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Monthly Archives March 2010

Western Conifer Seed Bug Fanmail

Western Conifer Seed bug and empty nest syndrome
Hi WTB! Back in November of 2009, I found a little bug crawling up my bedroom wall. After sending you guys a picture and having you ID it as a Western Conifer Seed bug, I did a little (ok a lot!) research on your wonderful website. I found that they basically hibernate and live off of fat stores in their body for the winter. So I named him Axel, gave him a home in a jar with plenty of air holes, made sure he had water, and kept him for the winter. Last saturday I released him into some evergreen trees next to my house. Now, I’m going through “empty nest syndrome” icon sad Western Conifer Seed Bug Fanmail But, I am glad I was able to keep him warm for the winter and now he’s probably happy muching on some trees somewhere. Thank you, WTB, for all the great info and the time and patience to ID a pretty common bug! I c ome to your website at least once a day, and still find new and interesting bugs! Keep up the great work, hopefully this fall, I will find another Axel on my bedroom wall! icon smile Western Conifer Seed Bug Fanmail
Jenn Kendall

Thanks for the sweet letter Jenn.

Posted 28 March 2010 § Leaf Footed Bugs ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

South African Longhorned Borer Beetle: Phantasis species

South African Beetle, slightly larger than a dung beetle
March 26, 2010
Seen on roadway in Kruger National Park, slightly larger than standard Dung Beetle
Norm Arnett
South Africa

unknown beetle south africa norm 300x221 South African Longhorned Borer Beetle: Phantasis species

Longicorn: Phantasis species

Dear Norm,
This is quite an unusual beetle.  We believe it is one of the Longhorned Beetles in the family Cerambycidae, though we would love corroboration from someone with more experience.  We will contact Eric Eaton to see what he thinks.

Hi, Daniel:
Thanks for making my day:-)  I’m really suffering from allergies right now, and without health insurance I can’t get my Allegra!  A-a-a-a-a-CHOO!  Your questions always take my mind off whatever is ailing me….
Yes, the beetle from Africa is definitely in the Cerambycidae family.  I think I even have a genus for you:  Phantasis.  See this link, it looks just like the female (the one on the right in this image):
http://www.cerambycoidea.com/foto.asp?Id=1352
Really neat find.
Keep up the great work Daniel:-)
Eric
P.S.  Hey, next year, when your book is out, we should go in on a table at the Bug Fair and do signings!

Update
April 24, 2010
Were you ever able to find anything more on this unusual beetle? I couldn’t match it to any photos of Cerambycidae.
Thanks,
Norm Arnett

Dear Norm,
Sometimes we are unable to write back multiple times to answer requests.  Had you revisited our website, you would have found that your beetle was identified.

THank you for that! sorry to have bothered you. I misunderstood your earlier reply and mistakenly assumed that you would respond directly.

Dear Norm,
There is no need to apologize.  Like we indicated earlier, we try to give personal responses as well as posting letters to the website, but followups are sometimes quite difficult because we have to search through the numerous emails we receive to track down the sender’s address.


Posted 28 March 2010 § Longhorn Beetles ‡ Comments (0) °

Gardenia Hawkmoth, Caterpillar and Egg from Indonesia

Little moth sounds like a little airplane
March 27, 2010
I love your site. The fabulous pictures have helped identify many of the bugs I’ve photographed in my travels. I live in Jakarta, Indonesia. This year the raining season has brought lots of butterflies (I’ve counted at least 10 different ones) and a few caterpillars. Unfortunately, because of the rain, we are getting lots of ants too. Most of my neighbors requested to have the gardens/houses fumigated weekly. So I do my rounds and collect caterpillars and keep them until I get beautiful butterflies and moths. I have full cycles of a few different bugs, which I’d love to upload to get them identified. I think this is a type of hummingbird moth. The gardeners thought it was a bird!
Many many thanks.
MiriamR.
Kemang, South Jakarta, Indonesia

cephonodes moth indonesia miriam 300x225 Gardenia Hawkmoth, Caterpillar and Egg from Indonesia

