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Monthly Archives October 2009

Wheel Bug

six leg, flying, single fang insect
October 21, 2009
Hi guys, This insect has been hanging around my house for a few days now 10/21/2009. I live in a suburb of Pittsburgh PA. Current temp is 60 ish. The insect was found clinging to a window screen, it also like painted block walls. The body from tail to the tip of the head is 1.5″ long. It seems to have a single “fang” and it does fly (not very gracefully). Can you tell me what it is?
Jim Holman
Munhall PA

wheel bug jim 300x195 Wheel Bug

Wheel Bug

Nevermind
Jim Holman to bugman
October 21, 2009
Sorry I was so quick on the trigger. I just submitted a request to id an insect or BUG in this case. I did find the insect on your site. I wasn’t sure how to search for it but using the word armored did the trick. I’m refering to the wheel bug. You may keep/use the images I sent if you like them.
Jim Holman
Pittsburgh PA

wheel bug flying jim 300x217 Wheel Bug

Wheel Bug

Hi Jim,
We are happy to see that you identified your Wheel Bug and sent us a cancellation of the identification request within eleven minutes.  We are posting your letter for two reasons.  First it demonstrates the efficiency of our search engine even without having any knowledge of insects, and we hope our readership makes use of it.  Secondly, your photos are quite good and very illustrative of this large species of Assassin Bug.  This is the only image we have ever received of a Wheel Bug with its wings expanded for flight.  Though Wheel Bugs are not prone to biting humans, they can produce a painful bite with that piercing mouth.

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Posted 22 October 2009 § Assassin Bugs ‡ Comments (1) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Pseudoscorpion

small tick-like insect with pinchers
October 21, 2009
I found it on my bedroom wall on 10/21/09.
Lori
Central Massachusetts

pseudoscorpion lori2 300x250 Pseudoscorpion

Pseudoscorpion

Hi Lori,
Pseudoscorpions are harmless predators that are found worldwide.  Because of their small size, they are rarely noticed except whey they are discovered inside homes.

Posted 22 October 2009 § Pseudoscorpions ‡ Comments (0) °

Western Conifer Seed Bug

what IS that?
October 20, 2009
this rather large fellow was on the screen door this morning. Never saw the like before.
Bill & Family
Massachusettes

western conifer seed bug bill 300x253 Western Conifer Seed Bug

Western Conifer Seed Bug

Dear Bill & Family,
Every year at this time, we get reports of Western Conifer Seed Bugs, Leptoglossus occidentalis.  They are noticed as they enter homes to hibernate as winter approaches.  This species is native to the Pacific Northwest, but has spread across the continent since the 1970s.  They are harmless.

Posted 22 October 2009 § Leaf Footed Bugs ‡ Comments (2) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Mystery Swallowtail is Common Mormon

unknown black butterfly
October 21, 2009
Thank you for the identification of the Red headed meadow katydid! It is appreciated. My father took this photo Somewhere in southern Alabama or Mississippi and I could not find this particular black swallowtail. Could you help us out please?
South Alabama bug guy
South Alabama

unknown swallowtail alabama 300x187 Mystery Swallowtail is Common Mormon

Unknown Swallowtail from Alabama is Common Mormon from butterfly house

Dear South Alabama bug guy,
In attempting to answer your question, we stumbled upon a wonderful website, Butterflies of America, that has Papilio thumbnails, as well as the entire family Papilionidae. We could not locate your specimen, and we can’t help but wonder if your father photographed this Swallowtail at a butterfly habitat, or if it is an exotic escapee from a butterfly habitat.

Hi Daniel:
This looks like a Common Mormon (Papilio polytes). It is an Australasian species, particularly common in Southeast Asia, so I expect that you were correct in assuming it was likely an escapee if it was shot in the wild. It is likely a male; the females are mimics of other swallowtails and tend to be variable and more colorful. Regards.
Karl

It turns out the common mormon was indeed taken in a butterfly house in Columbus GA… It was with other pics that weren’t. I didn’t think to ask because I didn’t know it was an exotic. But thanks for the info. I really love your website!

Posted 21 October 2009 § swallowtails ‡ Comments (0) °

Toe-Biter

Scarabs invading our work.
October 20, 2009
These have been invading our work as of late, seemed to show up a couple days ago. Everyones intrest is peaked because they look so scary. We’ve got grown men screaming like little girls!
Springs going Boing
Southeast Michigan

toebiter springs 300x267 Toe Biter

Toe-Biter

Dear Springs going Boing,
Try turning off the lights at night as they may be attracted to the lights.  This is a Giant Water Bug, also known as a Toe-Biter or Electric Light Bug and it is one of our top 10 most frequently requested identifications.

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Posted 21 October 2009 § Toe Biters and other Aquatic True Bugs ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Help for Delusory Parasitosis

HELP FOR DELUSORY PARASITOSIS
Ekbom Syndrome
October 21, 2009
Here at the University of Georgia we are conducting a research project on Ekbom Syndrome (the clinical name for delusory parasitosis). We know responding to these individuals can take a lot of your time, so please feel free to refer them to us at 706-542-9033 or Insects@uga.edu.
Dr. Nancy C. Hinkle
Insects@uga.edu
http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.ento.54.110807.090514

Dear Dr. Nancy C. Hinkle,
We are posting your letter as well as including it with earlier postings that we believe are Delusory Parasitosis.  Hopefully you will be able to help these unfortunate sufferers.

