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Monthly Archives August 2010

End Band Netwing Beetle

End Band Net-Wing Beetle
Location:  North Middle Tennessee
August 17, 2010 7:08 pm
This fellow came to my ”bug fly-in” this morning. After searching around the internet I think I have an ID from bug guide. I believe it is an End Band Net-Wing Beetle (Calopteron terminale) I noticed you do not have one of these on your website. (Not exactly like this one anyway) I don’t think I ever saw one of these before today, but that was probably because I wasn’t looking. Thanks and have a great day.
Richard

end band netwing richard 300x219 End Band Netwing Beetle

End Band Netwing Beetle

Hi Richard,
Thank you so much for adding to our archives with this under-represented species, the End Band Netwing Beetle, Calopteron terminale.  We were, however, disturbed that you indicated we had none in our archive, so we searched and found this old posting from 2008 of Mating End Band Netwing Beetles.  At the end of summer that year, we did a major site migration and an overhaul of the methods we had previously used to make postings.  Our awesome web master, Daniel, transferred the entire archives and set up a system for organizing various categories and subcategories, but much work remained.  Our categorizations got much more specific after that, but the older archives are still categorized in a more general way.  They are in disarray.  Because of your letter, we have identified significantly more Netwing Beetles from the archive than the seven postings that were in that subcategory this morning.  We should really allot more time to cleaning up our archives, but we spend so much time trying to post all of the fabulous new submissions we receive that we have, except in a few cases, left the archives in their jumbled form.  It is always best to try to use our search engine to locate items from our more disorganized early history.

Posted 20 August 2010 § Beetles ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Robberfly Feasts on a Relative

Baby Red-Footed Cannibalflies!

robberfly ragdoll 300x240 Robberfly Feasts on a Relative

Robber Fly

Location:  Northern Kentucky, near Cincinnati, OH
August 17, 2010 7:56 pm
My garden has been hosting a red-footed cannibalfly this year that I’ve named ’Angel’ because she was ’bug of the month’ for August which pretty much makes her a ’Centerfold’ in bug land. icon smile Robberfly Feasts on a Relative
I scan my garden for her and am usually rewarded with at least a glimpse of her every day.
Last Sunday, I spied a familiar profile, in miniature, on one of my wild phlox. A baby Angel!
Like its mother, it didn’t seem to mind my snapping camera. It was only about 1/2” long. I saw two others before the day was through.
The next day, I caught sight of one of them again and I was amazed at how much it had grown in a single day. It was feeding on what I believe to be a fly, but could be a small bee. It deftly caught prey suitable to its own diminutive size.
Amazing little predators.
Regards,
(p.s. Please feel free to edit my content as you see fit.)
Ragdoll

robberfly eats fly ragdoll 300x202 Robberfly Feasts on a Relative

Robber Fly eats Fly

Hi Again Ragdoll,
There is absolutely nothing to edit from your entertaining and delightful letter, but we would like to take the opportunity to make some corrections.  Your most recent Robber Fly is not a Red Footed Cannibalfly and we doubt we have the necessary skills to identify which of the 883 North American species indicated by BugGuide that it might be.  You also have a significant conceptual error in your letter that we would like to explain.  Insects undergo metamorphosis and they do not “grow” the way creatures without an exoskeleton grow.  The exoskeleton of an insect is rigid, and before an insect can increase in size, it must molt or shed its hard outer skin.  Insect nymphs and larvae grow after molting, but adults do not since they have reached the end of their metamorphosis.  A “baby Angel” would not have wings.  Instead it would be a wormlike larva.  Many fly larvae are known as maggots.  Your “baby Angel” is actually an adult of a distinct species.  The prey in your two food chain images appears to be a fly as well.

robberfly eats fly ragdoll 2 300x255 Robberfly Feasts on a Relative

Robber Fly eats Fly

WOW! Thanks for the spanking, Bugman! It’s totally humbling to be wrong so many times in a single letter. icon wink Robberfly Feasts on a Relative
I honestly appreciate all the corrections. The thing that’s weird is that the ‘tiny’ robber fly looks like it has the red legs, like Angel. All of a sudden, three of them appeared on the same day. The next day, I saw another, but it was a little larger and looked a little different. That’s the one with the fly.
The oddest thing of all, though, is that I have never seen a robber fly in my life till this year. I know that doesn’t mean they weren’t there, but I’ve always been pretty observant about the ‘wildlife’ in my gardens. Maybe it’s like when you learn a new word. You seem to hear it everywhere for awhile.
I find all your info fascinating and I appreciate the education. I’ve always loved to photograph insects, but I’ve only recently started to try to really learn about them. It’s  great that you put so much time into educating the clueless, like me.
Thanks again and warm regards,
Rags

Dear Rags,
No spanking was intended.  Trust us when we humbly acknowledge that we are often wrong and we depend heavily on our readership to provide needed corrections to our own identifications

Posted 20 August 2010 § Robber Flies ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Pillbugs at the Carwash