Gardenia Hawkmoth

Hi Miriam,
We are touched by your letter and your neighborhood efforts to preserve caterpillars, moths and butterflies in your area.  We also hope you send us additional photos and information on your rescue efforts.
You are correct that this is a Hummingbird Moth.  More specifically, this is the Gardenia Hawkmoth, Cephonodes hylas, a species common in Asia.  The caterpillar in your photo actually appears to be feeding on the leaves of gardenia.  You can see additional photos and read about this moth on the Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic website that states: “The moths are rather slow in taking to the wing, but when they do so the flight is very rapid. They make a deep humming note when slightly alarmed, as do Macroglossum moths. They are very active in the morning and evening and dart rapidly from flower to flower, as well as ovipositing on the wing. They are not attracted by light. Bred females do not readily attract wild males, but the sexes pair freely in captivity.“

cephonodes cat indonesia miriam 300x206 Gardenia Hawkmoth, Caterpillar and Egg from Indonesia

Gardenia Hawkmoth Caterpillar

The image of the egg appears to be ready to hatch. The egg on the cited website is described:  “OVUM: Pale blue-green or green when freshly laid, becoming pale canary yellow with age. Oval (0.75 x 0.85mm), shiny and very smooth. Laid singly on the underside of young leaves near the growing tip, or on shoot tips.“

cephonodes egg indonesia miriam 300x198 Gardenia Hawkmoth, Caterpillar and Egg from Indonesia

Gardenia Hawkmoth Egg

Hi Daniel,
Thank you for confirming that it is indeed a hummingbird moth. All three specimens I’ve photographed still had the protective coating of scales. They started vibrating their wings, lost some brown fluid (just like the swallowtails do when emerging from the chrysalis) and some scales as they tried to fly. One of them took hours to completely clear its wings, the other two did it in less than 30 minutes. I promise to upload other photos.
Many thanks for your response,
Miriam

3

Posted 27 March 2010 § Eggs § Hornworms § Hummingbird Moths, Sphinx Moths or Hawk Moths ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Leaf Beetle from New Zealand

1cm likes fruit not grass or strawberry leaves
March 26, 2010
End of March (so we’re in autumn), and it’s been 5 degrees (c) warmer than usual here (25C or so).
My son noticed the brown / red 1cm long bug in our local icecream shop and brought it home.
Gave it a piece of plum and it seemed interested in it. It has biting mouth parts.
We’ve seen black feathery ends to wings under the back cover but haven’t seen it fly.
It can move quite quickly but not so quickly that it is easy to loose when on your finger.
Walks around the container we have it in constantly during the day. Not sure what happens at night.
It got out of it’s container yesterday evening but was found 1m away this morning so it’s not travelling too far.
We live in a commercial port town with lots of container work so know people who have seen non-native species before.
The local folks we’ve shown the bug to, including ourselves, have never noticed a buglike this in New Zealand.
Would love to know what you think it might be.
Many thanks
DM
Lyttelton, New Zealand

leaf beetle new zealand dm 300x270 Leaf Beetle from New Zealand

Leaf Beetle

Dear DM,
We are certain that this is a Leaf Beetle in the family Chrysomelidae, and it is probably in the subfamily Chrysomelinae.  It most closely resembles the Eucalyptus Leaf Beetles in the genus Chrysophtharta or possibly Paropsisterna, though we have not had success with a perfect visual match on the Brisbane Insect website which indicates the two genera have been combined by stating:  “The genus Paropsisterna has been recently expanded to include Chrysophtharta. They are native to Australia and New Guinea. There are more than a hundred species in this genus in Australia.“  The closest match is the Marble Leaf Beetle, Paropsisterna semifumata, but it is not exact.

leaf beetle new zealand dm 2 288x300 Leaf Beetle from New Zealand

Leaf Beetle

Posted 27 March 2010 § Leaf Beetles ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Wolf Spider

Picture of what I believe to be a california wolf spider!
March 26, 2010
This is a picture I took in my backyard in Livermore, CA in the san francisco bay area. I believe it is a wolf spider and was about 3 inches from limb to limb. I hope this is a good example for your website!
Mike from Livermore, CA
Livermore, California

wolf spider mike 300x197 Wolf Spider

Wolf Spider

Hi Mike,
Usually, with Wolf Spiders, we are very reluctant to try to identify the species, but in the case of your spider, we believe it looks like Schizocosa mccooki, a species BugGuide reports from California.

