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Monthly Archives November 2009

Fanmail

Inspiring Site – just another fanmail
November 5, 2009
I’m still currently trudging my way through your gigantic archive and loving it. I was always a bug lover, but I’ve learned so much and been able to happily identify bugs in my area I’ve seen around (Including the sudden swam of Polkadot Wasp Moths and Oleander Caterpillars). I’ve also pleased to learn that many bugs I was afraid of are perfectly harmless (Mostly various wasp species.). Also while going through your site, I had a nerdy artist sort of epiphany: Insects are like living art. So many have such wonderful color schemes and designs. Even bugs with neutral colors can be incredibly striking. Ever since I’ve been making a collection of photos off your site for color scheme references in my own art. It’s wonderful that there are some very good professional and amateur photographe rs contributing with their photos. Anyway, thanks so much for providing this service and your own educating comments. I look forward to finishing your archives.
Regards,
Casey

Thanks for the sweet email Casey.

Posted 05 November 2009 § Uncategorized ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Mountain Katydid from Australia

Black Katydid Bogong High Plains
November 5, 2009
What type of bug is this? We saw it on the 20th of January 2008. Near Falls Creek ski resort in the Victorian Alps. Bogong High Plains, Victoria Australia.
Matt Gawler
-36° 53′ 32.36″, +147° 17′ 26.20″

black katydid australia matt 300x261 Mountain Katydid from Australia

Mountain Katydid

Hi Matt,
We had no luck identifying your black Katydid on the Brisbane Insects website. Perhaps one of our readers will have better luck searching the internet than we have had.

Hi Daniel:
I haven’t checked out all the possibilities but this looks very much like a male Mountain Katydid (Acripeza reticulata). Females of the species are flightless. Check out this link to “Dave’s Garden” for more photos and lots of information. Regards.
Karl

Posted 05 November 2009 § Katydids ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Seagrape Sawfly from Honduras

Possible sawfly laying eggs
November 4, 2009
I was encouraged by Eric Eaton (Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America) to forward my question and photo to you for help in identification. He indicates that the insect is not a cicada, but is most likely a sawfly of some type. Thank you in advance for any guidance you can give!

My original question to him:
On September 8, 2007 I noted this (and numerous other identical) insects all laying eggs in similar clusters on the underside of leaves on a small tree. The tree had somewhat leathery leaves… perhaps a ficus of some sort? The location was within 100 feet of the ocean on the west end of the Honduran island of Roatan. I initially thought the insect was a type of fly – but am now convinced it is a cicada of some type. It seems to be morphologically similar to the Emerald cicada, Zammara smaragdina, from Honduras – photo at this site:
http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/Honduras/Hemiptera/Zammara%20smaragdina.htm
Over the last two years, I have contacted a series of individuals looking for help with ID, to no avail. Can you help?
Karen
West End of Roatan Island, Honduras

honduran insect eggs karen 300x235 Seagrape Sawfly from Honduras

Seagrape Sawfly lays eggs

Dear Karen,
First, let us say that your photograph is lovely, and the insect is an interesting specimen.  We are quite intrigued that Eric Eaton referred you to us since we constantly depend upon Eric to make corrections for us.  We do have several contributors who love the challenge of identifying exotic species that we post, and we hope Karl is reading.  Our first thought is that this might be a Free Living Hemipteran in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, which includes the Cicadas.  Eric Eaton has pointed out in the past that there are many exotic families found in the tropics that are not represented in temperate areas.  If Eric believes this is a Sawfly, we do not want to disagree.  We would strongly recommend that you provide a comment to our posting so that if six months down the line, your insect gets identified, you will be notified.  We do not maintain a database of email addresses for our readership, and though we send emails directly at the time of posting, once time has elapsed, we would not be notifying the querant directly. We would also inquire if you have any images showing the head of the insect as that might help to narrow the field of suspects.

Thank you for your comments.  With the help of both Eric Eaton and Dave Smith (research entomologist retired from the Smithsonian), I now have the identification for this sawfly.  Here is Dave Smith’s comment:
Argidae:  A sawfly, Sericoceros mexicanus (Kirby). For a good article on this, see:
Ciesla, W. M. 2002. Observations on the life history and habits of a tropical sawfly, Sericoceros mexicanus (Kirby) (Hymenoptera: Argidae) on Roatan Island, Honduras. The Forestry Chronicle 78(4): 515-521.
The plant must be seagrape, Coccoloba uvifera. Females lay eggs in clusters on the leaf, and stand guard over the eggs until they die. Larvae feed on the leaf edges. Sericoceros mexicanus occurs from southern Mexico to Panama. Other species of the genus are found from Mexico to S. Amer. and in Puerto Rico.

