fresh water daphnia or nymph?
April 22, 2010
Collected April 20 2010
I took the water from a ditch adjacent to several acres of swamp. The waterway was not flowing and lined with fallen winter grass. It was very clean looking water. Not much is growing yet. Spring is early by about three weeks here. I’ve been through a number of pdf files on line and read from a lot of different sites, but there’s been no joy yet.
A short video clip that’s better than most of the images I’ve provided.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkIXo1fI0pY
Thanks for your time in reading this.
Grateful to live in the wild
Southern Manitoba Canada
Fairy Shrimp
Dear Grateful,
Daphnia are Crustaceans, a subphylum of the Arthropods, hence they are distant relatives of insects. Your creature is a different freshwater crustacean, a Fairy Shrimp. Fairy Shrimp have unusual life cycles similar to that of Brine Shrimp. Fairy Shrimp live in temporary vernal ponds and they lay eggs which need to dry out when the water evaporates. In Canada, the eggs pass the winter under the snow in the dried mud, and when the spring thaw produces ponds, the eggs hatch and the young quickly develop, needing to mate before the ponds dry out again.We just posted our own photos of Fairy Shrimp we discovered in Rio de los Angeles State Park in our Cypress Park Neighborhood of Los Angeles. We are currently researching our Southern California species of Fairy Shrimp which may be endangered due to habitat loss. The more mild southern California climate does not have a freeze, and winter rains produce the vernal ponds that host the populations of Fairy Shrimp.
Fairy Shrimp
Thank-you very much.
Ian Timshel
Flies under row covers every year
April 20, 2010
When I lift my row covers, I have a zillion of these flies trapped underneath in early Spring. I’ve tried to identify them to no avail. Perhaps they originate in my compost.
Robin
North Central Arkansas
Flies
Dear Robin,
Flies are often tough for us to identify and we have to confess that we often make mistakes. The behavior you describe seems like it points to Root Maggot Flies in the family Anthomyiidae. It appears to us that the two flies in your photo might even be different species. We will post you letter and images and request assistance from our readership.
Fly Head
Eric Eaton REsponds
Daniel:
Well, there are two different kinds of flies in the image. The one on the left appears to be some kind of “march fly” in the family Bibionidae. The other (on the right) is some kind of muscoid fly (“muscoids” is the term for flies that fall into several related families). Without examining the actual specimen, I can’t tell what it is.
Eric
Thanks Eric for confirming our suspicions.
What kind of bug is this?
April 21, 2010
This bug is from a neighbor. It measures about one inch in length. Through handling it has lost some body parts. Date of bugs death is April 21, 2010.
Daryl
Southeast South Carolina
Assassin Bug
Dear Daryl,
This is an Assassin Bug and we have identified it on BugGuide as Sirthenea carinata. BugGuide indicates it is “Predatory on other insects, including mole crickets” and it “Allegedly takes prey underground. Apparently comes to lights in late summer/fall.“ We suspect this poor Assassin Bug did not die of natural causes, and we are tagging it as unnecessary carnage. Assassin Bugs may bite if they are handled carelessly, but only a few species suck blood from mammals, and this is not one of them.
Assassin Bug
Spotted Leopard Slugs Mating
April 21, 2010
Hi WTB!
I snapped these photos of a pair of what I think are Spotted Leopard Slugs doing the wild thing hanging from a thick strand of slime attached to the side of my house. At one point, there were two males trying to get to the female, but one fell off. This was the end result. A gooey sky blue slime wad. I never knew slugs mated like that! I thought maybe you could use this for your site.
Keep up the great work! I slug-love What’s That Bug!
Rebecca White
Charlotte, NC
Spotted Leopard Slugs Mating
Dear Rebecca,
The mating positions of these hermaphroditic Spotted Leopard Slugs is positively salacious. All slugs are hermaphrodites, so you are mistaken in believing that the third member in the encounter was a male. The close-up photograph you included is quite graphic, and viewers should exercise caution before reading more. Several years ago we posted a photo of Spotted Leopard Slugs mating and that letter sparked quite a controversy. You can read about it on our archive.
Spotted Leopard Slugs Mating
Orchid Bee in North Carolina?
April 21, 2010
Hi WTB!
I love your site! I can finally ask someone about the critters I’ve been photographing in my yard. This little green bee was crawling on a lighter on my table one day. It was beautiful and I just had to find out what kind it was. At first I thought it was a Green Metallic Bee, but it didn’t look exactly like one. Then I thought maybe it was an Orchid Bee, but I didn’t think they came as far north as Charlotte, NC. Could you please tell me what kind of bee this is? I’d love to see more of them in my garden. Maybe if I plant their favorite flowers they’ll stick around!
