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Monthly Archives June 2010

Oven Mitts

Get the Bugman on Martha Stewart
June 24, 2010
I have been working diligently with my editor Maria at Penguin/Perigee regarding my book, The Curious World of Bugs, which is due out in October.  Now I have been assigned a publicist who will be targeting various publications and radio and television shows for potential interviews, appearances and reviews.  I have gotten a Bee in my Bonnet regarding an appearance on Martha Stewart, and I am bound and determined to do my best to get Martha to notice me.  Of all the television shows, this seems like the best fit for my book.  Though we have never conducted a user profile of our visitors to What’s That Bug?, homemakers, who also comprise Martha’s target audience, make up a large percentage of the website traffic.  Somehow, I think that a personal touch will be required to get Martha Stewart to notice me amidst the deluge of appearance requests her staff must field daily.  To that end, I am designing a pair of oven mitts, making them and then hand quilting them as a gift to Martha.

oven mitts for martha 300x226 Oven Mitts

Oven Mitts

The image is of a vintage drawing of a dragonfly that is one of the art illustrations in the book, and I have rendered it onto canvas in both a positive and negative form, utilizing the photography techniques I teach to my students in the Creative Photo-Vision (Photo 22) class I teach at Los Angeles City College.  This cyanotype process dates back to the 19th Century, and interest in the process is getting a Renaissance among photographers.  Please let us know if you would watch the Bugman on Martha Stewart by posting a comment.
Daniel Marlos, AKA The Bugman

Posted 25 June 2010 § Bug Art ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

California Darner

Possibly California darner?
June 24, 2010
Took this photo 22 June, late morning, in my backyard near Edmonds, WA. Large dragonfly was clinging to unripe blueberries for quite awhile, cooperated as I took several photos (have attached the best one). After I stepped away it suddenly took off and I enjoyed watching for several minutes as it looped and dove in roughly repeated patterns around that end of yard, many times passing within a foot or so of me. It made passes everytime it saw an insect, large or small (while I cheered — I have an organic garden and need all the help I can get), altho I never saw it catch anything. Perhaps some were too small for me to see. It seems similar to pictures I’ve seen of dragonflies in the Darner family…I looked in Bug Guide and California darner (Rhionaeschna californ ica) was the closest, with brownish eyes, but would like confirmation, if possible. I recently sent the probable ID on the sea cucumber (echinoderm). It was nice to be helping instead of asking, for a change! Love your site and bugID service, have turned my NatureGeek friends on to it!
Sincerely, Dee
Edmonds, Washington State

california darner dee 300x231 California Darner

California Darner

Hi Dee,
Thanks for the Sea Cucumber assistance.  We believe you are correct that this lovely dragonfly is a California Darner, Rhionaeschna californica, based on images posted to BugGuide.  Thank you for your very informational letter.

Posted 25 June 2010 § Dragonflies and Damselflies ‡ Comments (0) °

Giant Vinegaroon

Scorpion or not?
June 24, 2010
This bug was found at our campsite in the Davis Mountain State Park near Ft Davis, Texas. Pinchers and hard body suggest scorpion but the stinger and fore legs do not match any species I have searched, the bug was very aggressive as well. What is it?
West Texas Camper
Davis Mountain State Park. Ft Davis,Tx.

vinegaroon texas 300x212 Giant Vinegaroon

Giant Vinegaroon

Hi West Texas Camper,
This is a Giant Vinegaroon, Mastigoproctus giganteus, one of the Whipscorpions which are not true scorpions.  Unlike their stinging relatives, Giant Vinegaroons do not sting and have no venom.  They do secrete a concentrated acetic acid that smells like vinegar, hence the common name.  According to BugGuide:  “The vinegaroon is nocturnal and has poor vision. The whiplike tail is used as a sensory organ, as is the first pair of legs, which is not used for walking. Although its tail in unable to sting, this creature can spray an acidic mist from a scent gland at the base of the tail when disturbed. The spray is 85% concentrated acetic acid/vinegar, hence the common name ‘Vinegaroon.’ The heavy pinching mouthparts (modified pedipalps) can also inflict a painful bite. Although very unlikely to attack humans, it can certainly defend itself if provoked.“  We have also seen the name Grampus used in literature regarding the Giant Vinegaroon.

Thank you Daniel. Your response is greatly appreciated. The Giant Vinegroon was quite a site for my 11 year old daughter, she was horrified when she saw it while roasting marshmallows around our camp fire. We did notice a vinegar smell in the air and just couldn’t place its origin. Thanks again!

