6 yr old bug scientist needs your help again
September 21, 2009
Hi,
Earlier this summer, you helped us identify a silver argiope orb weaver that we found outside my son’s school. Since then, he’s found a Golden Orb Weaver in our back yard that we identified by using your sight. Over the weekend, she suddenly disappeared for a couple of days and we wondered what happened to her. Well, this morning, we found out. She was back – and with a very large egg sac.
I’ve attached pictures of her both before and after the egg sac appeared.
My son would like to know if you have any idea how many baby spiders we can expect and how long it will take them to hatch. Also – will the mommy spider survive this process?
Thanks for your help!
P.S. I tried to send this earlier today, but got an error message and couldn’t tell if it went through so if you get it twice, I apologize.
Mom of future “bug guy”
Aliso Viejo, CA
Golden Orbweaver with Egg Sac
Dear Mom of future “bug guy”,
Several hundred spiderlings will emerge from this Golden Orbweavers Egg Sac, probably between 200 and 500. Since you live where there is a mild climate, they mother spider might survive to see her spiderlings emerge, but in harsher climates, the Egg Sac will overwinter and the mother will die. When the spiderlings emerge, they will balloon away on the wind on silken threads to disperse whichever way the wind blows. They can travel quite far on the wind.
insects from Montana desert
September 21, 2009
These are all from roughly the same location in a high-altitude desert in southern Montana. Someone suggested that the first is an antlion larva, even though it doesn’t look like any antlion pictures I’ve found so far. The second looks almost more like a crustacean than an insect, given the lack of wings and the antenna position. The third looks similar to a damselfly.
Mark
south central montana
Jumping Bristletail
Dear Mark,
Your Solpugid and Robber Fly are well represented on our site, but the creature that you believe looks like a Crustacean is a real mystery. We also believe it looks crustacean-like. Its presence on land makes it doubtful that it is a crustacean. We would lean toward an Arachnid, but it really has us baffled. The clarity of the image is somewhat problematic, as is the texture and tonality of the background which seems to obliterate some of the anatomical details. It also appears like some body parts might be missing. We will post your letter and image in the hopes that one of our readers can provide an answer. Meanwhile, could you provide any additional information regarding the conditions under which it was found and the size?
Eric Eaton identifies Montana Mystery
Hi:
Yes, the “Montana Mystery” is a “jumping bristletail,” order Microcoryphia. They are very, very primitive insects. This specimen is missing most (maybe all) its caudal (tail) filaments.
Eric
flying beetle
September 20, 2009
what is this bug
wm in arizona
mesa, az
Surinam Cockroach
Hi wm in arizona,
This is a Cockroach, and we believe it is the Surinam Cockroach, Pycnoscelus surinamensis, even though BugGuide does not report the species from Arizona. It is reported in Texas and Florida as well as other southern states. According to BugGuide, the Surinam Cockroach: “Reproduces through parthenogenesis in the US, where no males are found. It has two sexes in some parts of the world (Europe and Indo-Malaysia), though. Unlike many roaches, the egg capsule is retained inside the female’s abdomen until young are ready to emerge. Usually described as giving birth to live young, however Modern Pest Services site below seems to show that the egg capsule is ejected from the female.“
Surinam Cockroach
Bulbous, orange with black and white markings. @1/2″ diameter with orange, white and brown striped legs.
September 20, 2009
Hello, I live in Connecticut and found this spider within an outdoor light fixture. Have never seen anything like it. What kind of spider is this and is it poisonous? Is it a helpful or harmful species?
Chris
Connecticut,USA
Marbled Orbweaver
Hi Chris,
The Marbled Orbweaver, Araneus marmoreus, is a highly variable spider, but your orange variation is one of the more distinctive of the variations. This is a harmless species.
XL Gold Colored Flying Six-legged Black Tail Bug
September 20, 2009
I was startled, thrown back, shocked and subsequently frozen in my driver’s seat after I saw an insect on my windshield today that I have never seen before. It took me a second to gather myself and try to surmise whether the bug was inside the car or out. Once I gathered that I was safe as the bug was stuck to the outside of the windshield, I pulled over the side of the road to contend with the unknown beast at hand. I took a couple of pictures. The bug was about 5 inches long, excluding the long black antenna looking tail. It was gold/light brown colored, and it had wings. I believe that it had six legs.