Isopods in a Texas Carwash
Location:  Greenville, Texas
August 19, 2010 7:51 pm
Last year had a very dry summer here. I was helping do some repairs at a carwash and noticed a large mass of isopods hiding out in the corners of each of the wash bays. They would get blown out in the driveway when someone would wash a car, only to mosey back into the cool shadey wet wash bay after the car left!
David

pillbugs carwash david 300x270 Pillbugs at the Carwash

Pillbugs

Hi David,
Though common names are often very descriptive and they enable the average person to remember what to call a creature since polysyllabic binomial names can often be both difficult to pronounce and difficult to remember, the use of common names can also lead to confusion, in the case of this Woodlouse.  Woodlouse is the common name indicated on BugGuide for the introduced European species Armadillidium vulgare, which we believe is the species in your photographs.  The confusion is created in the higher taxonomy.  The order Isopoda contains the suborder Oniscidea, which are the Woodlice.  Within that suborder is the family Armadillidiidae, the Pillbugs, so named because they roll into a ball.  Children also call them Roly-Pollies.  By that reasoning, all Pillbugs are Woodlice, but not all Woodlice are Pillbugs.  The genus Armadillidium contains two species, one of them being the Woodlouse, Armadillidium vulgare.  The common name Woodlouse goes back to a more general classification after the more specific family name Pillbug has been used to differentiate those members of the order that roll into balls for protection.  BugGuide indicates the species prefers:  “Humid places under stones, bricks, or logs” so their preference for the damp corner of the carwash is quite consistent.

pillbug carwash david 300x195 Pillbugs at the Carwash

Pillbug

Hi Daniel,
Let me tell you how much I love your website…and how often I use it in my work as a park naturalist! A LOT!!
You forgot to mention in your reply to David in Greenville, Texas that the woodlice are not bugs/insects but crustaceans that breathe through gills, which is why they like moist, damp places. (There are also aquatic isopods!) Another cool thing about them is that the females carry their fertilized eggs in a pouch on their bodies until they hatch.  Very cool animals indeed!
Liz  (as always, please do not print my work information.  Thanks!)

Thanks for the information Liz.  Though these Woodlice were not identified as Crustaceans in our response, we did categorize them under Crustaceans.

Posted 20 August 2010 § Sow Bugs, Pill Bugs, Isopods, Lawn Shrimp and Amphipods ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Balsam Fir Sawyer

Balsam Fir Sawyer

balsam fir sawyer lynne 300x253 Balsam Fir Sawyer

Balsam Fir Sawyer

Balsam Fir Sawyer
Location:  St. Louis County near Cromwell, Minnesota
August 19, 2010 8:44 pm
Hello! I’ve found what I believe to be a Balsam Fir Sawyer on our wooded land in St. Louis County in northern Minnesota. I haven’t been able to find much information about this insect and wonder if you could tell me bout it.
Thank you very much for any help you can provide.
Lynne Schoenborn

balsam fir sawyer lynne 2 300x202 Balsam Fir Sawyer

Balsam Fir Sawyer

Hi Lynne,
We looked up the Balsam Fir Sawyer, Monochamus marmorator, on BugGuide and we found this cited information: “Larvae of the balsam fir sawyer, Monochamus marmorator Kby. (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae), contain midgut digestive enzymes active against hemicellulose and cellulose. Cellulases from larvae fed on balsam fir wood infected with the fungus, Trichoderma harzianum Rifai (Deuteromycetes, Moniliales, Moniliaceae), were found to be identical to those of the cellulase complex produced by this fungus when compared using chromatography, electrophoresis, and isofocusing. When larvae are maintained on a fungusfree diet, their midgut fluids lack cellulolytic activity, and they are unable to digest cellulose. Cellulolytic capacity can be restored by feeding the larvae wood permeated by fungi. We conclude that the enzymes which enable M. marmorator larvae to digest cellulose are not produced by the larvae. Instead, the larvae acquire the capacity to digest cellulose by ingesting active fungal cellulases while feeding in fungus-infected wood.“  reference: http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=7058239 We would love to know why it is on Invasive.org because there is no information regarding its native region.  Maybe mardikavana knows something about the Balsam Fir Sawyer.

balsam fir sawyer lynne 3 300x248 Balsam Fir Sawyer

Balsam Fir Sawyer

More Questions
August 26, 2010
Thank you very much for the information.  Does this quoted article mean that the larvae only feed on decaying wood infected with fungus?  Are eggs laid in healthy trees or only dead and decaying wood?  Will they damage healthy trees?
Lynne

Hi Lynne,
Sadly we are unable to answer your questions as we are not scientists.  We have found what information we were able to uncover on the internet.  We would suggest that you provide a comment on our posting of your letter so you will be notified in the future if any experts can supply additional information.

