pseudoscorprion vs dipteran
June 22, 2010
I discovered these two guys going at on my bathroom counter while brushing my teeth. The fly kept taking off with the psuedoscorpion attached, but not getting very far and landing back on the counter. They did this a few times and every time they landed I took another photo. I never witnessed the endgame. My money’s on the fly ultimately escaping with 5 legs.
Tony
Greenwood IN
Phoresy with Pseudoscorpion and Fly
Hi Tony,
The first time we received an image of a Pseudoscorpion attached to the antennae of a Cerambycid Beetle, we were in awe at the ambitiousness of the tiny Pseudoscorpion’s hunting prowess, but Eric Eaton informed us that this was Phoresy in action. Since then, we have received numerous Phoresy images. Some creatures like Pseudoscorpions and Mites use other insects, especially winged ones, for transportation purposes. We believe that is what is going on in this series of photos. We will try to get an ID on your fly.
Phoresy: Pseudoscorpion attempts to fly with Fly
2
Costa Rican Butterflies
June 22, 2010
Dear Bugman,
I recently went on an educational trip to Costa Rica. While there, I saw many different species of butterflies but, now that i’m home, i haven’t been able to figure out the species or even what type of butterflies i had seen. This is a major issue considering the fact that i now must do a project on the different invertebrates i saw while there! The first one was spotted in my shower at a hotel in Arenal. It was hanging from the ceiling and the tear drop shaped “tails” were slightly metalic. I would estimate that it was around 3-4 inches across. The second, was spotted in Tortuguero. it was very small, only about 1.5 inches across and flew rather quickly. And the third we saw in a Butterfly garden. There were several that kept landing on us and they were about… 2 inches across. Thanks so much for your help!
Amanda K.
Costa Rica (Arenal, Tortuguero)
Cattleheart Butterfly
Ed. Note:
We did not respond a second time to Amanda after identifying her Eyetail Moth, but we wanted to post her photo of a Cattleheart Butterfly in the genus Paredes as well. Cattlehearts are in the Swallowtail family and they frequently appear in butterfly pavilions. This might not even be a species native to Costa Rica. It resembles the drawing of the Green Celled Cattleheart, Paredes childrenae, that can be found on the Costa Rica Butterflies Fold-Out Pocket Field Guide webpage.
Karl provides some information
Hi Daniel and Amanda:
It is indeed a Cattleheart in the genus Parides and there are several candidate species that are native to Costa Rica. The Butterflies of America site has an excellent selection of photos of the genus, including several that look very close but none that are an exact match. It could be a Wedge-spotted Cattleheart (Parides panares lycimenes) but I think it is more likely in the P. eurimedes group (P. eurimedes; P. e. mylotes; P. e. mycale; P. mylotes; P. arcas). There seems to be some taxonomic uncertainty here as various combinations of these names (and more) are variously given as species, subspecies or synonyms. It could be any of these if they are distinct, or perhaps a hybrid. The Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) site has a near perfect match that it refers to as P. mylotes. Possible common names include True, Eurimedes or Mylotes Cattleheart. Regards. Karl
Costa Rican Butterflies
June 22, 2010
Dear Bugman,
I recently went on an educational trip to Costa Rica. While there, I saw many different species of butterflies but, now that i’m home, i haven’t been able to figure out the species or even what type of butterflies i had seen. This is a major issue considering the fact that i now must do a project on the different invertebrates i saw while there! The first one was spotted in my shower at a hotel in Arenal. It was hanging from the ceiling and the tear drop shaped “tails” were slightly metalic. I would estimate that it was around 3-4 inches across. The second, was spotted in Tortuguero. it was very small, only about 1.5 inches across and flew rather quickly. And the third we saw in a Butterfly garden. There were several that kept landing on us and they were about… 2 inches across. Thanks so much for your help!
Amanda K.
Costa Rica (Arenal, Tortuguero)
Eyetail Moth
Hi Amanda,
We have a bit of an ethical problem doing too many identifications for your project, but we will assist with your first image. Nothus lunus, the Eyetail Moth in the family Sematuridae, is frequently mistaken for a butterfly. We posted a photo of a male Eyetail Moth from Costa Rica last October, and your specimen is a female. The female is characterized by the white stripes on her wings. The excellent Hétérocères de Guyane Française website has a great comparison image of the male and female Eyetail Moth.
