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Monthly Archives January 2011

Tiger Swallowtail

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail?
Location: Western Maine
January 24, 2011 12:20 pm
This little beauty fluttered into my van last summer. Is it an Eastern Swallowtail butterfly? Thank you!
Signature: Cheryl Mitchell

tiger swallowtail cheryl 300x280 Tiger Swallowtail

Tiger Swallowtail

Hi Cheryl,
There are several other species that look very similar to the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio glaucus, including the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio canadensis.  To further complicate identifications, the ranges of the Eastern and Canadian Tiger Swallowtails overlap in places, including Maine.  We cannot say for certain which species you have, but the blue markings on the hind wing indicate that this is a female.

Posted 25 January 2011 § swallowtails ‡ Comments (1) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Giant Silkmoth Caterpillar from Rwanda

Jessica’s Pet Caterpillar
On Jan 24, 2011, at 6:07 PM
Location:  Rwanda
“puffy hews”. what kind of beastie will emerge from this rwandan living cactus??
julian thinks he’s a type of moth – a wild silk moth – a saturnidae.
Clare

caterpillar rwanda jessica 300x219 Giant Silkmoth Caterpillar from Rwanda

Giant Silkmoth Caterpillar

Hi Clare,
I agree with Julian that this is a Giant Silkmoth Caterpillar, family Saturniidae (you dropped an i and failed to capitalize the family name).  I have been unable to match it to any Rwandan species on the World’s Largest Saturniidae Site, so I have contacted Bill Oehlke who oversees that website to see if he is able to provide any information.

Bill Oehlke responds
Daniel,
I am pretty sure it is one of the Imbrasia species. That genus has been divided into Imbrasia and Gonimbrasia, and Gonimbrasia genus has been further divided into Gonimbrasia and Nudaurelia subgenera.
I think in the next few years there will be a few more genera/subgenera added. Currently, I would say it is Gonimbrasia (Nudaurelia) dione, but I have been advised there are probably many new species that will be described in the next little while as a result of DNA barcoding.
Dione has an all black larvae with yellow spinage and white spiracular ovals, and it likely flies in Rwanda. I have never seen a published list of Saturniidae species found in Rwanda.
The list I have composed is largely based on interpolations from lists sent to me by Thierry Bouyer for other African countries and from internet publishing of specimens for sale. I think Thierry’s information is quite reliable, although subject to the upcoming revisions based on DNA barcoding; the other sources would be less reliable.
There currently is nothing more reliable in print or on the internet, at least not so far as I have seen.
Is it possible she can provide a larger image?

Ed. Note:
We are inquiring about a larger image.  Meanwhile, we did locate links to the adult moth on Thorne’s Insects Shoppe and on FlickR where it is also represented on the Moths Tanzania page.  There are also photos of the adult moth on an African Moths website we located.

Hi Daniel,
List of foodplants on Gonimbrasia (Nudaurelia) dione file.
If she still has it in Rwanda, use natural hosts. If it is now in US, use US host.
This species does not make a cocoon, but would pupate in a tub between paper towels if treated as per north america earth pupators like regalis.
I would love to see moth if she is successful.

Ed. Note:  Food Plants from WLSS
“Listed below are primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants listed in Stephen E. Stone’s Foodplants of World Saturniidae and/or on various internet sites. It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.
Aleurites fordii
Aleurites montana
Anacardium occidentale
Bauhinia petersiana
Chlorophora
Diplorhynchus mossambicensis…….
Erythroxylum havanese
Eugenia
Jatropha curcas
Khaya
Mimosa
Psidium
Rhus (RL)
Ricinus communis
Spondias lutea
Theobrama cacao

China wood oil tree
Mu-oil tree
Cashewnut
Kanchan
Muvuli
Diplorhynchus mossambicensis
Erythroxylum havanese
Stopper/Waterboom
Barbados nut/Physic nut
African mahogany
Mimosa
Guava
Sumac
Castor oil bean
Mombin
Cocoa”
Also, the caterpillar is pictured on this postage stamp from Congo.

Imbrasiadionecongostamp 199x300 Giant Silkmoth Caterpillar from Rwanda

Caterpillar on Stamp

great info. a famous caterpillar!
of course, several skin allergy producing food species listed…
jessie – get out the paper towels for puffy hews to pupate – i do hope he is still alive…
i love that it eats ricinus… let’s get some for elyria!
oh, but it eats sumac, too. not so useful!
is mr. oehlke an entomologist?
clare

Posted 25 January 2011 § Silkworms ‡ Comments (0) °

Green Lynx Spiderlings emerge from egg sac

Daniel, the green lynx spiderlings emerged
Location: South Pasadena, CA
January 24, 2011 12:40 am
I was happy to spot these tiny spiders yesterday morning.
Signature: Barbara

green lynx spiderlings barbara 300x206 Green Lynx Spiderlings emerge from egg sac

Green Lynx Spiderlings

Hi Barbara,
Thanks so much for continuing to document to the life cycle of the Green Lynx Spider in your garden.  Your hatchling Spiderlings are so cute.  The weakest among them will most likely provide food for their more aggressive siblings, ensuring that only the most robust individuals with the best survival skills will contribute to the gene pool of future generations.  Since we both know that Daniel is the only person who deals with the content of What’s That Bug? I can dispense with the use of the royal we in this response.  I am currently creating some homemade signage to post in Elyria Canyon Park where there is a patch of native milkweed, Asclepias eriocarpa, that comes up every year, though it sometimes gets trampled to the ground when brush clearance is too aggressive along the paths.  I would like permission to use some of your monarch caterpillar photos with the signage, though I have never seem any Monarch Caterpillars at the location.  More on this later because I will be late for work if I don’t tear myself away from the computer now.

