Blue beetle with orange legs
Location: Austin, tx
December 24, 2010 3:51 pm
Hi Bugman!
This beetle was found in Austin TX in the middle of June (mid to upper 90-degree weather) in our elm tree. He was moving very slowly and didn’t look like he was doing well (moving very slowly as if sick). He’s about an inch long.
Signature: Kris
Bumelia Borer
Dear Kris,
Most of the images we receive of the Bumelia Borer, Plinthocoelium suaveolens, are a beautiful metallic green rather than blue, but BugGuide indicates that it is a variable species that can be “metallic green, blue, or bronze. Femora red.“
Bumelia Borer
Rock on! Thanks for the quick response. He’s pretty much the coolest bug we’ve ever seen. Hopefully we’ll see more of them this summer.
Merry Christmas!
Crematogaster Ants on Whistling Thorn
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
December 23, 2010 1:25 pm
Hi Daniel,
One of the favourite stories field guides love to tell guests here in Kenya is about the mutualistic relationship between Crematogaster sp. ants and the Whistling Thorn (Acacia drepanolobium). The tree provides a home for the ants in its bloated, hollow galls (see picture), and the ants provide protection from herbivores (often Giraffe) by attacking the herbivore when it comes to feed on the tree.
One just has to brush past the tree to get the ants excited and running around like crazy.
However, a while ago, I found a very interesting article showing that the relationship may not be completely mutualistic. Go to the following link and scroll down to the yellow box titled: ”Whistling Thorn Symbiosis May Be One-Sided” http://waynesword.palomar.edu/acacia.htm
Whatever the case, it’ll never cease to fascinate me!
Signature: Zarek
Crematogaster Ants
Hi Again Zarek,
You sure are keeping us busy posting all of your awesome images from Kenya. Thanks for the image of the Crematogaster Ants as well as the link and the personal observations.
1
¶ Posted 24 December 2010 § Ants ‡ ° Siafu
Army Ants
Siafu
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
December 23, 2010 1:27 pm
Hi Daniel,
I’ve found no Safari ants (Dorylus sp.) on your page, and they’re a very prevalent genus here in East Africa.
They’re known as Siafu in swahili, and also called Army ants for their long uniform columns.
Whenever it rains, they come out in force, forming long, thick columns in search of food.
Their soldier class have fearsome mandibles that can be used as emergency sutures if no other alternative is available. There are anecdotal reports of young or sick people dying from attacks by these ants, but I’ve never seen any hard evidence. Its not completely unbelievable, though when you see how fast they cover you if you step in the middle of their column by mistake!
I once watched a 12cm centipede get completely overwhelmed when it accidentally ran through a group of these ants. It was only a matter of minutes before there was nothing left of the centipede!
Sorry there are no clear pictures. They move too fast my my camera’s shutter at that proximity.
Signature: Zarek
Army Ants on the March
Hi Zarek,
Thanks again for sending us photos that fill a void in our archives. You action photos of Army Ants and your personal eye witness account are valued contributions to our website. Your photos also illustrate the size discrepancies between the various worker castes in the colony.
Army Ants
You’re welcome.
The very large ants with the very large heads are soldiers. The picture doesn’t display their huge mandibles very clearly, but there are a few other sites on the internet that do.
Zarek Cockar
3
¶ Posted 24 December 2010 § Ants ‡ ° More spiders
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
December 22, 2010 5:30 am
Hi Bugman,
More spider close-ups from Kenya!
…
Picture 3: Technically not a spider – A Sun-Spider, Red Roman, Solifuge, etc. Usually quite large and scary-looking, this particular guy was only about 2cm long. Catalogues and field guides for solifuges are hard to find. The best guess I can come up with is Family Solpugidae, but I’m far from sure.
Any clues??
Signature: Zarek
Sun Spider
Hi Zarek,
With our limited scientific background, we don’t even attempt to classify Sun Spider, AKA Wind Scorpions, beyond the level of the order Solifugae. We are intrigued with the common name Red Roman that you have provided as it is a new term for us.
More spiders
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
December 22, 2010 5:30 am
Hi Bugman,
More spider close-ups from Kenya!
…
Picture 2: A Crowned Nursery-Web Spider (Rothus purpurissatus)from the family Pisauridae.
Nursery-Web males must bring a food-gift to the female before she will mate with him. They then build a web specifically for holding the eggs and baby spiders (hence the name Nursery-Web). Once the babies have left the web, the female eats the web and regains a percentage of the protein from the silk.
…
Signature: Zarek
Crowned Nursery Web Spider
Hi Again Zarek,
As we continue to post the numerous images you have sent to us, we are reminded that despite being separated by an ocean and the equator, your description of a Crowned Nursery Web Spider’s mating habits is quite similar to related species in the family Pisauridae that live in North America.
More spiders
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
December 22, 2010 5:30 am
Hi Bugman,
More spider close-ups from Kenya!
Picture 1: Green Huntsman Spider (Olios correvoni)from the family Sparassidae. I watched in awe as all 8 of his legs were removed with surgical precision by a spider-hunting wasp!
…
Signature: Zarek
Huntsman Spider without Legs
Hi again Zarek,
We are finally getting around to reading and posting your final email, again with three different species that need to be separately archived, and we are in total amazement of this image of an octuple amputee. We are salivating at the thought that you might have some images of the Spider Wasp in the act of removing the Huntsman Spider’s legs. If you do, please send us a few.
I wish I had that picture!!! I didn’t have my camera on me when the whole thing went down. I had to run and get it after marking the spot where the dead spider lay – after the fact.
Here’s what happened:
I saw a spider hanging on a single strand of silk from a tree branch and saw something flying around it. Whatever it was that was flying flew straight into the spider and there was a bit of a tussle mid-air. Then the insect flew off, leaving the spider flailing wildly from its silk strand. The wasp (though I didn’t realize it was a wasp until later) flew back, hit the spider once more and the spider dropped to the ground. I quickly got up from where I was sitting and called other people over. We watched this wasp systematically, and with surgical precision, cut off each leg of the spider with its mandibles. The spider seemed to give no resistance, so I assume that last hit from the wasp was a sting that either killed it or anaesthetized it.
Once all 8 legs (minus the pedipalps you see in the picture) had been removed, the wasp picked up the spider under its belly with its two middle legs and began walking across the pebbles it was on. Some distance away, it stopped, flew off, then flew back again and stuck its stinger into the spider’s head. Do Pompilidae wasps oviposit in Huntsman spiders’ heads?? I’ll look it up and find out.
The wasp then flew off and didn’t come back.
One of the most exciting wildlife kills I’ve ever seen in the Mara!
Here’s a link describing almost exactly what I saw:
http://www.sciencentre.qm.qld.gov.au/Find+out+about/Animals+of+Queensland/Insects/Wasps+and+bees/Common+species/Spider+Wasps
However, as I said, the wasp did not carry it away very far. It certainly didn’t carry it to a burrow.
Oh ya, it was a Batozonellus spp. wasp from the family Pompilidae (subfamily pompilinae)
Identification Please
Location: Tucson, AZ
December 22, 2010 4:52 pm
Dear Bugman,
I photographed these two insects and I need an identification. … The second photo is of a insect on Mt. Lemmon, Tucson, and it was taken in July of last year. Thank you so much
Signature: -Harrison
Bee Fly
Hi again Harrison,
Your second insect is a Bee Fly in the family Bombyliidae, and it is different from most of the Bee Fly images we receive. We believe it may be in the genus Geron based on images posted to BugGuide, including one image in particular that was also taken in Arizona.
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