Unidintified cricket possibly a hoplosphyrum boreale?
September 23, 2009
I just sent you a couple of pictures and asked you to identify a cricket that wasn’t a field cricket. I poked around online and found a description that fit. I couldn’t find a picture. “females are scaly and wingless” “common scaly cricket”? What do you think?
bugbarb
Chantry Flat, Angeles National Forest, California
Cricket
Unknown cricket species, not a field cricket.
September 23, 2009
I have a healthy family of field crickets which I have raised from eggs laid by a single mother. Occasionally, I put in immature field crickets that I find in my yard. One such cricket has turned out to not be a field cricket. She has not grown at all and has fully developed ovipositor. She is brown, and has some dark horizontal bands. I have had her for over a month and she still doesn’t have wings that I can see. I have never seen this type of cricket before. I live at 2,200 feet elevation in Big Santa Anita Canyon in Angeles National Forest. Our canyon is one of the few places the recent Station Fire hasn’t burned. I find many interesting bugs in my yard because of the location.
Bugbarb
Chantry Flat, Angeles National Forest, California
Cricket
Hi Bugbarb,
Based on two images from Southern California posted to BugGuide, we believe you have properly identified this Cricket as Hoplosphyrum boreale.
Cool article: cloth spun from spider’s silk
September 23, 2009
Hi WTB–
I thought you might enjoy this article–beautiful cloth woven from silk that was harvested from orb weaver spiders.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/09/spider-silk/
JJR
Dear JJR,
We should have some very old postings in our archive on textiles woven from the silk of the Golden Silk Spiders in the genus Nephila. Thanks for the awesome link.
Pink – rose katydid
September 22, 2009
hey today i found a grasshopper that looks like a katydid and is pink and kind of rose colored and is quite beautiful, it is about 2 – 2.5 inches long. I have seen several bright green ones around but found this one today!
Chris
nassau county florida
Round Headed Katydid: Pink Form
Hi Chris,
The pink form of the Round Headed Katydids in the genus Amblycorypha is not very common. According to an Eric Eaton comment on BugGuide: “the genus Amblycorypha (roundheaded katydids), the only genus in North America that I am aware of that gets pink or red individuals.“
Round Headed Katydid: Pink Form
¶ Posted 23 September 2009 § Katydids ‡ ° Heliothis virescens
September 22, 2009
Hi,
Well, the yard has exploded with moths, butterflies and caterpillars – counted 11 black swallowtail cats on the dill and parsley, with countless eggs still to hatch, and found 2 empty chrysallises on the porch rail and landscape timbers in the yard. The snaps are full of Buckeye caterpillars which go nicely with the Buckeye flag hanging from the porch (it’s football!! Go Bucks!!) While inspecting the dill, I found this pink striped caterpillar on the Russian sage that’s planted next to the dill (and under the Ohio State flag). It’s been at least 3 days of searching but I think this comes close to BugGuide’s Tobacco Budworm – the description says it tends to take on the color of the plant it’s eating. It was also getting close to sunset, so the light and the flowers on the Russian sage really helped hide this one. Please feel free to correct the ID – I think we’ve looked at over 8 million pictures of pink caterpillars since Saturday night. Thanks!
Kathleen Haines
Newport News, VA (southeastern VA)
Tobacco Budworm??
Dear Kathleen,
We love the enthusiasm in the tone of your letter. This looks like it may be a Tobacco Budworm, but we are not certain. We will post your letter and image and link to the BugGuide page on the species in the hopes that an expert can provide some input.
Tobacco Budworm??
Daniel,
Thanks so much! I’d actually already been to your site before going to my email and was delighted to see the pictures already there. You all are terrific and do such a good job!
My daughter is an elementary school art teacher and brought her school’s science teacher over yesterday to “harvest” some caterpillars from the yard. They took 3 or 4 black swallowtail caterpillars, then went to the local garden center and picked up a few dill plants and are hoping to be able to follow the caterpillar to butterfly saga all the way through. They also found a fuzzy tan caterpillar out on the green cones – the guy looks like he needs a serious day with a hairstylist – that we’re working on identifying. And this morning, the snaps were covered with at least a dozen Common Buckeye caterpillars. It’s all just a great reward for planting for butterflies!