Once we had a name, finding more images online was easy.

1

Posted 05 November 2009 § Eggs § Horntails, Wood Wasps and Sawflies ‡ Comments (1) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Southern Sculptured Pine Borer

Black and White Beetle
November 4, 2009
I have been trying to identify this beetle. It is black and white (off white/beige), with 6 legs and 2 black antennae. It has wings, although I havent seen it attempt to fly. It also has a bronze metallic sheen to its underbelly. Any Ideas?
Thanks- Robin
Deland, Florida

southern sculptured pine borer robin 300x278 Southern Sculptured Pine Borer

Southern Sculptured Pine Borer

Hi Robin,
Your lovely beetle is a Southern Sculptured Pine Borer, Chalcophora georgiana.  You can see images on BugGuide for comparison.  It might also be a Sculptured Pine Borer, Chalcophora virginiensis, which is also pictured on BugGuide.

Posted 05 November 2009 § Metallic Borer Beetles ‡ Comments (1) °

Pink Spotted Hawkmoth Caterpillar

Large caterpillars
November 2, 2009
Hello-
I found these (2) massive caterpillars in my morning glories this morning. They were on the shady side, I guess that would be north west.  They were about three inches long and about  half an inch in diameter. I live in Bryan, Texas off West Villa Maria Rd.
Please tell me that they are not some alien invasion trying to take over Texas starting with my house!
Thank you in advance for your reply,
Nadine Harrison

agrius cat nadine 2 300x177 Pink Spotted Hawkmoth Caterpillar

Pink Spotted Hawkmoth Caterpillar

Hi Nadine,
This is a Pink Spotted Hawkmoth Caterpillar, Agrius cingulata.  It is a highly variable caterpillar, but Bill Oehlke’s excellent website has one of similar coloration.  Feeding on morning glories was a great hint to assist in the identification.

agrius cat nadine 274x300 Pink Spotted Hawkmoth Caterpillar

Pink Spotted Hawkmoth Caterpillar

Posted 03 November 2009 § Hornworms ‡ Comments (0) °

Another Leaf Skeletonizer moth from Maryland

orange and black moth in maryland
November 2, 2009
I have liven in Maryland my entire life and have not seen this guy before. there were several dozen flying around the house on halloween and they were gone the next day. I never saw one land but when i forced one to the ground it did not move and i was able to pick it up and hold it without it trying to fly away. it did not try to fly when i set it on the ground or an elevated point, i had to toss it in the air and then it flew just as it had been. the abdomen has several black spots around pores but no hair, the head is black and the wings are black near the body and transparent at the tips.
Richard
Pasadena Maryland

leaf skeletonizer richard 300x241 Another Leaf Skeletonizer moth from Maryland

Leaf Skeletonizer Moth

Hi Richard,
WE were very puzzled by another letter we received yesterday with images.  It seems this is an introduced species of Leaf Skeletonizer Moth, Pryeria sinica.  You can read about it on the Invasive Species of Concern in Maryland website.   The website indicates:  “In April and May of both 2001 and 2002, a homeowner in the City of Fairfax, Fairfax County, Virginia, noticed a large infestation of larvae on her ornamental Euonymus (Celastraceae); the larvae were causing significant defoliation of the plants. In May 2002, several larval specimens were sent to the Insect Identification Lab, Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Virginia for identification. The entomologist there (Eric Day) reared the larvae to adults, which emerged in November. Additional adults were collected at the Fairfax site in December 2002 and submitted to the Insect Identification Lab. Eric forwarded the adults to John Brown at the USDA Systematic Entomological Laboratory (SEL) in March 2003. Based on the available literature, comparison with specimens in the collection of the National Museum of Natural History, and consultation with Dr. Marc Epstein, the specimens were identified as Pryeria sinica Moore (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae), which previously is unreported from the United States.”