green lynx spiderlings barbara 2 300x206 Green Lynx Spiderlings emerge from egg sac

Green Lynx Spiderlings

Posted 24 January 2011 § Green Lynx ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Dragonhunter Exuvia

Dragonhunter Exuvia?
Location: Rangeley Lake, Rangeley, Maine USA
January 24, 2011 8:19 am
I found this exuvia on a dock at Rangeley Lake in Rangeley Maine USA. Does it belong to the Dragonhunter Dragonfly nymph? I look forward to solving this mystery. My husband was holding it in the palm of his hand when I took the picture. It was about two inches long. Can you tell us what kind of bug it is? Thank you.  Thank you!
Signature: Cheryl Mitchell

dragonhunter exuvia cheryl 300x206 Dragonhunter Exuvia

Dragonhunter Exuvia

Hi Cheryl,
Apparently you emailed your photos to at least one friend who submitted an identification request a day earlier and signed the request “Not sure”, beating you to both a response and a posting to our site. Since you submitted two images, and “Not sure” only submitted one photo, we can create a new posting and include your second image which provides a nice sense of scale.  We gave a slightly snotty response during our response to “Not sure” due to the lack of relevant information that was provided.  You are correct that this is a Dragonhunter exuvia.  We did not realize that this was the exuvia, a name given to the cast off exoskeleton that remains when an insect molts during metamorphosis.  Thank you for providing that clarification.

Thank you very much for your prompt response. Yes, please create a new posting to include both of the images I submitted of the Dragonhunter exuvia.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Mitchell

Posted 24 January 2011 § Dragonflies and Damselflies ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Dragonhunter

What is it?
Location: Maine
January 23, 2011 7:13 pm
A friend took this photo and we can not identify it…can you help?
Signature: Not sure

dragonhunter maine 300x242 Dragonhunter

Dragonhunter

Dear Not sure,
Luckily for us, there was a field on our submission form for a location, or we might have gotten no useful information from your email.  Did your friend find this creature in the kitchen? or during one of the snowstorms that is currently blanketing much of the northeast? or as we suspect, in a lake last summer?  This is a Dragonhunter Naiad, the larva of a Dragonfly.  You may compare your image to this posting of a photo of a larval Dragonhunter, Hagenius brevistylus, on BugGuide.  The Dragonhunter has one of the most distinctive looking Naiads, the name given to all aquatic larvae, of all the North American Dragonflies.  According to the Insects of West Virginia website:  “Dragonhunters often capture dragonflies nearly their own size” which explains the common name Dragonhunter.  According to a University of Michigan web page:  “Hagenius brevistylus is most certainly Michigan’s most distinctively shaped odonate larva (Fig. 1). The very flat abdomen is broad, nearly circular in outline, bearing dark mid-dorsal hooks and sharp lateral angles on abdominal segments 2-9. This shape is shared by other gomphid genera in other parts of the world and appears related to the habit of burrowing in leafy trash.“  Over time, the appearance of the larvae may have evolved to mimic dead leaves like elm tree leaves ensuring that predators might overlook the tasty larvae, which then contributes to the survival of the species.

Posted 24 January 2011 § Dragonflies and Damselflies ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged:

Bagworm from Israel

Bagworm or boxworm?
Location: Wadi Og, Israel
January 23, 2011 6:22 am
Hi WTB,
On my hiking trip this past weekend I came across this bagworm, Amicta quadrangularis, in Wadi Og, just south of Jericho. I think ’Boxworm’ is a more appropriate name, don’t you?
Signature: Ben, from Israel

bagworm israel ben 300x224 Bagworm from Israel

Bagworm

Hi Ben,
Thanks so much for sending us your photo as well as identifying this unusual Bagworm.

Posted 23 January 2011 § Bagworm ‡ Comments (0) °

Mating Toxic Milkweed Grasshoppers from South Africa

South African grasshoppers
Location: Cape Town, SA
January 23, 2011 12:14 pm
Hi,
I spotted this pair of grasshoppers in the foothills of Table Mountain. Would be interested in any info you can give.
Signature: Thanks – Simon

milkweed grasshoppers mating south africa simon 300x259 Mating Toxic Milkweed Grasshoppers from South Africa

Mating Milkweed Grasshoppers

Dear Simon,
We are quite thrilled to post your photo of mating Toxic Milkweed Grasshoppers in the family Pyrgomorphidae.  They are also known as Foaming Grasshoppers or Gaudy Grasshoppers.  Many species are highly toxic because they are able to store the toxins from the milkweed leaves they eat.

Posted 23 January 2011 § Grasshoppers ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

Robber Fly from Indonesia

What’s the bug
Location: Indonesia
January 22, 2011 11:49 pm
I found this bug near my hometown in Central Java Province of Indonesia.
Signature: Angela Dwi Pangestika

robber fly indonesia angela 300x240 Robber Fly from Indonesia

Robber Fly

Dear Angela,
That is sure one beautiful Robber Fly in the family Asilidae.  Robber Flies are predators that capture winged prey while in flight.  They are very capable hunters.

Dear Daniel,
Thank you so much for your reply.
Best Regards,
Angela Dwi Pangestika (Inge)

Posted 23 January 2011 § Robber Flies ‡ Comments (0) °

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