My neighbor says they have bed bugs
Location: Lawrence, KS USA
October 20, 2010 8:39 pm
I don’t think this is a bed bug but it looks like it was living in my bed. What is it and should I be worried?
Signature: -Nandu
Carpet Beetle Larva
Hi Nandu,
Your neighbor may have Bed Bugs. We understand they are reaching epidemic proportions in parts of the country including New York and other large cities. Luckily, your insect is not a Bed Bug. It is the larva of a Carpet Beetle, and though they will damage certain wool, fur and feather products, they will not pester you in the same way those pestiferous Bed Bugs will.
Thank you so much for the super fast response. I have had nightmares about bed bugs for days.
¶ Posted 20 October 2010 § Beetles ‡ ° California Trapdoor Spider (photos)
Location: Mt Washington, Los Angeles, CA
October 20, 2010 12:16 pm
Last night I found what I believe to be a California Trapdoor Spider climbing the wall near my front porch. As it’s unusual to see such a huge spider in our area I captured it rather than killing it so it could be relocated to a more suitable location. I thought I would share the photos as the one of it’s relocation shows it in pretty good detail and color. Enjoy!
~ Chris
California Trapdoor Spider
Hi Chris,
We really love California Trapdoor Spiders. You did not indicate where you live, but since our offices are in Los Angeles, we know all about the unseasonal rains that have been falling for several days now. Male California Trapdoor Spiders wander about in search of a mate after the first rains of the season. Sadly, many wander into swimming pools and drown. We are happy you rescued this guy and released him. Hopefully he will get lucky and perpetuate the species.
California Trapdoor Spider
Hi Daniel,
I did forget to include that! I live at the base of Mt. Washington at the L.A./Eagle Rock border. I’m about 2 miles from the ‘wild’ area of the mountain so I imagine this guy either got washed out or hitched a ride down as there isn’t a good habitat for him in my immediate area. He’s been happily relocated back to the Heidelberg Park area of the mountain and should find plenty to keep his attention up there! Feel free to use either of the photos I linked on your website if they will work for your purpose. Thanks for maintaining a good resource on the CTS!
Chris
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the additional information. Daniel lives in Mt Washington near Elyria Canyon, so it appears we are neighbors.
Gorgeous orange girl
Location: Leander, Texas (Near Austin)
October 20, 2010 8:24 am
Greetings,
I keep and breed tarantulas, and have a deep appreciation for ”true” spiders. With approximately 860 known species, Theraphosidae are easily identified, however true spiders continue to vex me with their variety. This beautiful girl is ”hanging out” on my deck, located in Leander, TX, about 10 minutes out of Austin. I have never seen anything besides Latrodectus with such a remarkable ventral marking. What is this lovely creature?
Signature: Tarantula Terri
Orbweaver with Prey
Dear Tarantula Terri,
This lovely creature is an Orbweaver in the genus Araneus. In the fall, shortly before Halloween, many spiders have matured and reached their full size. These impressive creatures, especially the Orbweavers, are suddenly very visible as they spin large orb webs and position themselves in the webs. They attract considerable attention. It appears the female in your photo has snared a Yellow Jacket.
Cephalopod like Door Creature
Location: Richmond, Virginia, USA
October 20, 2010 7:55 am
On October 18 at about 8 pm I found this creature attached to the outside of the glass on my back door. Although I never saw it move after a 2 hour period it had changed position from the bottom right to about the middle left of the door window. It is slightly bigger than a 5-cent nickel.
After taking the pictures I put it in a small votive glass with a piece of cardboard, secured with rubber bands, on top. That left a less than 1/8 inch gap on one side of the glass jar which is much less than the width of the creature. I placed it outside my garage door at 11 pm and went to bed. I checked on it at 8:30 am the next morning and it was still in the same position in the jar. Checking again 3 hours later and it was gone apparently having slid through the 1/8 inch gap. I have not seen it since.
Signature: Bob from Richmond
Monkey Slug
Hi Bob,
This interesting creature is the caterpillar of the Hag Moth and is called a Monkey Slug. It should be handled with caution as it is a stinging caterpillar.
Sphinx?
Location: East Texas
October 19, 2010 11:35 am
Hi!
We found this poor caterpillar in our koi pond in East Texas and rescued him before he drowned. We think it might be some kind of sphinx moth, but we aren’t sure.
Signature: Kate
Banded Sphinx Caterpillar
Hi Kate,
The caterpillar you rescued is that of a Banded Sphinx, Eumorpha fasciatus. This is a highly variable caterpillar and some individuals are green, some brown, and other have intricate markings like your individual. You can see these other variations on Bill Oehlke’s website Sphingidae of the Americas.
This bug
Location: Eastern, North Carolina
October 19, 2010 6:46 pm
High bugman, believe it or not I got bitten by this little fellow, or at least one of his brethren a couple of times. I saw this one about a week later and took this picture with my phone, I have no idea what it is, I hope this picture is clear enough.
Signature: Once Bitten
Lacewing Larva
Dear Once Bitten,
Though you have been bitten by a Lacewing Larva, you did not indicate if it was painful or if there was any sort of reaction, which we cannot imagine. The larvae of Lacewings are predatory insects sometimes called Aphid Wolves and they are very beneficial in the garden. Yours is not the first report we have received of a person getting bitten, but we should stress that this creature is perfectly harmless to humans and pets.
A cool Korean bug
Location: Korea
October 19, 2010 4:23 pm
Hi!
This interesting specimen was spotted in Korea. I recognized hemipteran features, and after a little research, I thought it was probably pentatomoidean; maybe genus Eurydema.
Am I right? Can we narrow down the species?
Thanks!,
Signature: Brian J Bowers
Clown Stink Bug, we believe
Hi Brian,
This is certainly a Stink Bug in the family Pentatomidae. We opened your letter last night and selected the image as one we wanted to research in the morning, and we got trapped in the horrible software update cycle that required quitting most of what we were doing before we could resume posting. We had begun researching and we followed some leads beginning with a five year old posting on our site of a Clown Stink Bug nymph, Poecilocoris lewisi, but old links we provided were no longer active. Interestingly, the person who submitted that image was led to our site because Randy Cassingham had selected us as the Bonzer Web Site of the Week. We then searched for some new links of pictures of the adult, and though the markings were very similar to your image, the black appears to be green metallic like this Korean post card. We did find one Korean website with images identified as Poecilocoris lewisi that look like your photo. That still seems to be a closer match than the Eurydema images that Google produces.
Metamorphis? Parasitism?
Location: Zushi, Japan
October 23, 2010 12:26 am
Nobody seems to be familiar with this sort of thing taking place. We all learn about the metamorphasis of butterflies in grade school, but what is THIS? Metamorphasis? Parasitism? It happened over and over again on my patio wall when I was living in Japan. Proabably about forty of these hatchings all in the same week. I’m really curious. I have more pictures of the series that show the completed ”moth” (?) after it emerges.
Signature: Jenna
Metamorphosis of a Cicada
Hi Jenna,
Your photo is a nice documentation of the metamorphosis if a Cicada. The wingless nymphs live underground feeding from the roots of plants. When they are ready to mature, they dig to the surface, molt into winged adults, and complete the life cycle by mating and perpetuating the species.
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¶ Posted 19 October 2010 § Cicadas ‡ ° 
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