Posted 03 November 2009 § Moths ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Rainbow Stag Beetle? or Golden Green Stag Beetle?? from Australia

Iridescent Christmas Beetle from Australia
November 3, 2009
Hi, I’ve seen some recent posts about the brownish Christmas Beetles. Here are some photos of a gorgeous bright green beetle rescued from our swimming pool last summer. We always called these ones Christmas Beetles as kids (ignored the bworn ones), they were highly sought-after. The CSIRO site is fabulous if you know which bit of a beetle is which http://anic.ento.csiro.au/insectfamilies/, but I wouldn’t know a notoplural suture if it bit me (perhaps it has). Can you help? Thanks
Elizabeth
Melbourne, Australia (southeastern seaboard)

stag australia elizabeth 235x300 Rainbow Stag Beetle? or Golden Green Stag Beetle?? from Australia

Rainbow Stag Beetle or Golden Green Stag Beetle

Dear Elizabeth,
WE aren’t certain, but we don’t believe this is a Christmas Beetle.  We don’t even think it is a Scarab Beetle.  We actually believe it is a Stag Beetle.  We found some matches on a BunyipCo Stag Beetle site.  A Lamprima species looks very close, and there is another image entitled “minor” male King Stag Beetle that also looks close.  Searching Lamprima brought us to the Brisbane Insect website, and a species called the Golden Green Stag Beetle, Lamprima latreillii, and we are happy with that as an identification.  It is also depicted on the Csiro website.

stag australia elizabeth 21 300x210 Rainbow Stag Beetle? or Golden Green Stag Beetle?? from Australia

Rainbow Stag Beetle or Golden Green Stag Beetle

Correction:  Rainbow Stag Beetle or King Stag Beetle
Hi
This beetle is a Phalacrognathus Muelleri, commonly known as rainbow or king stag beetle. Both of the picture show females. plenty of info on web about these a commonly kept, i have a breeding pair at moment. hope this helps
Dixiedoo2

Dear Dixiedoo2,
Thanks for the correction.  Interestingly, the Bunyipco Stag Beetle site did not identify the King Stag Beetle by its scientific name.  The Insect Company website has an image of a pair with this information:  “This is possibly the most attractive of all the Stag Beetles with it’s irridescent green sheen. It is not a common beetle in the North Australian Rain Forest where it lives. The females lay their eggs in very specific types of rotten timber on the forest floor. Specimens will occasionally come to ultra violet lights just after dusk. The hour just after dusk seems to be this insects main flight time.” Those interested in raising this lovely beetle may want to reference the InsectaCulture Breeding Report we found online.  YouTube has a video of the beetles in the wild.

Update from Elizabeth
Dear bugpersons,
hi, I’m having trouble navigating the WTB comments section hence the reply email.
First, thanks for the ID on my not-a-Christmas-beetle.  I was thrilled to see it up on the site and really impressed that you could work out so quickly it was not at all what I have always thought it was.  I think you are right and the beastie is (was) a Golden Green Stag Beetle.  Dixiedoo2 is wrong: (1) it was found in Melbourne, not the Far North Queensland rainforest, and as I have seen a fair number of them down here in my lifetime it’s a bit hard to think they were all lost.  (2) They’re common enough for southern schoolkids to know about them, P. Muelleri is described as rare.  (3)  I saw the damn thing and had it clinging to my finger for fifteen minutes.  It did not look anything like any photo I’ve found of either a male or a female Phalacrognathus Muelleri.  It looked a heck of a lot like the images of golden-green stag beetles I found on the web after your reply.  (4) It was approx 15-20mm long, not the 24-45mm cited by various sites for female length.  (5) Colouration was light iridescent goilden-green, dame texture on thorax and back. P. Muelleri looks like it can be quite dark and has a pinkish tinge to its carapace; the throrax is dull and the back extremely shiny.  (6) Mandibles of female P. muelleri are squat and thick, on the specimen I found they were slender.
BTW the photos are of the same animal, once on my hand immediately after rescue and once after release on a tree, so of course both show a beetle of the same gender, whatever that is. This is pretty clear if you lok at the water droplets visible in each photo.
Thankyou.  I feel better now.
Elizabeth

Hi Elizabeth,
Thanks for all the additional information, and we are sorry the comment option on our website is problematic.

Posted 03 November 2009 § Stag Beetles ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged:

Female Rhinoceros Beetle from Australia

rhino or coleoptera type beetle.
November 2, 2009
found in october, flying around the light, middle of the Daintree rainforest. as you can see he/she was quite big.
emmitted a squeaking sound when provoked and sounded like a mini helicopter while flying haha.
i’ve named it george. and i’m of to the pub, it seems quite happy on my shoulder for now.
Matt
cape tribulation australia QLD

rhinoceros beetle australia matt 300x213 Female Rhinoceros Beetle from Australia

Female Rhinoceros Beetle

Hi Matt,
We would recommend changing George’s name to Georgina since we believe she is a female Rhinoceros Beetle, Xylotrupes gideon.  You can view a pair on the Natural Worlds website.  This common Southeast Asian species is also found in Northern Australia.

Posted 02 November 2009 § Scarab Beetles ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

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