Thanks again for your great site and all the good work you do.
Kathy Haines
Southeastern Virginia
What’s that moth?
September 22, 2009
I am not from this field. So don’t have much to write about it except that the moth was found recently, in September 2009 in Pune, India
Ram Kulkarni
Pune, India
Fruit Piercing Moth from India
Hi Ram,
This is such a beautiful moth, that despite being late for work, we have decided to post it as unidentified in the hopes that one of our readers will have enough time to research its name. Karl, are your reading???
Hi Daniel:
This beautiful moth is a fruit-piercing moth (Noctuidae: Calpinae [sometimes included in subfamily Ophiderinae or Catocalinae]) in the genus Eudocima. There are several similar looking species in India, but I believe this one is probably E. materna. The common name is sometimes given as the Pacific Fruit-Piercing Moth, but the same name is also given for other closely related species. It is very wide ranging, found throughout Asia, Africa and the Pacific. It was formerly considered pantropical, but New World populations (including in the USA and Canada) are now considered their own species, the nearly identical E. apta =Ophideres apta). As the common name implies, the adult moths are considered a pest on a wide variety fruit trees. The individual in Ram’s photo looks like a male. Regards.
Karl
1
Found in the Sand Dunes
September 22, 2009
Hi Bugman,
We found this little creature over the weekend in the Sand Dunes of Oklahoma. Can you help identify it?
Marsha Reynolds
Oklahoma
Potato Bug in Oklahoma
Hi Marsha,
The Potato Bug is one of our top 10 identification requests. We get so many identification requests for Potato Bugs or Jerusalem Crickets in the genus Stenopelmatus, that we rarely post a new letter unless it is interesting or has a wonderful photograph. Your letter is unusual in that most of our submissions come from California and the Southwest, though in recent years there have been many sightings in Idaho and Wyoming. This is the first report we have gotten from Oklahoma. We don’t know if this represents a natural range expansion, or an accidental introduction, or if perhaps the insects were always present but since they are not common, they have not been reported. You can check the reported sightings on BugGuide to verify how unusual your sighting is.
Two mystery bugs
September 21, 2009
Bug #1 – Brown, six legged with wings and looks to be a stinger. About 2 inches long. Found dead on our driveway.
Bug #2 – Brown and white spotted bugs with orange spots almost like a lady bug. Found on our althea red heart hibiscus buds.
Heather Korn
West Tennessee
Scentless Plant Bug
Hi again Heather,
Bug #2 is a Scentless Plant Bug, Niesthrea louisianica, and it has no common name. According to BugGuide, it: “Feeds on flower buds and seeds of plants in the Mallow family (Malvaceae), such as Hibiscus and Rose of Sharon.“ More importantly, BugGuide also indicates it is: “Used as a control of the invasive annual weed, Velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti). In one 1987 study mentioned here it was found to reduce seed production by 98%.“ The brightly colored immature nymphs in your photo are wingless, but your photo also shows a winged adult, though the individual is not the point of focus in your photograph.
Two mystery bugs
September 21, 2009
Bug #1 – Brown, six legged with wings and looks to be a stinger. About 2 inches long. Found dead on our driveway.
Bug #2 – Brown and white spotted bugs with orange spots almost like a lady bug. Found on our althea red heart hibiscus buds.
Heather Korn
West Tennessee
Mole Cricket
Dear Heather,
We frown on unrelated insects in the same posting as it compromises our archiving process, so we will address Bug #2 separately. We have gotten numerous requests worldwide recently for Mole Cricket identifications. We have responded to some without posting the images and your photo is quite nice, so we have decided it is time to post a new image of a Mole Cricket on our site. Mole Crickets are found underground and some species are capable of flight.
Hi and thanks for the information. I apologize for posting unrelated insects in the same posting and will remember not to do so in the future. Your answers are very helpful and informative, I appreciate it.
Thanks again for your time and have a great day.
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