Monthly Archives June 2009

Tulip Tree Silk Moth

Please help us identify this beautiful moth!
Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 8:16 AM
Hey Mr. Bugman! We LOVE your website and use it to identify little critters we find around our wooden lot in North Central Maryland on the PA line. This morning we spotted this gorgeous moth, took pictures and immediately tried to identify it on your site…with out much success or time to spend looking. Please let us know if you can help us out. I have attached several pictures as it was so beautiful that I took A Lot! Thanks for all you do to provide such an educational site for us to view (we are homeschoolers, use it often and have spread the word to others)
Kindly, Valerie Corkran
North Central Maryland (Manchester)

tuliptree silkmoth valerie 300x233 Tulip Tree Silk Moth

Tulip Tree Silkmoth

Hey Valerie,
We love getting enthusiastic letters with wonderful photos like yours.  This is a female Tulip Tree Silkmoth, Callosamia angulifera.  You can read more about it on BugGuide. We feel confident that it is not the closely related  and similar appearing Promethea Moth, Callosamia promethea.

tuliptree silkmoth valerie 2 300x243 Tulip Tree Silk Moth

Tulip Tree Silkmoth

What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Solpugid

Orange Legged Bug
Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 8:45 PM
Please help. I find these creepy things in my basement in the springtime and can’t stand it. I have no idea what it is and they seem to be somewhat aggressive.
Thanks!
Laurie, Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs, CO

solpugid laurie 300x295 Solpugid

Solpugid

Hi Laurie,
This is a harmless (unless you are a small creature) Solpugid, a non-venomous relative of spiders and scorpions.  Solpugids are fierce predators that will keep your house free of cockroaches and other undesirable intruders.  They are sometimes called Sun Spiders or Wind Scorpions.

Aquaria Update: 10 Angelfish Sold, 20 Fry Moved, Hatchlings Removed

The Aquaria Saga Continues
23 June 2009. 3:49 PM
I just returned from Tropical Imports. I sold 10 3 month old Angelfish for $10 store credit. I used the money to buy a larger net (for catching fry from the 29 gallon aquarium) and more brine shrimp eggs. I took a photo of the 10 fledglings before leaving the house. There are now 120 fry in the 50 gallon aquarium.

10 angelfish sold 300x203 Aquaria Update:  10 Angelfish Sold,  20 Fry Moved, Hatchlings Removed

10 three month old fledgling Angelfish bagged to go to Tropical Imports

I want to try to move all the fry from the 29 gallon tank into the 50 gallon tank. Lefty’s mate, who I’m thinking of calling Digitalis, seems to be filling with eggs.

digitalis lefty fry 20090623 300x172 Aquaria Update:  10 Angelfish Sold,  20 Fry Moved, Hatchlings Removed

Digitalis (left) and Lefty with Fry

The fry seem to be picking at the parents. Lefty has a slime coating that I’ve never noticed before.I captured 20 fry and there only seems to be 4 left in the aquarium with the parents. When I captured 30 fry last week, it seemed there were many more than 24 siblings still with parents. could there be hydra or other predators feeding on the fry? I took some photos to show the relative size before the move.

lefty fry 20090623 254x300 Aquaria Update:  10 Angelfish Sold,  20 Fry Moved, Hatchlings Removed

Lefty with some Fry

The latest spawn from Boris and Media Luna in the 40 gallon community aquarium hatched and were moved to another leaf. They hatched sometime yesterday. I will try removing some with a turkey baster today. The nursery aquarium is prepared.

Update:
25 June 2009, 11:34 AM
I removed fry to a smaller floating plastic container in the nursery aquarium two days ago. Today I removed another turkey baster full, leaving just a few fry with the very protective parents. I also managed to remove three additional youngsters from Lefty’s aquarium. I know there were at least four left two days ago, and yesterday there were still four, but today I could only account for three. Either there is one small fry still hiding, or there may be one or more predators lurking in the plants. Perhaps a dragonfly larva or more was introduced with mosquito larvae. Perhaps something came in on the plants. There is evidence that something has been eating the fry in that aquarium, but no concrete proof. It is odd that I only removed 53 fry to the 50 gallon aquarium, which now contains 143 fry from three spawings from 2 sets of parents.

Update:
29 June 2009, 5:43 PM
The fry that were moved into the nursery aquarium are now free swimming and eating newly hatched brine shrimp nauplii.  Meanwhile, Lefty and Digitalis laid eggs and they hatched while I was in Mendocino.  The wrigglers were moved from a leaf on the left to the spotted sword plant, and then back.  I need to buy a new air pump so I can shut off the filter when the fry begin to swim.

