.

Update:
Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 8:15 PM
Hi Daniel,
Sometimes when I log in, type a comment, and then click “Post”, a message states that my words are awaiting approval.  More often, like today, I see no such affirmation, which leads me to suspect that my two comments went into a black hole.  Thus, I’m also sending them to you directly – hope that’s OK.
Cheers,
Keith

Hi Heidi,
Your beautiful chrysalis is most likely that of the Pale Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon) – please see http://www.utahlepsociety.org/peurymedon.html – though Western (P. rutulus) and Two-tailed (P. multicaudata) tiger swallowtails have very similar pupae and are thus possibilities.  According to Bob Pyle’s The Butterflies of Cascadia, 2002: “In the northwest, the hostplants are chiefly species of Ceanothus (buckbrush, mountain balm, mountain lilac) east of the Cascades, red alder and cascara on the west side;  ocean spray, serviceberry, and bittercherry are also used, and we observed oviposition and reared it on hardhack (Douglas spiraea).”  Do any of these shrubs/trees grow on your property?  I hope the butterfly emerges OK . . . even better if your family can watch it do so (typically in the morning).  Good luck!
Best wishes,
Keith Wolfe

Posted 02 June 2009 § swallowtail caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Unknown Speck in the Linens is Dermestid Larva

Tubular, Hairy, spiked, 4?legs w/a pair of horns
Sun, May 31, 2009 at 2:55 PM
Found in the morning on linens as a speck
Curious In Missouri
West Central Missouri

magnified unknown susan 300x295 Unknown Speck in the Linens is Dermestid Larva

Magnified Speck from Linens

Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 7:00 AM
Dear Bugman, Thank you for your WTB site it is very interesting and informative. I was wondering , I’ve sent in a photo on May 31, 2009 to see about getting the identification of the bug/insect. How do I get your answer ?
I wasn’t for sure if the was a special site to go to or do you send out the info. out in an E-mail ?
Thank You, Curious in Missouri

magnified unknown susan 2 300x287 Unknown Speck in the Linens is Dermestid Larva

Magnified Speck from Linens

Dear Susan, AKA Curious in Missouri,
After our previous response that we cannot answer the volume of mail that we receive, and that we were unable to trace your initial inquiry by the name you provided, we checked and saw a letter signed Curious in Missouri. We are posting your images in the hope that one of our readers can assist in this identification, but we ourselves are clueless. It appears to be larval, but if it was a speck, it is entirely possible that it will change form drastically as it grows and matures. We must say that we are impressed that you inspected this speck from your linens using photo-microscopy, and we shudder to think what you might find should you happen to closely study our home and office. Also to further elaborate on your question about our responses, we are now just posting to the website with a courtesy email to the querant. We used to answer more letters via email than we posted, but our tired old computer has gotten very slow, and we cannot take the time to answer letters we do not post. We hope to buy a new computer with our book advance, and then we anticipate greater speed and efficiency with our correspondence.

Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 10:17 AM
Daniel:
With profusion of body hairs, banded appearance and the pair of spines or ‘horns’ on the hind end, this looks like the larva of some kind of Dermestidae beetle (carpet beetles, larder beetles ,hide beetles , skin beetles, etc.), possibly in the genus Dermestes (e.g., D. lardarius , the common larder beetle) . Since it was described as a speck, it may have been a very young one as you suggest. Regards.
Karl

Posted 02 June 2009 § Pantry Beetles, Grain Weevils, Spider Beetles, Meal Worms and Carpet Beetles ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Two Dead House Centipedes killed hours apart

PLEASE IDENTIFY THIS DISGUSTING BUG FROM PITTSBURGH
Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 8:58 PM
Help Bugman!!!
This type of bug has appeared 3-4 times in our house in the past 1-3 weeks.
Tonight I had to take a picture of it after we killed it.
It’s got to be poisonous, it’s terrrrible looking.
It’s got like 6 or 10 legs and it is just uggggly.
We live right near a ‘forest’ and honestly, JUST now, my roomate discovered another one as I’m typing.
Help! PLEASE!!!
What should we tell our exterminator!!!
What should we buy to protect ourselves
Thank you so much
Henry
Pittsburgh, PA, in basement 2bedroom living quarter

centipede carnage henry 300x232 Two Dead House Centipedes killed hours apart

House Centipede Smashed

Unnecessary Carnage?
Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 6:29 PM
First, I must say there are some great pictures on your site. I scrolled through everything to try to find an answer, but I don’t even know what category this fits into. You may be able to tell that this bug was squished, so I’ll give you details the picture might not show. It’s just over an inch long and its antennae were quite long (almost as long as the body?) Unfortunately I can’t tell whether it has legs or not, but its underbelly appears to have several tiny ridges. The 3 vertical stripes are quite distinctive. I live in Windsor, ON (directly across the border from Detroit) and found it in my bedroom this evening. We’ve had some water damage in the house and also have carpenter ants (which I confirmed from several pictures here – thanks!). As well it has been humid here lately, so I’m not sure if that’s a factor.
Any insight you could provide would be appreciated.
Many thanks, Cheryl
Windsor, ON

centipede carnage cheryl2 300x173 Two Dead House Centipedes killed hours apart

House Centipede Extinguished

Whoops! Cancel that email!
Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 8:07 PM
Sent you an email earlier tonight entitled “Unnecessary Carnage?” and have discovered, to my embarrassment, that it is in fact a house centipede. I moved so quickly to kill the poor bugger that I didn’t see all of the legs (and wasn’t about to pick its corpse apart to investigate).
I’ve bookmarked your site so I can identify the next critter that makes itself known! icon wink Two Dead House Centipedes killed hours apart
Many thanks (again), Cheryl
Windsor, ON