Posted 21 October 2009 § Diseases: Real and Imagined ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Bagworm Moth from the Swiss Alps

Fuzzy Black bug from the Alps
October 19, 2009
I have always wondered what this bug is. My husband and I encountered it a few years ago when we were hiking in the mountains in Switzerland. We were taking a lunch break just above the tree line and this little guy just floated onto my arm and hung out there for a while. You can see from the scale of the picture that it was small, about the size of a fly but covered with a fine fuzz, and it had feathery antenna where its eyes should have been. Have you seen this before?
Hiking Girl
Swiss Alps

black woolly aphid alps cu 300x200 Bagworm Moth from the Swiss Alps

Bagworm Moth

Dear Hiking Girl,
WE are going to enlist our readership for assistance with your insect.  We believe it is a Homopteran, a group of insects that includes Aphids.  Your specimen bears a striking resemblance to a Woolly Aphid, but it is black instead of white.  Please check back on our site to see if any of our readers have provided comments that correctly identify this minute creature.

black woolly aphid alps 300x225 Bagworm Moth from the Swiss Alps

Bagworm Moth

Hi, thanks for posting my bug! One thing I remember; when I first saw it I thought it was a mutated form of a fly or some other bug because it didn’t have eyes or a typical head or mouth that I could see, just the fine fur everywhere. The antenna were actually in place of the eyes. There were no eyes on this bug that I could see. It looks like the other woolly aphids on your site have eyes. So, maybe they are not the same exact species.

Comment from Eric Eaton
Hi, Daniel:
I think the “woolly aphid” thing from the alps is actually a moth in the family Heterogynidae, but I can’t find an image of anything identical to what is posted at WTB.  Try Julian Donahue, he might be able to at least verify or correct the family I’m giving you.
Eric

Comment from Karl
Hi Hiking Girl:What a lovely and curious looking creature! It’s an excellent photo but the details are still a little difficult to see with all the dark fuzz. It appears to have four, slightly hairy wings and long bipectinate or plume-like antennae poking out of all that hair. I believe this is a Bagworm or Case Moth (family Psychidae). It looks very much like a male Ptilocephala plumifera (Oiketicinae: Oreopsychini), a species that occurs throughout most of Europe south of the British Isles and Scandinavia. Bagworms get their name because the larvae construct cases out of silk and any handy materials they can find (sticks, sand, plant material, etc.). They drag their cases around with them and anchor them to a surface when they pupate. For comparison you can link to:

http://barry.fotopage.ru/bk/index.php?species=1730

Great bug – thanks for sharing.  K

Comment from Julian Donahue
October 23, 2009
Hi Daniel,
Good call by Eric, but I can’t confirm it. I don’t think heterogynid wings are that scaleless (photos on the Web show fully scaled wings)–if it’s a moth, the lack of wing scales make it look more like a psychid.
But without having the specimen in hand I can’t even confirm what order it’s in!
Julian

Comment from Eric Eaton
Wow, I think Karl nailed it!  What a wonderful insect.
I have learned just as much from WTB as I’ve brought to it.  Thanks, guys, for networking to solve mysteries like this.
Eric

Posted 21 October 2009 § Moths ‡ Comments (1) °

Hooded Owlet Moth Caterpillar

Please help ID this Caterpillar.
October 18, 2009
I am truly flummoxed about what this Caterpillar is, even after throughly Googling it, looking through my extensive “Caterpillar of N. America field guide, and posting pics of it to another site (Bugguide.net, where the closest ID was “Owlet Moth”…but none of the Owlet Caterpillars look like this). The plant it is on (and ingesting) is “Golden-Aster” (Heterotheca latifolia). It has a series of color combinations and sizes(perhaps ‘instars’?), but all individuals of the largest size look like the pics I am attaching. Dozens showed up suddenly on the plants that grow in very sandy soil all around where I live. I have found them in other N. Texas (Dallas-Ft. Worth) areas. ID help would be appreciated.
Tzila “Z” Duenzl
Horseshoe Bend, Weatherford, Texas

hooded owlet cat tzila 300x225 Hooded Owlet Moth Caterpillar

Hooded Owlet Moth Caterpillar

Dear Tzila,
This is an Owlet Moth Caterpillar, more specifically, a Hooded Owlet Moth Caterpillar in the genus Cucullia, probably the Brown Hooded Owlet, Cucullia convexipennis, which can be viewed in numerous photos on BugGuide.  The food plant aster is corroborating evidence of the identification.  Your photos are spectacular.

hooded owlet cat 2 tzila 300x265 Hooded Owlet Moth Caterpillar

Hooded Owlet Moth Caterpillar

Ok…thanks Daniel. This was suggested on BugGuide (I submitted my pics for ID – look under “mtwoman”), but when I looked at the BugGuide guide pics of the Brown Hooded Owlet caterpillar, the coloring seemed different enough for me to question that ID. Could the coloring be different (lighter and more orange/yellow than red) because of the instar/age of the caterpillar? Anyway thanks! And thanks for the compliment!! You can see more of my pics on BugGuide under user name  “mtwoman” (for “Mountain Woman”).
Tzila “Z” Duenzl

Hooded Owlet Moth Caterpillars are notoriously variable in coloration.

Posted 21 October 2009 § Cutworms and Owlet Caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) °

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