July 24, 2009
Very Large fly (with photo this time) Inbox X
I have been unsuccessful for several days to submit this query through the web site. It says that my file won’t upload so I decided to try submitting directly to your e-mail address that I got when you answered one of my other submissions.
This is a very large fly that I found resting on the chains of my disc golf target here at my home in Charlotte, NC. We have a large wooded area with several creeks behind our house with lots of deer. I looked through the flies section on WTB as well as BugGuide and had no luck. I used the macro function on my new camera to great success.
Brian R. Lucas
Charlotte, NC
p.s. I got so excited to submit that I forgot to attach the photo!
Tiger Bee Fly
Hi Brian,
Thanks for writing back with the image. This is a Tiger Bee Fly, Xenox tigrinus. According to BugGuide: “Larva is a parasite of Carpenter Bees Xylocopa.”
Moth
July 25, 2009
I found what I believe to be a moth of some type. I don’t remember seeing one like before and was unable to identify it from your website. It was approx. two inches long and had the appearance of being covered with fur.
Richard
North Middle Tennessee, USA
Tersa Sphinx
Hi Richard,
This is a Tersa Sphinx, Xylophanes tersa, one of the most aerodynamically engineered of the Sphinx Moths in the family Sphingidae, a family characterized by its members’ powerful flight capabilities. You can read more about the Tersa Sphinx on Bill Oehlke’s awesome website. We will be copying Bill on this response so he can add your sighting to the comprehensive data he is compiling on members of this family.
1
Colorful Beatle in S.E. PA
July 24, 2009
I found this beautiful bug in my garden, and I almost thought it was fake until it flew to one of my plants. I have never seen anything like it, the detailing was amazing, One picture is of the underneath and one from above. Thanks!
Sandra Diprojetto
Southeast PA, USA
Red Legged Buprestis
Hi Sandra,
This Metallic Wood Boring Beetle or Jewel Beetle is the Red Legged Buprestis, Buprestis rufipes. This is a magnificent beetle that is found in eastern North America. The larvae feed on the wood of maple and birch trees. You can look at higher resolution images on BugGuide.
Red Legged Buprestis
Great Site I found my answer
July 24, 2009
I found this on the help button at the gas station on my way home from work yesterday. I’ve been searching for a couple hours to find what kind of moth this is. I was very intrigued with this, as I am will all critters.
After finally finding your site, I found this is a Regal Moth. It was very interesting to read about my find.
Sheila Mc
Griffin, GA
Regal Moth affects ADA Compliance
Hi Sheila,
Thanks for your kind letter. Your identification of a Regal Moth or Royal Walnut Moth is correct. We hope the ADA Compliance Folk at the gas station don’t catch wind of this situation. We would hate to hear that measures will be taken against moths because this individual is blocking the handicap call button.
Orb Weaver with Skink Pt2
July 24, 2009
I sent two images earlier today and got one more of the same unknown orb weaver with her skink. By now he’s collapsing on himself from her nonstop feast. As my son said, “Cool. Spiders are like vampires!”
Resa in Atlanta
Atlanta, GA
Common House Spider eats Skink
Uknown Spider Feasting on Lizard
July 24, 2009
Saw this unknown spider had caught a baby skink it its web last night. I tried to get a decent night shot as the spider was biting the skink’s tail. The poor little lizard was twisitng fruitlessly. This morning the spider had turned the now dead skink and was working on it’s face. My kids enjoyed seeing the circle of life in action. I hope you enjoy the shots as well.
Resa in Atlanta
Atlanta, GA
Common House Spider eats Skink
Hi Resa,
We are thrilled to be able to post your awesome documentation, though we have a certain fondness for lizards. We do really hate those television commercials with the animated gecko though. Your spider is not an Orbweaver, but rather a Cobweb Spider. We believe it is the highly variable Common House Spider, Parasteatoda tepidariorum, based on images posted to BugGuide. Spiders are able to incapacitate much larger prey when the prey becomes entangled in the web. We have photos in our archive of a Golden Orb Weaver feeding on a Hummingbird and we have linked to an image of a Golden Silk Spider eating a Finch.