Thanks so much. This site is in my top 10 favorite sites ever!
Rebecca White
Charlotte, NC
Metallic Sweat Bee
Dear Rebecca,
This is a Metallic Sweat Bee, probably in the genus Augochlorini, though the family Halictidae is quite confusing for us. We matched your bee to a photo on BugGuide. BugGuide also indicates that it is difficult to differentiate between the three genera Ausochlora, Augochlorella and Augochloropsis.Thank you so much for your passionate and complimentary letter. BugGuide indicates that “Adults found on flowers” and they eat “Pollen and nectar and aphid’s honeydew.“ Alas BugGuide does not indicate which flowers will attract the Metallic Sweat Bees. Here in Los Angeles, we see them on cardoon or wild artichoke, Cynara cardunculus. These large thistles have a reputation as invasive exotic plants that compromise our native habitat, but like so many problematic species, they have some endearing qualities, including that they are edible. Here is an excerpt of a piece we wrote on the cardoon in the Mount Washington Homeowners Alliance newsletter in January 2010: “Perhaps a better and tastier way to control the population of the Cardoon is to eat it. The buds are much smaller than traditional artichokes, though they can be prepared in a similar manner before they open. The more feasible part of the plant to eat though is the midrib of the leaf that tastes much like the traditional artichoke. The website www.gardening-guy.com has several recipes for the preparation of Cardoon, including a dish called bagna cauda that translates loosely to “hot bath” and involves spearing and cooking cubes of beef and other vegetables in hot oil in a manner similar to fondue. I plan to pick some of the leaves growing on “dirt” Burnell this spring and steaming them to eat with aioli, that is unless one of you readers beats me to the harvest.“ Other plants that will attract Metallic Sweat Bees include Echinacea and any of the composite flowers like Rudbeckia, cosmos, sunflowers and daisies.
Metallic Sweat Bee
Hi Dan
Thank you so much for clearing that up for me and for the awesome information on the types of plants that would attract the Metallic Sweat Bee. I’m delighted that the Echinacea, Sunflowers, Daisies and Cosmos I planted in my garden this year will bring more of them around! I haven’t seen any wild artichoke anywhere but as it is an invasive species, that is probably a good thing. I’ve been careful to only plant natives in my garden, so hopefully the Echinacea and others will be enough to keep the little guys busy.
Thank you again for responding – and so promptly too! You guys are the BEST!
Rebecca
April 21, 2010
We have basically completed writing our book, The Curious World of Bugs, and we are now awaiting the designed pages with text and art so that we can make the final adjustments in May. This first book has been an enlightening experience and we are thrilled that it is being advertised in the Penguin/Perigee fall for booksellers already.
The Curious World of Bugs
Bug (beetle?) found in Hesperia, CA June 2009
April 20, 2010
Hello 
I saw this bug in the front yard of my house in Hesperia, CA in June 2009. I just now got around to trying to figure out what type of bug it is, and thought you could help me (I hope).
It looks like a hairy legged beetle with stripes along it’s back. I placed a US quarter next to it for a size comparison, and the beetle is slightly larger than the coin.
Thanks!
Aaron H
Hesperia, CA
Ten Lined June Beetle
Hi Aaron,
We were going to write back that your Ten Lined June Beetle, Polyphylla decemlineata, was off schedule until we realized you took the photo last June.
Mantid? Stick insect?
April 19, 2010
Hello again,
I’m sorry to send these in again, but this guy continues to puzzle me with his strange shape and patterning. The closest thing I found to it was a juvenile walkingstick, but I’ve never seen an adult walkingstick anywhere around my house, and I’ve seen more than a few of these. One of them (not this one) waved his front legs at me (like a mantis?) when I bothered him trying to get a picture a few years ago.
Stephen C
North Carolina
Assassin Bug Nymph
Assassin Bug Nymph
Thank you very much! I would never have guessed that! Funnily enough, just a moment ago I saw him (or one like him), apparently advanced to a later state of growth, looking much more like an assassin bug with wings and coloring and whatnot. Unfortunately the lighting wasn’t right for a good shot, but I did get a few pics. A very handsome insect.
Assassin Bug
Hi again Stephen,
Our original answer to you was quite brief because we feebly attempt to answer as many letters as possible, and some just get names as responses. Since you took the time to send a followup report, we have pieced together your emails and posted what we believe to be Zelus Assassin Bugs.
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