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Monthly Archives December 2010

End of Rain???

Ed. Note: December 22, 2010 4:30 PM
We can’t help but wonder if this is a signal of the end of the rain in Southern California and if perhaps insects will metamorphose and fill the garden with imagos ready to mate.

rainbow mt washington 20101222 254x300 End of Rain???

Late Afternoon Rainbow

Posted 22 December 2010 § Administrative ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Flea Beetle and Recipe for Farfalla con Funghi Porcini

Jumping Beetle
Location: Hurricane, Utah
December 22, 2010 12:01 pm
I noticed this beetle on my kitchen table, and leaned closer to get a better look. It surprised me by hopping away, just like a flea-so I hunted it down hoping that wasn’t what it was. I found it, and it was not a flea, but a pretty coppery pink beetle. It is 2 mm long. I suspect it was brought in from the river near my house in Southern Utah. (I put it in a jar to get better looks in daylight but by morning it had died.)
Signature: Pam

flea beetle dorsal pam 249x300 Flea Beetle and Recipe for Farfalla con Funghi Porcini

Flea Beetle

Hi Pam,
This is a Flea Beetle, a member of a subfamily of Leaf Beetles, Chrysomelidae.  The fact that you have both a dorsal and quasilateral view aids in that identification because of the enlarged rear femurs are plainly evident.  We are currently in the kitchen trying to perfect a recipe for Farfala con Fungi Porcini after consulting with renowned chef and photographer Luca Loffredo, otherwise we would take the time to try to identify your Flea Beetle to the species level based on its physical appearance and range information available online on BugGuide.  We did take the time to create a Flea Beetles subsubcategory because of your query.
P.S.  We will post the recipe for Farfala con Fungi Porcini if it turns out well.

flea beetle quasilateral pam Flea Beetle and Recipe for Farfalla con Funghi Porcini

Flea Beetle

Update: We wonder if perhaps it might be a member of the genus Chaetocnema, based on images posted to BugGuide.

farfalla funghi porcini1 178x300 Flea Beetle and Recipe for Farfalla con Funghi Porcini

Recipe: Farfalla con Funghi Porcini

Update:  Promised recipe for Farfalla con Funghi Porcini.

Thank you for your quick reply, I’d never heard of flea beetles and had fun looking through the other posts. I am experimenting with fudge recipes myself, the Farfala looks tasty, we might give it a try!
Thanks again, and have a good holiday!
Pam

Posted 22 December 2010 § attack of the fungus § Flea Beetles ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Possibly Bush Cricket from the West Indies

Colorful Cricket Nymph
Location: Grand Case, Saint Martin, French West Indies
December 22, 2010 8:07 am
I recently found this in a meadow near where I live in Grand Case, Saint Martin (French West Indies). It seems to be a cricket nymph, but beyond that I’m not sure. Any ideas?
Signature: Mark

cricket west indies mark 300x219 Possibly Bush Cricket from the West Indies

Possibly Bush Cricket

Hi Mark,
We believe this may be an immature male Bush Cricket in the subfamily Trigonidiinae, but we are not certain.  We will try to contact Katydid expert Piotr Naskrecki to get his input.

cricket west indies mark 2 300x224 Possibly Bush Cricket from the West Indies

Possibly Bush Cricket

Thanks for the response. I’ll keep an eye out for updates. I love your site!
Mark

Posted 22 December 2010 § Crickets, Camel Crickets and Mole Crickets ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Wolf Spider from Kenya

Spiders
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
December 22, 2010 5:01 am
Hi Bugman,
As you mentioned you don’t get many entries from East Africa, here are a few close-ups of the spiders I live with.
…
Picture 3: one of my favourites – A Wolf Spider from the family Lycosidae. Geolycosa spp.
Keep an eye out for more. I’ve got tonnes!
Signature: Zarek

wolf spider kenya zarek 300x257 Wolf Spider from Kenya

Wolf Spider

Hi again Zarek,
Thanks so much for sending us this fine close-up photograph of a Wolf Spider, but we wish you had also included a shot of the entire spider as well as additional information on the circumstances surrounding the sighting.