WOW great thanks so much! that litterally has been keeping me up at night because it was a beautiful moth! 
and i totally understand the whole ethics thing! 
these were just the ones i was confused on and even this one ID will really make me feel better about the project! thanks again for the help!
Amanda
Actually Amanda, we also identified and posted your photo of a Cattleheart Butterfly in the genus Paredes.
Stag Beetle
June 22, 2010
My mom explained to me that there was some foot-long monster outside, after declaring, “You like bugs, don’t you?”
I took two seconds to identify it as a stag beetle (reddish-brown variety?) and thought I’d get some nice pics.
I don’t know if you can use these, but thought I’d submit them anyways…
…And have fun on your vacation!
MercuryCrest
West Allis, Wisconsin, U.S.
Reddish Brown Stag Beetle
Dear MercuryCrest,
We are trying to post a few new letters before attending to things around the house that need attention since we just returned yesterday. Your letter was the first subject line that caught our eye from the June 22 submissions because we love Stag Beetles and we were happy we didn’t need to spend any time doing research towards an identification. This is, as you indicate, the Reddish Brown Stag Beetle, Lucanus capreolus, and it is a male as evidenced by his large mandibles. There is some great information on BugGuide.
2
What’s this insect?
June 23, 2010
Hi, This guy was near my pond this morning. I live in Montgomery, AL.
There were 2, and they can hover, but he doesn’t look like a hover fly.
He is probably about an inch in length.
Thank you.
Mary
Montgomery, Alabama
Tiger Bee Fly
Hi Mary,
The Tiger Bee Fly, Xenox tigrinus, like the one in your photo is an impressive insect. According to BugGuide, the food of the adult is unknown, but “An adult has been observed on damp mud, lapping up fluids” which could explain why it was near your pond. BugGuide also indicates: “Larva is a parasite of Carpenter Bees Xylocopa.“
Thanks. I thought they were pretty cool. We have some Carpenter bees that my husband wants to dispose of, but I won’t let him. Maybe these will do it for him.
I am going to teach Life Science and Biology next fall and will have my students do a photographic insect collection. I was practicing when these two Tiger bee flies came up.
What fun. I am going to try to do the identifying myself from now on. I bought a guide.
THANKS again for the quick response.
Mary
Pile of 2500 bees on the road
June 23, 2010
We found this CRAZY large pile of bees on the side of the road in SE Portland on June 22. There was also a group of them on a branch in a bush nearby, but not so large as the group on the ground. They were very busy, did not seem agitated or aggressive, and gave the impression that they had business to do there. Have you ever seen such a thing? What are they doing? It was our first warm, non rainy day in a long time… maybe they were basking in the sun like all the other Portlanders! PS – I have read your site for years and am excited to finally have something I think is worthy of posting!
Amanda G
Portland, OR
Honey Bee Swarm
Hi Amanda,
We are quite pleased with your submission. It is the first new posting we are making since returning from our holiday in Ohio (though we believe, prior to leaving, we postdated two letters to go live today). These Honey Bees are swarming. When the hive gets too large, the workers will begin raising a new group of queens by feeding ordinary larvae on a special diet of royal jelly. The reigning queen departs from the hive with half of the workers prior to the emergence of the heir apparent. You witnessed a swarm of Honey Bees in search of a new location for their hive. While we are uncertain why the Bees have congregated on the road, the small group in the tree are probably protecting the queen.
Honey Bee Swarm: Protecting the Queen
¶ Posted 23 June 2010 § Bees ‡ ° Caterpillar
June 14, 2010
I found this lying under some ivy…check all the sources I usually do on-line without any success. Hope you can help me!
ESP:
Austin, Texas
Io Moth Caterpillar
Hi ESP,
Beware the stinging spines of the Io Moth Caterpillar, as an encounter can be quite painful. We are postdating your letter to go live on our website next week since we are going to be away from the office for a week and we want to have daily postings while we are away.
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