Dear Henry and Cheryl,
You have both unnecessarily exterminated a harmless House Centipede. They do look frightening, and though they have venom, the venom is harmless to humans in the extremely unlikely scenario that they might bite someone. You are far better off having House Centipedes patrolling your homes at night, dispatching Bed Bugs whose populations are on the rise, than you would be getting bitten by the Bed Bugs. No exterminators are necessary.

Unnecessary Carnage Update
September 18, 2009
My Unnecessary Carnage icon sad Two Dead House Centipedes killed hours apart
I just found your website while researching the bug that I have squished (although not confirmed). I was sitting in my darkened living room in the wee hours of the night and caught some rapid movement from the corner of my eye. I quickly turned on a light and settled back on the sofa. Perhaps five minutes later I saw a large bug on my ceiling, which through your site I have identified as a House Centipede. I have seen other bugs of this type and have not been bothered as they are a fairly small bug and the only things that really bother me are spiders – I’m arachnophobic after a traumatic (for me and possibly the spider) experience but I don’t typically kill spiders just make sure I know where they are at all times, avoid them if possible or await their relocation or sadly, their ‘remo val’. Alas, I digress – back to the event from today. As I said I have seen others of this type of centipede before and they didn’t bother me but this specimen was quite large. It appeared to be at least 2 inches long, and looked much bigger/wider due to the many legs. Since it was on my ceiling and they move so fast I felt I had 2 options: leave it or try to get rid of it. I chose the second and grabbed my broom. I swatted at it and it fell to the floor, camouflaged by the beige carpeting and dashed for the nearest hiding spot, under a cabinet, with me swatting at it. I am not positive that I extinguished its life and kept a vigil for 5-10 minutes and didn’t see any signs of it. I think their speed would impede their safe removal in the future. Is there any way to safely remove them? I find bugs fascinating when I happen upon them outside. I am originally from Eastern Canada and have been living and enjoying the variety of bugs here – I was very excited to see a praying man tis and even a Hercules beetle. I don’t go out of my way to look f or them but feel the need to do something if I see them and I’d much prefer to escort them safely outside. I am sorry that I killed (maybe) the bug and would really appreciate some feedback.
Sincerely Apologetic,
Sarah in VA

Hi Sarah,
Thanks for your nice letter.  Since it came in as a comment not connected to a specific post, we are attaching it to two previous letters with the shared subject matter of House Centipedes killed unnecessarily.  First off, we are going to let you off the guilty hook because we don’t believe you killed that fast little bugger.  House Centipedes are quite evasive.  As far as advising you on how to best remove them, we don’t really have any suggestions.  House Centipedes seem quite fond of human domiciles, and they easily enter homes.  As you noted, they are so quick, it is difficult to capture them.  Dare we suggest that you just learn to coexist?  Since you are arachnophobic, the House Centipede will most likely help keep your indoor spider population under control as well as feasting on other undesirable intruders like cockroaches.

Posted 02 June 2009 § Centipedes ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Immature Wheel Bug

In Georgia – Black with Red Back
Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 5:35 PM
I have never seen this insect here in Georgia before. Image attached.
Thanks.
AJS
Atlanta, Georgia

wheel bug nymph georgia 300x205 Immature Wheel Bug

Wheel Bug Nymph

Dear AJS,
This is an immature Wheel Bug, one of the Assassin Bugs.  In the spring, we often get identification requests for hatchling Wheel Bugs which resemble ants and stay in a group, and beginning in mid summer, photos of adult Wheel Bugs will begin to appear in our mail. Your photo is of an older nymph that has ventured from its siblings.  Wheel Bugs can bite if provoked, and the bite is painful, but they are advantageous predators.

Posted 02 June 2009 § Assassin Bugs ‡ Comments (1) °

Technical Difficulties

2 June 2009
Sometimes at the beginning of the month, we have problems with our server and new images do not post live to the site. We are currently experiencing this problem. Please be patient.

Problem solved!!!!!