Posted 25 June 2010 § Scorpions, Whipscorpions and Vinegaroons ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Female Dobsonfly

Huge Moth?
June 25, 2010
I found this large moth-like insect while fishing and have never seen anything like it before. I have no clue what it is… but it was found late June close to Ottawa, Ontario.
Tyler
Pakenham, Ontario, Canada

dobsonfly tyler 300x230 Female Dobsonfly

Dobsonfly

Hi Tyler,
We have gotten numerous images of Dobsonflies this year, and many have been of the males which have long saber shaped mandibles.  The males are incapable of biting, but females like your specimen, can bite and might even draw blood.  Fishermen prize Dobsonfly larvae, known as Hellgrammites, as one of the best live baits.

dobsonfly head tyler 300x240 Female Dobsonfly

Dobsonfly

Posted 25 June 2010 § Dobsonflies and Fishflies ‡ Comments (0) °

Broad Necked Root Borer

Huge 1.5 inch bug….disrupts “moment” with girlfriend
June 25, 2010
I was having a conversation with my girlfriend outside on the porch when we were interupted with a loud scratching noise that eventually made its way all the way around us. At first we though it was my cat but then realized it was something moving through the brush. Upon closer inspection we realized it was some sort of huge insect. Well, I discovered this, she on the other hand was completely disgusted….lol I captured it in a Priority Mail box and seriously considered mailing it to my annoying PIA boss….but decided otherwise and now im emailing you after googling “Huge insect Virginia” and discovering this site. At first we though it was a roach but I have never seen one this large in VA and the large pinchers are not something that I have ever seen on a roach.
Paul D
Richmond, VA

tile horned prionus female paul 300x206 Broad Necked Root Borer

Broad Necked Root Borer

Dear Paul,
Your letter is so amusing we wanted to take a bit of additional time to respond to it, so we slept on it.  Sunrise is still a ways off, but we are awake and ready to give your letter the attention it deserves.  At first we thought that this was a female Tile Horned Prionus, Prionus imbricornis, one of the Root Borers. The sexes can be distinguished by the sexually dimorphic antennae. According to BugGuide: “Antennae have 18-20 overlapping segments (male): Female has 16-18 serrated segments. Other eastern Prionus have 12-13 antennal segments.“  Upon magnifying your photos and counting the antennae, we could only make out 13, but the images are not critically sharp for that degree of scrutiny.

prionid paul 2 300x207 Broad Necked Root Borer

Broad Necked Root Borer

We now believe this to be a female Prionus laticollis, the Broad Necked Root Borer, which BugGuide describes as:  “Pronotum as broad, or almost as broad, as base of elytra. Very dark. Elytra have irregular punctures, and each elytron has three indistinct longitudinal ridges. Pronotum has three blunt lateral teeth on each side. Antennae have 12-13 segments. Female much larger than male. The former is reported to be flightless, or nearly so. Males are attracted to lights.“  We love your photos and your amusing letter.  We hope your boss doesn’t catch wind of your fantasy and retaliate against you.  Seriously though, the inadvertent shipping of stowaway insects in packages is sometimes responsible for species range expansion though more often than not invasive exotic species are spread on plants when they are shipped to remote locations.  In the event that we decide to do a 2011 calendar, we would love to include your letter and images because they are both so amusing.

prionid paul 300x206 Broad Necked Root Borer

Broad Necked Root Borer

July 17, 2010
Sorry for the long reply.  That is funny, and yes it would be great if you wanted to use my story for the calander.
Paul

Posted 25 June 2010 § Longhorn Beetles ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Japanese Beetles

Japanese Beetles
June 24, 2010
Hi Daniel, You asked for images of Japanese Beetles. I had a few but none were very good, so I took some more today. Not really pleased with these either, don’t know why but my camera doesn’t seem to focus on them very well. Perhaps they are clear enough for an ID. I never cropped one very close to show the “lace leaf” you were talking about, this is a grape leaf. I hope you are able to use these. Thank you and have a great day.
Richard
North Middle Tennessee

japanese beetles richard 300x206 Japanese Beetles

Japanese Beetles eating and mating

Hi again Richard,
With all due respect, if you were our photography student, we would tell you that you are nuts.  This photo has everything.  We especially love that it shows the leaf damage caused by the beetle, which our mom in Ohio compares to lace doilies.  The two pairs of beetles on the right appear to be mating.  While the focus on the right of the image is not critically sharp, it is more than acceptable especially considering the detail in the Japanese Beetle in the upper left.  We also appreciate that you managed to send us photos of all the insects we saw in Ohio earlier in the week that we lamented not having had a camera so we could take our own:  The Question Mark, Great Spangled Fritillary, and Firefly as well as the Japanese Beetles.

japanese beetle richard 300x287 Japanese Beetles

Japanese Beetle

Posted 25 June 2010 § Scarab Beetles ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

Antlion

Winged bug
June 24, 2010
This bug was clinging to the wall where I work (in Reno, Nevada), and although I’m really not a bug person myself I’m curious to know what sort of flying insect this is.
sistercoyote
Reno, NV

antlion sistercoyote 149x300 Antlion

Antlion

Dear Sistercoyote,
Now that we have answered your question, perhaps you will be curious enough to look into the interesting life of your Antlion.  The larvae are known as Doodlebugs.