Hi Daniel,
Wolf Spider.  Again, my apologies for only including the close ups of the spiders’ faces.  I do have pictures for each of these that includes the whole body.
These Geolycosa Wolf Spiders are very common in Masai Mara, Kenya.   They’re often confused for baboon spiders, but are, in fact Araneomorphs, while Baboon Spiders are Mygalomorphs.
These Wolf Spiders live in circular burrows in the ground and come out, mostly at night, to hunt actively.  However, I found this particular one mid-morning wandering around in the grass.  He was very obliging at first for his photoshoot, but eventually got tired of it and wandered off.

Update from Zarek
same wolf spider
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
December 23, 2010 4:33 am
Hi Daniel,
Here’s a full body shot of the Geolycosa spp Wolf Spider in the previous picture I sent. With legs and all, he’s probably about 7-8cm long and about 5cm wide.
Signature: Zarek

wolf spider kenya zarek 2 300x224 Wolf Spider from Kenya

Wolf Spider from Kenya

Posted 22 December 2010 § Wolf Spiders ‡ Comments (2) °

False Button Spider from Kenya

Spiders
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
December 22, 2010 5:01 am
Hi Bugman,
As you mentioned you don’t get many entries from East Africa, here are a few close-ups of the spiders I live with.
…
Picture 2: A ”False Button” Steatoda capensis. Came to this conclusion after much discussion with others and much searching.
…
Keep an eye out for more. I’ve got tonnes!
Signature: Zarek

false button spider kenya zarek 300x245 False Button Spider from Kenya

False Button Spider

Dear Zarek,
Thanks for sending an image of a False Button Spider, Steatoda capensis,  from the family Theridiidae, the same family that includes the highly venomous Widow Spiders.

When I first found this one (Steatoda capensis), I was a little afraid that it was a Brown Button, but I could never get a good view of the underside of its abdomen to look for that red hourglass shape.  I searched and searched online and finally found some good pictures that pretty much exactly matched what I was looking at.  None of the Latrodectus (widow) pictures I found matched.
Steatoda’s sometimes prey on Latrodectus species, though their venom is not considered to be as dangerous to humans as the black or brown widow’s venom.  Some Steatoda do still have relatively potent venom, though, so I’m still not going to be picking it up and fiddling around with it.
Zarek Cockar

I forgot to clarify, while some Steatoda can have slightly dangerous venom in their bite, this particular one, Steatoda capensis, does not.
Just a general note:  A good reference for Southern African arachnids is the African Arachnid Database (AFRAD), put together by Dr. Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman, a well recognized arachnid expert in SA.  Website: http://www.arc.agric.za/afrad/afradmain.aspx

Update from Zarek
False Button Full Body
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
December 23, 2010 4:38 am
Hi Daniel,
Here’s a full body photo of the False Button Spider (Steatoda capensis) I sent in earlier.
She was about 3cm long.
There were two that hung around my tent for several days.
Signature: Zarek

button spider kenya zarek 300x255 False Button Spider from Kenya

False Button Spider

Thanks for the full body view Zarek.  The resemblance to the Widow Spiders in the genus Latrodectus is much more evident in this image.

1

Posted 22 December 2010 § Cobweb Spiders ‡ Comments (1) °

Bark Scorpion

Bark Scorpion vs Dog
Location: Las Vegas, NV
December 22, 2010 12:29 pm
I just wanted to let you know that, between a legitimate (confirmed ID done by the local Dept. of Agriculture) bark scorpion infestation and your site, our home has become more & more bug & arachnid friendly each year.
We have bark scorpions in our home & yard, which *are* dangerous – especially to my husband because he has proven allergic to their venom. However, we noticed that once we gave up trying to exterminate them chemically (they’ve proven almost indestructible to everything except blunt force trauma) they stopped investigating the house as much & seemed more content to stay in the back yard. We came to the determination that since we no longer spray, their food sources – crickets & roaches – are abundant outside. Since the scorpions stay outside, our yard is relatively pest-free and our home is completely pest-free. Along with the active hunters, we have two walls full of big, gnarly, oft-mistaken-for-recluses brown house spiders, and occasional batches of tiny, beautiful brown widows (they’re pale with dark brown leg joints & hourglasses) along the base of the house, and we’ve been visited by regular ol’ centipedes *and* house centipedes.
However, my husband has been getting more & more concerned because we have a nosy dog – meaning she investigates *everything* nose first. Just how dangerous would a bark scorpion sting be to her if it hit her in the face? I’m not too worried about the brown widows – they run & hide – but the scorpions are bold and aggressive, especially in summer.
Signature: Jane from Las Vegas