Posted 02 June 2009 § Uncategorized ‡ Comments (0) °

Arboreal Click Beetle with Feathered Antennae found in Mount Washington, Los Angeles

1 June 2009, 7:44 PM
Four years ago on 9 July 2005, we discovered an unusual beetle in a spider web. We supposed it to be an Elaterid or Click Beetle, but it had feathered antennae. Eventually Eric Eaton contacted an expert, Dr. Art Evans, identified it as a Euthysanius species. This was Dr. Art Evans conclusion at the time: “The following excerpt is from our upcoming field guide for CA beetle s: At least five species of Euthysanius are found in California. The males of Euthysanius lautus (15.0-19.0 mm) (Plate 111) are reddish-brown with grooved elytra and feathery, 12-segmented antennae . They are found under the bark of pines (Pinus) and are attracted to lights throughout southern California. Adult females (up to 35.0 mm) (Plate 112) have very short elytra and lack flight wings, exposing most of the abdominal segments. They are found crawling over the ground.” Well, this afternoon, we found another specimen on our screen door.

feathered click 20090601 300x207 Arboreal Click Beetle with Feathered Antennae found in Mount Washington, Los Angeles

Arboreal Click Beetle

We took several images of the Click Beetle to post. When the Click Beetle is on its back, it snaps back to an upright position, but only propelling about an inch or two into the air.

feathered click 20090601 under 300x178 Arboreal Click Beetle with Feathered Antennae found in Mount Washington, Los Angeles

Arboreal Click Beetle

The beetle is about an inch long. We are also quite impressed with the mandibles on this specimen. Though it didn’t do any damage, it tried to discourage us from handling it by biting. BugGuide identifies the genus as Arboreal Click Beetles.

feathered click 20090601 3 300x265 Arboreal Click Beetle with Feathered Antennae found in Mount Washington, Los Angeles

Arboreal Click Beetle

Posted 01 June 2009 § Click Beetles ‡ Comments (0) °

Swallowtail Caterpillar from Mexico

This may be a caterpillar known as “cara de nino” in Central Mexico
Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 5:28 AM
I have been trying to find out more about this insect for quite a while, but don’t even know where to start. I only saw one of them while living in Guadalajara, Mexico. I have been told that it is a caterpillar that pests avocado trees. It is, well, avocado green with darker lines zigzagging its oval-shape body. Its head is eerily round and shiny. Some say it has a forked, red tongue, which comes out of its mannequin-looking mouth. They are called “cara de nino” (baby face) bugs.
John Sanchez
Guadalajara, Mexico, for sure

swallowtail cat mexico Swallowtail Caterpillar from Mexico

Swallowtail Caterpillar

Hi John,
This is some species of Swallowtail Caterpillar. Your photo does not have enough detail to allow for an exact species identification, but it is in the genus Papilio.

Update: Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 8:15 PM
Hi Daniel,
Sometimes when I log in, type a comment, and then click “Post”, a message states that my words are awaiting approval. More often, like today, I see no such affirmation, which leads me to suspect that my two comments went into a black hole. Thus, I’m also sending them to you directly – hope that’s OK.
Cheers,
Keith

Hola John,
The answer can be found here (from Guatemala) . . .
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2008/07/24/unknown-swallowtail-butterfly-caterpillar-from-guatemala/
. . . and here (more specifically, Veracruz):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jbuddenh/2534110452/
Best wishes,
Keith Wolfe

2

Posted 01 June 2009 § swallowtail caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) °

Owlflies from Ecuador

Need ID for Neo tropical Conservation Project
Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 6:18 AM
Dear Daniel,
Sorry about the misunderstood, I didn’t mean to say any thing bad about your students or about the way you judge them. I was actually trying to be funny but it didn’t work obviously. I have a strange kind of humour, maybe cause I m french, but well nobody’s perfect!
I am currently in Louisiana were they also are having a hard time conserving the coast line and the beautiful swamps…the problem is everywhere I m afraid.
I will be back in Ecuador next friday though.
I would like to ask you a favor: I have been having the photos I am attaching on my computer for a while and I don’t know how to classify the critters… Do you have any idea if these are hymenopteran, megalopterans, or some kind of hemipteran nymphs?
Sorry this is one of the first time I find myself so stranded with a species. I don’t have a scientific background at all, I m just learning as I go.
Thanks in advance.
Thierry
ecuador eastern slopes

owlfly ecuador thierry 300x199 Owlflies from Ecuador

Owlfly

Hi Again Thierry,
We are very happy that we can assist you with this difficult identification. We would wager money that these are Owlflies, members of the order Neuroptera, which includes Lacewings and Antlions, and the family Ascalaphidae. We haven’t a clue as to the genus or species. Here is what BugGuide uses as identification markers for Owlflies: “Bizarre creatures that look like a cross between a dragonfly and a butterfly. The body resembles that of other neuropterans, more-or-less, but the prominent antennae are clubbed like those of butterflies. Key characters:
Medium to large size
Clubbed antennae
Eyes large and bulge out from head
may rest in cryptic posture with abdomen projecting from perch, resembling a twig”. The social behavior is a bit unusual in our mind, but they may be feeding on some plant eating insect.

owlflies ecuador thierry 300x202 Owlflies from Ecuador

Owlfly Aggregation

Thank you so much Daniel for your help. Actually after I sent you the message I scrolled down you re web page and realized that some one had sent you a picture of an owlfly and imagined we could be dealing with one of them guys. Touche!
I’ m glad I learnt something as I didn’t suspect the existence of such creatures.
Good luck with everything. we’ll be in touch.

Posted 01 June 2009 § Neuropterans: Lacewings, Antlions, and Owlflies ‡ Comments (0) °

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