yellow caterpillar?
October 16, 2009
Found in a garden in Florence Italy during October of 2009. What is it? Is it bad for plants?
A. Livingston
Florence, Italy
Death's Head Hawkmoth Caterpillar
Dear A. Livingston,
This is the caterpillar of a Death’s Head Hawkmoth, Acherontia atropos, and other than eating some leaves, it is not harmful to the plant it is feeding upon. You may find additional information on the Sphingidae of the Palaearctic website.
What is this?
October 16, 2009
We found this on a dwarf orange tree in our yard today (October 16, 2009) and would like to know what it is. It had apparently eaten half a leaf in the morning. In the evening it was on another leaf, which it had begun to consume. It move it’s head vertically when I first moved my hand toward the leaf upon which it perched. We would love to know what it is. Thank you!
Dr. TJ
San Diego, CA
Orange Dog
Dear Dr. TJ,
This is an Orange Dog, the caterpillar of the spectacular Giant Swallowtail. We gladly sacrifice a few leaves on our citrus trees to be able to enjoy this beautiful butterfly in our garden. The resemblance of the Orange Dog to bird droppings is a camouflage mimicry device.
*Must see* – Garden spider laying eggs
October 16, 2009
North CarolinaThis garden spider is the only form of pest control we use in our veggie garden – we find a pest, and into the web it goes. My 5 year old loves to help too, he named her “yellow butt”. She was well fed enough this season to produce two egg sacs, the second of which I was able to get these great photos of. I checked in on her every 5 mins for an hour and watched her progress. These photos are of her attaching the eggs to the base, but before she has encased them all in silk.
Josh
North Carolina
Golden Orbweaver laying eggs
Hi Josh,
This spectacular species, Argiope aurantia, has numerous common names, and we prefer Golden Orbweaver. Your egg laying documentation is a wonderful addition to our website. Thanks for the contribution.
Golden Orbweaver laying eggs
what is this insect?
October 17, 2009
In late summer 2006, I started noticing some kind of unidentified roach-like bug in the garden & around the house.
Observed in daylight, doesn’t run to avoid light. Body is ~6 mm long, semi-translucent, with darker brown stripes lengthwise down the back side of body, and one central brown stripe. Feelers approx as long as body, 2 mandible-type extensions near base of feelers, 6 legs, rearmost legs longest, with hairy extensions on them, two spikey extensions at rear end. Body is segmented, no obvious wings. A captured one was observed to have a very large object attached to it, which it eventually shed after about a day (at right). Is this some kind of egg case?
(see attached jpg images)
Thank you, JD
Petaluma, California
Cockroach
Hi JD,
This is a species of Cockroach, and we believe it is Phyllodromica trivittata, a Mediterranean import that BugGuide reports from California. BugGuide has this comment: “Known from dry habitats around the Mediterranean. It has been recorded from Morocco; Algeria; Spain; Italy (Sardinia Island); Italy (Sicily); Libya; and Israel. Given that it has not been recorded as being a pest in buildings in those countries (as far as I’m aware) it is unlikely to invade buildings in the USA. Comment by George Beccaloni (The Natural History Museum, London, UK).“ In many species of Cockroaches, the female carries the oothica, or egg case, and your description and photograph support this, though that photo is a bit blurry and we will not be posting it. The Cockroach Forum has some nice images.
Cockroach
large black bug with brown legs
October 17, 2009
we found this bug last night outside our front door. it has sux legs and two larger feelers on wither side of its body. its body is black and legs are brown. it crawls sideways and very fast. tried catching it but it was too quick for us
Rhiannon
Wickenburg, Arizona
Tailless Whipscorpion
Dear Rhiannon,
Once we turned to BugGuide to substantiate our simple response, that response suddenly became a bit more complicated. We have always referred to this fascinating creature as a Tailless Whipscorpion, but now that we have noticed that BugGuide has taken its identification to the species level, Paraphrynus mexicanus is being commonly called a Tail-less Whip Scorpion, but the order Amblypygi is still being called Tailless Whipscorpions. The species information page on BugGuide states: “Primarily denizens of humid tropics, most North American species are found in Florida and Gulf states, where they occasionally enter houses” but interestingly, all the submissions have been from Arizona. We prefer the non-hyphenated, compound word spelling of Tailless Whipscorpion indicated on the order information page of BugGuide. These are shy, nocturnal, harmless predators that do not have any venom, and despite the frightening appearance, they are perfectly harmless, though foraging cockroaches, if they could contribute to this web page, might disagree. They are capable of rapid, crablike, sideways, scuttling locomotion.
Big spider on my door
October 15, 2009
We came home and we went “Eaahh!” There was a huge (2″?) spider on our front door. After some fiddling with our camera we managed to get a couple of half-decent photos of it. We thought it might be the California Trapdoor Spider that some others have met recently, but it’s body isn’t shiny and black and doesn’t quite look the same.
The Gandolfo Family
Hills outside Santa Rosa, Northern California
Crevice Weaver Spider
Dear Gandolfo Family
As much as we would have loved this to be a female California Trapdoor Spider, we believe it is a female Crevice Weaver Spider in the genus Kukulcania. We found some closely matching images on BugGuide. One of the postings on BugGuide indicates that individuals in this genus may live for 10 years. Males are sometimes mistaken for Brown Recluse Spiders. BugGuide has additional information. We also are providing a link to images of the female California Trapdoor Spider, though they rarely leave their burrows.
Crevice Weaver Spider
Trapdoor Spider
October 17, 2009
My wife found this spider in our kitchen sink. She was too scared to pick it out even though it was dead. After picking it out I was fascinated by its size. My question is if this spider is dangerous/venomous? Thank You.
Erik T.
Mount Washington, Los Angeles
California Trapdoor Spider
Hi Erik,
Thanks for informing us about another Mount Washington sighting of a Male California Trapdoor Spider. All spiders have venom, but only a few are harmful to humans. Either the venom is too mild or is not of sufficient quantity, or the fangs of the spider cannot penetrate human skin. We know of no reports of anyone being bitten by a California Trapdoor Spider, but that does not mean it cannot happen. The California Trapdoor Spider is not a species that is considered harmful to humans. We are happy to hear that there must still be a healthy population of this magnificent spider in the Mount Washington area where continued development is reducing the amount of open space.
Mountain Bug love
October 16, 2009
Found these two love-bugs while hiking a mountain in the Hudson Valley region of New York state during late spring. I’m not sure what they are, but I think they’re in love 
.
Tori
Hudson Valley, New York
Mating Purple Tiger Beetles
Hi Tori,
These are mating Tiger Beetles in the genus Cicindela. There are numerous species illustrated on BugGuide. We believe they may be Purple Tiger Beetles, Cicindela purpurea, though we would prefer to have an actual expert confirm the species ID. You can check out the photos and description of the Purple Tiger Beetle on BugGuide.
Dave Gracer’s comment
What’s cool about this pic is that the female has got some food, most likely supplied by the male as a token. In other words, sex for food. Other kinds of animals do this — I don’t know how many, but I know that roadrunners to it. Pretty fascinating, when you consider the possibility that there are some vague analogies in our species.
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