Freaked Out
Homewood, IL (Northwest Illinois)
Giant Ichneumon on automobile windshield
Dear Freaked Out,
We love your chilling first hand account of your encounter with a Giant Ichneumon in the genus Megarhyssa. We want to allay your fears and assure you that the Giant Ichneumon will not harm you. What appears to be a stinger is the female’s ovipositor. She deposits eggs under the bark of trees infested with wood boring larvae. The larval Giant Ichneumon parasitizes the wood boring larvae.
Hello, Daniel
Thank you for taking the time to reply, and to reply so promptly, to my identification request. This is very interesting information that you shared. Upon your identification, I went online and did more research. I came across an excerpt that said Charles Darwin was amazed by these creatures as well. That long black ovipositor is frightening in appearance.
All the best to you,
Colleen
September 20, 2009
Two days ago, Boris and Media Luna spawned again. The eggs were laid on the leaf of a new plant I purchased two weeks ago at Pasadena Tropical Imports. Today the eggs hatched.
Boris (rear) and Media Luna Spawn Again
This newest spawning seems precarious. The other fish in the aquarium swim close and are not chased away as when the spawning site is more secluded. The location is also close to the filter return site and that may result in the small fry being carried away in the stream.
Boris and Media Luna (front) Spawn again
I took 10 Fry to Tropical Imports today and traded them for frozen bloodworms.
Ten Fry taken to Tropical Imports
I am catching the 7 week old fry that Lefty and Digitalis spawned on August 1. The fry have been living with the parents for seven weeks and they are ready to go to the grow out tank since it looks like Digitalis is filling with eggs. I have captured 20 + 18 + 11 for a total of 49 Fry.
Update
October 2, 2009
Boris and Media Luna’s spawn was moved into the nursery aquarium, and there was a tremendous mortality rate. Only one youngster is alive. This is now four spawns in a row that have nearly all died. This is quite confusing. Lefty and Digitalis also spawned, but the eggs grew fungus and there were no hatchlings. Yesterday, Boris and Media Luna spawned again.
¶ Posted 20 September 2009 § aquarium ‡ ° Xylophanes Pluto Moth
September 19, 2009
Here is a photo of the X-Pluto Moth in it’s Green stage at night hanging from a leaf on a Texas Lilac Tree in Garland Texas 9-19-09
Tom Stovall
Garland, TX
Rustic Sphinx Caterpillar
Hi Tom,
Your photo is quite wonderful and it illustrates this Sphinx Caterpillar in its classic pose that resulted in the name sphinx. We disagree with your identification. We believe this is a Rustic Sphinx Caterpillar, Manduca rustica. The best method for identifying both Sphinx Caterpillars and the adult moths, we believe, is to scan the images on Bill Oehlke’s Sphingidae of the Americas website. The site has the option of viewing by individual states, so you are able to just search for species found in Texas. Using that method, we identified your Rustic Sphinx Caterpillar on Bill’s website.
orange bug with blacks splotches and giant clampers
September 20, 2009
We walked outside and saw this on the ground. Please advise!
Jennifer
Sao jose dos campos, Brazil
Brazilian Blister Beetle
Hi Jennifer,
We vowed this would be our last posting for the moment since we need to go to the market. We anticipate that an exact identification may take us some time, so we are just posting your unidentified beetle in the hopes a reader can provide the answer before we return to attempt an identification. Though it resembles a Stag Beetle, the antennae are wrong. We also don’t believe this is a Longhorned Borer, since again the antennae seem wrong. We are hard pressed at the moment to even place this interesting specimen into a family classification. Our first guess is perhaps some species of Ground Beetle in the family Carabidae.
Eric Eaton provides identification
September 21, 2009
Hi, Daniel:
Yes, it is, believe it or not, a blister beetle, family Meloidae. More specifically, it is Cissites auriculata. Lots of images pop up in a Google search for that genus.
Eric
Thanks for the response Eric. A web search immediately brought up a posting on BugGuide from Texas with an comment that the common name is the Large Eared Blister Beetle. There is also a page on the Texas Beetle Information website.
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