Posted 19 August 2010 § Longhorn Beetles ‡ Comments (0) °

Tobacco Hornworm (Caterpillar of the Carolina Sphinx) Parasitized by Braconid

Tomato horn worm and a killer?
Location:  South-Eastern Michigan
August 19, 2010 1:49 pm
I took this picture in my garden today, I was told that the caterpillar is known as a Tomato Horn Worm. I was wondering what kind of moth or butterfly does this caterpillar turn into (if it turns into one at all) and what are the white larvae on it’s body?
Thank you so much.
Curious about Critters

hornworm braconids michigan 300x225 Tobacco Hornworm (Caterpillar of the Carolina Sphinx) Parasitized by Braconid

Tobacco Hornworm Parasitized by Braconid Wasp

Dear Curious about Critters,
You caterpillar appears to be a Tobacco Hornworm, not a Tomato Hornworm, a funny distinction since both feed on tomato and other solanaceous plants.  According to BugGuide, the two may be distinguished from one another by:  “Larva: large green body; dorsal “horn” (usually curved and orange, pink or red) on terminal abdominal segment; up to seven oblique whitish lateral lines, edged with black on upper borders.  The similar looking Tomato Hornworm, Manduca quinquemaculata, has eight v-shaped stripes and a straight blue-black horn. These caterpillars are often confused and misidentified.“  The cocoons belong to pupal Braconid Wasps which tomato feeding Manduca caterpillars.  This parasitized caterpillar will not mature, but if it had not become a living feast for the parasites, it would have buried itself in the ground to metamorphose into a juglike pupa (see BugGuide), and then emerged an adult Hawkmoth with narrow gray, patterned wings and yellow spots on the body (see bugGuide).

Posted 19 August 2010 § Hornworms § Parasitic Hymenopterans ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Tomato Bug: But is it a Tomato Hornworm or a Tobacco Hornworm

a strange large bug in our garden
Location:  West Mifflin, Pa, 6 miles south of Pittsburgh PA in our garden
August 19, 2010 6:17 pm
We found this on our tomato plants & we have never seen anything like this. Any information you can share with us about it would be greatly appreciated, including what are the white things attached to it? Should we be concerned for any reason or take precautions, or just ignore it?
Thank you, Crystal Lyons

tomato bug crystal 226x300 Tomato Bug: But is it a Tomato Hornworm or a Tobacco Hornworm

Tomato Bug

Hi Crystal,
Alas, your Tomato Bug is not long for this world as it has been parasitized by a Braconid Wasp, mostly small wasps that lay their eggs inside of living insects, often caterpillars.  The female Braconid Wasp has an ovipositor and she injects the living hosts with an egg mass.  The Larval Braconid Wasps feed on the internal organs of the caterpillar, being careful to stay clear of vital organs that would cause the caterpillar to die and the caterpillar flesh to putrify and dry out, an unappetizing meal for the Braconid Larvae.  According to BugGuide, the Braconid Wasp that parasitizes the Tomato Bugs is Cotesia congregata.  Please forgive us for using a very non-entomological term, Tomato Bug.  Grandma used to call any large, green caterpillar with a horn a Tomato Bug.  She didn’t care if it was the Tobacco Hornworm, Manduca sexta (see BugGuide), or the Tomato Hornworm, Manduca quinquemaculata (see BugGuide).  She didn’t know it is not a True Bug in the suborder Heteroptera (See BugGuide).

Posted 19 August 2010 § Hornworms ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Dragonfly Naiad

Water bug of the Waccamaw River
Location:  South Carolina, America
August 19, 2010 9:17 am
Hello, My girlfriend and I found this bug in the water while kayaking the Waccamaw River, SC USA. It was in May of this year. The bug didn’t move very much even after we took it out of the water, after we took his picture we set him back in the water:)
Sean

dragonfly naiad sean 300x252 Dragonfly Naiad

Dragonfly Naiad

Hi Sean,
This is an immature Dragonfly.  Like many aquatic nymphs, the immature Dragonfly is also called a Naiad.

Posted 19 August 2010 § Dragonflies and Damselflies ‡ Comments (1) °

Eight Spotted Skimmer

Drangonfly/Butterfly
Location:  Lake Wilderness, Maple Valley, WA
August 17, 2010 8:00 pm
What kind of bug is this? It looks like it is half dragonfly, half butterfly with blue and black markings.
Lake Lover

8 spot skimmer washington 300x190 Eight Spotted Skimmer

Eight Spotted Skimmer

Dear Lake Lover,
Many Dragonflies have beautiful coloration and markings, including this Eight Spotted Skimmer, Libellula forensis.  BugGuide notes this bit of trivia:  “Years ago many children refered to this as the ‘Six-spot’, and counted the basal spots as two crossing the thorax, instead of four separate spots. The same went for the then ‘Ten-spot’, which most recent books have switched to calling the ‘Twelve-spotted Skimmer’. The “Six-spot” name doesn’t seem to appear in any books, but was likely rationalized from comparison with the ‘Ten-spot’ that was to be found in many books. Back then, Libellula forensis didn’t seem to have an established published common name yet.”

Posted 19 August 2010 § Dragonflies and Damselflies ‡ Comments (0) °

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