Posted 24 June 2010 § Neuropterans: Lacewings, Antlions, and Owlflies ‡ Comments (0) °

Get the Bugman on Martha Stewart

UPDATE
October 2, 2010

The publicist at Penguin/Perigee requested that Daniel make a video to stir up interest in radio and television appearances prior to the release of The Curious World of Bugs.  Here is a simple home video of Daniel in the tomato patch:

Though a Tomato Bug, which is Grandma Nanowsky’s name for either a Tomato Hornworm or a Tobacco Hornworm, could not be located at the time the video was shot, there is nonetheless some helpful information contained in the video on these large green caterpillars that feed on the leaves of tomato and related plants.


Update
August 18, 2010
There has been no progress on the oven mitts, but I do have the germ of an idea for the next book.  Sadly, I wrote so much in The Curious World of Bugs that there was no room for one of the chapters in the original pitch.  What’s That Garden Bug?  Well, today while posting the Milkweed Meadow, I wrote the beginning of the next book.

What’s That Bug in the Tomato Patch???
“Could that be a new book title?  The Milkweed Meadow or Goldenrod Forest would be much more fascinating books.  Or, I could just stay close to home and write Black Mustard and the Camino Real and its thriving Spider and Insect population in Elyria Canyon.“  I actually think I need to write the Garden Insect Book.

Get the Bugman on Martha Stewart
June 24, 2010
I have been working diligently with my editor Maria at Penguin/Perigee regarding my book, The Curious World of Bugs, which is due out in October.  Now I have been assigned a publicist who will be targeting various publications and radio and television shows for potential interviews, appearances and reviews.  I have gotten a Bee in my Bonnet regarding an appearance on Martha Stewart, and I am bound and determined to do my best to get Martha to notice me.  Of all the television shows, this seems like the best fit for my book.  Though we have never conducted a user profile of our visitors to What’s That Bug?, homemakers, who also comprise Martha’s target audience, make up a large percentage of the website traffic.  Somehow, I think that a personal touch will be required to get Martha Stewart to notice me amidst the deluge of appearance requests her staff must field daily.  To that end, I am designing a pair of oven mitts, making them and then hand quilting them as a gift to Martha.

oven mitts for martha 300x226 Get the Bugman on Martha Stewart

Oven Mitts for Martha Stewart

The image is of a vintage drawing of a dragonfly that is one of the art illustrations in the book, and I have rendered it onto canvas in both a positive and negative form, utilizing the photography techniques I teach to my students in the Creative Photo-Vision (Photo 22) class I teach at Los Angeles City College.  This cyanotype process dates back to the 19th Century, and interest in the process is getting a Renaissance among photographers.  Please let us know if you would watch the Bugman on Martha Stewart by posting a comment.
Daniel Marlos, AKA The Bugman
P.S. to Martha:  I make the best pirohi (the Ukrainian version of her favorite Polish dish called pierogi) west of the Mississippi River based on my Grandma’s recipe.

PIROHI LADIES 72dpi 300x238 Get the Bugman on Martha Stewart

A young Bugman with the Pirohi Ladies, Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church, 1964

Here is a photo of a young Bugman (second from right), next to grandma (on MY right) in the hall of Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church where the best Pirohi in Youngstown Ohio are still made every Thursday and Friday between September and June.

Comment:
Bugman on Martha Stewart
November 9, 2010 11:22 am
Hi there!  I had some trouble logging in, my computer is goofed up at the momeht so i’m borrowing my daughter’s computer and email address.   I wanted to say I would MOST DEFINITELY watch Bugman on Martha, and I am a homemaker too!  I would really like those oven mitts as well!  Will you be marketing some?  I think you should, they are adorable!!  Have loved your site for years.  Take care, Michelle Nash, formerly of St. Charles, IL - now in Rolla, Missouri icon smile Get the Bugman on Martha Stewart
Signature: Michelle

Hi Michelle,
Daniel does not currently have plans to market the oven mitts, but there is always that possibility.  There will probably only be two pairs, one for Martha and a backup pair.  There has been no additional work done on the oven mitts since the image was posted because it seems there is not enough time in the day to do everything that needs to get done, but since there is not currently a deadline to complete the oven mitts, they are not yet late.

Posted 24 June 2010 § Curious World of Bugs ‡ Comments (5) °

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