What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Doodlebug

whats this bug?
Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 4:17 PM
It lives in what looks like a place where water from an eve has fallen in the sand and made a little crater. when a bug falls in the crater it eats it. it looks like it has a long neck with pincher’s.
jeremiah trzil
michagan

doodlebug jeremiah 242x300 Doodlebug

Doodlebug

Hi Jeremiah,
We always love posting images of Doodlebugs, the predatory larvae of Antlions.  Doodlebugs dig a crater in loose sand and wait patiently buried in the bottom with only their impressive mandibles visible.  When a hapless ant or other insect approaches the edge of the pit, the sand crumbles away and the insect finds itself skewered on the Doodlebugs jaws.

1

Hellgrammite

What is this?
Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 9:39 PM
My freind and I were camping in Algonquin Park for six day on the Petawawa River. On the second last night we came across this interesting looking centipeide? at around 9:30 in the evening. After following it around for a whille we noticed another one. We then paned the rocky campsite and saw may of these things crawling towards us. They all must have been about 4 to 5 inches in length and a half inch wide. As the next day went on we saw very few (2 or three of them)of there on our travels down river. When night approced that evening we saw them againg coming out in numbers. Thge only difference this night is that they were crawing all over my tent as I slept. At one point of the night I woke up and counted ten on my tent. It was deffenatly a very creepy ni ght! I am very interested to know what this is?
Greg Noel
Algonquin Park on the Petawawa River

hellgrammite greg Hellgrammite

Hellgrammite

Dear Greg,
If your camping trip involved fishing, you missed an opportunity to stock up on one of the most prized of all live bait, Hellgrammites. Hellgrammites are the larvae of Dobsonflies. We have recently posted several images of Dobsonflies, so your Hellgrammite is a welcome current posting to our site. Your first-hand observations of the nocturnal wanderings of Hellgrammites is unlike anything we have ever read in a traditional entomology text, and as such, it is priceless.

Robber Fly

Strange Flying Bug in Yard
Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 9:16 AM
Flying insect. Looks like it is laying eggs. Fly type body, wasp like wings, has design on body like bee. Looked like a giant mosquito to me. Made deep buzzing sound as a warning when I got too close. Never saw one before.
the bug guy
Tucson, Arizona

robber fly efferia 153x300 Robber Fly

Robber Fly: Efferia rapax???

Dear bug guy,
This is a Robber Fly, and we believe it is in the genus Efferia. There is a photo of Efferia rapax posted to BugGuide with numerous comments. That photo looks very similar to your specimen, and it is also from Arizona. It would really take someone far more qualified than we are to properly identify what species of Robber Fly you have.

robber fly efferia 2 170x300 Robber Fly

Robber Fly: Efferia rapax???

Giant Leopard Moth

White moth with blue and black spots
Sun, Jun 21, 2009 at 8:30 AM
I found this in northwest Louisiana close to the TX border about a month ago I think he was on his last leg. I was able to pick him up and move him out of harms way. I looked through your moth section and found no pics. I’d like to know what he is.
LaTonia
NW Louisiana near Texas border

leopard moth latonia 300x200 Giant Leopard Moth

Giant Leopard Moth

Of LaTonia,
Of the four identification requests for the Giant Leopard Moth,  Hypercompe scribonia, we have received since Friday, your sighting was the furthest west and south.  Your moth is missing the scales from the tips of the wings, indicating either it is an older moth, or that it has encountered some type of trauma.  We are thrilled to be able to post all four letters so our readership will have a clear idea of the range of this moth, and also that despite the 1000s of miles separating them, their biological clocks are ticking on the same schedule.

Giant Leopard Moth

Leopard Looking Cicada?
Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 11:01 AM
My grandmother found this bug outside of my house near Cincinnati, Ohio. It was flying, but flew into a spider web, and when we went back to check it, it was on the concrete next to the house. The body of it looked kind of like a caterpillar, and was entirely black and white. It appeared unable to fly, so my grandmother and I moved it to the grass. When we went back to check on it, it was gone.
Kirsten Grimsley
Midwest, United States

leopard moth kirsten 300x224 Giant Leopard Moth

Giant Leopard Moth

Hi Kirsten,
In four days, we have received at least four requests to have a Giant Leopard Moth, Hypercompe scribonia, identified, and your sighting was from the furthest north.  The southernmost sighting was in Louisiana.  The tips of the wings of your moth, also known as an Eyed Tiger Moth, are missing many scales, no doubt because of the trauma associated with the spider web.


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