Posted 27 March 2010 § Wolf Spiders ‡ Comments (0) °

Millipede

Colorful centipede
March 25, 2010
I found this guy about 6″ underground while planting pine trees in Western PA. It’s about 1 1/4″ to 1 1/2″ long.
James
Pittsburgh PA

millipede james 204x300 Millipede

Millipede

Hi James,
While they share many physical similarities with Centipedes, your creature is actually a Millipede.  They are distinguished from Centipedes by Millipedes having two pairs of legs per body segment.  Based on photos posted to BugGuide, we believe this is Sigmoria latior which is a member of the family Xystodesmidae, which BugGuide characterizes as “Many are brightly colored and all have stink glands.”

Posted 27 March 2010 § Millipedes ‡ Comments (3) °

Cluster Flies appearing in home

Large Black Flies
March 26, 2010
For the second time in about five years, we have large black flies in our house. They are not coming in from the outside and they seem to spend most of their time on our windows. In two days, I have swatted at least 50-60, so you can imagine how gross this problem is. We do have cracks where the windows meet walls-our house is on a slab, but it shifts considerably. We have not noticed any foul odors, except under the kitchen sink, but there is not a leak or sign of anything that may have died under there. We do keep rat poison in the attic, but my husband checked and found no sign of anything that died up there. I’m concerned about the health risk and have no idea, other than swatting, how to get rid of them or where they come from. Please, I hope you can help. I’d li ke to know if they bite, spread disease and how long they live, besides how to get rid of them. (I saw Amityville Horror and already told my husband that if the walls begin to bleed, I’m outta here! LOL!)Thanks-Linda
Linda Mendez
Houston Texas

blow flies linda1 300x243 Cluster Flies appearing in home

Cluster Flies

Hi Linda,
It is difficult to make out any details in your images, but your description is consistent with an outbreak of Blow Flies.  Many of the Blow Flies pictured on BugGuide have metallic coloration in shades of green and blue, but others are black like your specimens.  It is possible that the poison dispatched a rat and a female Blow Fly was attracted to the rotting flesh where she laid her eggs.  We will check with Eric Eaton to see if he concurs.  If blood begins to seep from the walls, please let us know.

blow fly linda Cluster Flies appearing in home

Cluster Fly

Eric Eaton Agrees
Daniel:
Yes, I would bet on blow flies, probably “cluster flies” in the genus Pollenia.  Cluster flies are well known for harboring between walls during the colder months, then emerging in vast numbers as described in the letter.  Still, I’d have to examine actual specimens before I could be certain.
Eric

Wow, thanks so much for the speedy reply-I’ll go to your website for answers on health and getting rid of them. Some of these do have the coloration you mentioned. I appreciate your help-Linda

Posted 26 March 2010 § blow flies ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged:

Morpho helenor Caterpillar from Brazil

Morpho helenor
March 26, 2010
CATERPILLAR GENUS MORPHO,AMERICA SOUTH,REGION FOZ DO IGUAÇÚ-PARANÁ,BRAZIL.
EDUARDO LUCOF
BRAZIL-PARANÁ

morpho helenor cat brazil roberto 300x168 Morpho helenor Caterpillar from Brazil

Morpho helenor Caterpillar

Hi Eduardo,
Thanks for sending in the beautiful image of a Morpho helenor Caterpillar, though we wonder how you acquired the photo since Roberto Rezende is the name on the copyright.

Posted 26 March 2010 § brush footed butterfly caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) °

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