bark scorpion jane 300x297 Bark Scorpion

Bark Scorpion

Dear Jane,
We are happy that you have learned to respect and cohabitate with some of the venomous species in your area and also that you have come to the realization that total annihilation of potentially harmful species is not really practical outside of a closed system.  Here is what BugGuide has to say about the sting of the Arizona Bark Scorpion:  “The sting of one of our scorpions, however, Centruroides sculpturatus(until recently thought to be the same as Centruroides exilicauda), the Arizona Bark Scorpion, can be fatal. Most healthy adults are not at significant risk- only children, with their smaller body size, are in danger (treatment with antivenom has pretty much put a stop to deaths where available, but bark-scorpion stings should still be taken very seriously). The site of the sting does not become discolored.“  Probably your best source for information on the danger to your dog would be a local veterinarian.

Posted 22 December 2010 § Scorpions, Whipscorpions and Vinegaroons ‡ Comments (2) °

Flattie from Kenya

Spiders
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
December 22, 2010 5:01 am
Hi Bugman,
As you mentioned you don’t get many entries from East Africa, here are a few close-ups of the spiders I live with.
Picture 1: A ”Flattie” or ”Wall Spider” from the Family Selenopidae. Selenops spp.
…
Keep an eye out for more. I’ve got tonnes!
Signature: Zarek

flattie kenya zarek 300x223 Flattie from Kenya

Flattie from Kenya

Hi again Zarek,
We in no way want to discourage you from sending additional images to post to What’s That Bug?, but this particular email contains images of details of the heads of three different spider species, which means we need to divide it into three different posts, each with a truncated version of your email comments.  We are well aware that the eye pattern configuration is a critical identification key to many spiders, but we feel that our readership would benefit much more if this posting contained a shot of the entire spider for comparison as well as a “headshot” detail image.  Our readership would also appreciate a bit more narrative on the individuals, including the circumstances surrounding the sighting and any unusual observations you may have made.  Flatties are awesome spiders that get their common name because they have such a low profile and they and squeeze between tight crevices.  Flatties are nocturnal hunting spiders that do not build a web to snare their prey.  BugGuide has images of some North American species.

Hi Daniel,
I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about the difficulty you would have categorizing each image separately.  Didn’t mean to create extra work for you!
This particular flattie was one of the first spiders that got me properly interested in spiders.  He would sit on the floor next to me while I was sitting on the toilet (too much information??) and just seemed to be watching me.  He had obviously lost a few legs (as is evident in the photo) and so couldn’t move quite as quickly as others of his kind usually can.
As you say, they are usually nocturnal, but I usually saw this guy out in broad daylight.
Since then, I’ve come across many other flatties around my tent, but never had a good opportunity to get another good picture of one with all its legs still attached.

Posted 22 December 2010 § Flatties ‡ Comments (0) °

Moth from Kenya

Numerous!
Location: Maasai Mara, Kenya
December 21, 2010 6:28 am
Hi Daniel,
I’ve got a few more for you to identify.
All from Maasai Mara in Kenya
…
- Picture three: Perhaps a moth from the family Cossidae? I don’t know. And it was very hard to capture on my camera without getting it overexposed.
Signature: Zarek

moth kenya zarek 232x300 Moth from Kenya

Moth from Kenya

Hi Zarek,
The family Cossidae contains the Carpenter and Leopard Moths, according to BugGuide.  We cannot say for certain that your moth is in the family Cossidae, but hopefully one of our readers may be able to supply additional information.  Your photo, despite the difficulty with getting a proper exposure, contains enough detail to be able to see many of the unique physical attributes of your moth that should facilitate the identification process.

Posted 22 December 2010 § Moths ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

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