Common House Spider eats Skink
Can you identify this moth?
July 24, 2009
Dear Bugman,
My Mother who lives in Barnum, MN (located in-between Duluth and Hinckley on I-35) sent me this photo Thursday night. She lives in a very small town of about 300 people she lives on a private lake in a wooded area. The moth was hanging out on the garage at about 9:30 at night. I have spent all day Friday trying to identify it. I am having no luck. My children and I walked up to our library located a block away and got 4 butterfly/moth identification books…but this moth is still a mystery to us. I have looked in your postings of moths and can’t seem to find one that looks like it. I am now obsessed in trying to identify this moth. Can you please help me out? Thanks so much for your time,
Heidi and Family
Central Minnesota
Harris's Three Spot
Dear Heidi and Family,
We were very concerned that you might be neglecting your family or job or both in an attempt to identify your Harris’s Three Spot, so we spared no amount of time trying to research the subject ourselves. We located your Owlet Moth, the Harris’s Three Spot, Harrisimemna trisignata, on BugGuide, but there was not much information on the species which is found over much of the Eastern part of North America according to the data map on BugGuide. Lynne Scott’s Lepidoptera site has some information on the species including that the caterpillars “have been reported to feed on a variety of trees and shrubs, including viburnum, lilac, ash, willow, winterberry (Ilex verticillata) and blueberry.“
Hi,
Thanks so much for the reply. The kids (ages 9 and 5) and I have enjoyed trying to find the Harris’s Three Spot (we’ll never forget it). Actually we are having lots of fun identifying bugs in our yard this summer. We live in Des Moines, IA and have watched several Cicada’s emerge and have also watched Monarch butterflies during metamorphism and have tagged them for the migration unfortunately none of our butterflies have been recovered. We also have preying mantis and have fun finding out about them…we have lots of egg sacks on our chain link fence; of course they are all hatched now. So this was a fun dayJ I’m so glad you were able to identify it for us, hope it wasn’t too easy! We love your web site and I have also shared it with their teachers at school (they go to a parochial school). I’ll be sure to buy 3 copies of your book; one for our family, one for my parents and one for the library at school when it is published.
Thanks again so much for your time
Heidi, kids and Mom
Thanks for your kind response Heidi,
Since getting our new computer, we have been posting so many letters we have been neglecting the book, but we expect to delve into that full bore soon.
Shiny Olive-green 3-inch…Beetle?
July 23, 2009
I did not kill this bug!! He was lying on our bumper when we got out of our car at the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn, New York (right by the water on Coney Island). We had driven up from the Washington, DC, area that day and I’m not sure how long he was on board. He was about three inches long and a shiny olive color. If you could just get me started I’m sure I could find him, but all my searches turn up metallic looking bugs, which he was not. Thanks you!!
Hawke
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Giant Black Water Beetle
Hi Hawke,
This is some species of Water Beetle, either a Water Scavenger in the family Hydrophilidae, or a Predaceous Diving Beetle in the family Dytiscidae. According to BugGuide: “Water scavengers have keeled sternum, come up for air head first. Diving beetles have unkeeled sternum, come up for air tail first.” We are inclined to ID this as the Water Scavenger, Hydrophilus triangularis, which BugGuide describes as: “Large, shiny black with olive tinge. Underside with prominent spine (prosternal process). Similar to the usually smaller H. (Dibolocelus) ovatus. H. triangluaris is more oblong, H. ovatus more oval. H. ovatus is more common southward.” The common name is the Giant Black Water Beetle.
Confirmation from Eric Eaton
Daniel:
The giant black water beetle is indeed Hydrophilus triangularis.
Eric
Found this picture http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/showimage/5301/ which sure looks like him.
Thanks! I was stumped.
My husband says he saved him to put by the computer… if he is intact I’ll try to take a better picture. He was quite an impressive creature and I didn’t see any others on What’s That Bug.
Thanks!
Hawke
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