Caterpillar?
Location: Central Florida
March 5, 2011 8:01 pm
Hi!
Just a few weeks ago we started getting these little worm-like bugs all over our house/trees. Now normally it’d be fine, we’re not freaked out by bugs or anything but they are EVERYWHERE. We can sweep them off the porch/cars and the next morning there’s just as many if not more. I tried looking them up but can’t find any that actually look like them, I’m not sure if they’re just babies, or what. Friends were talking about killing them/hosing them down/etc but I don’t want to harm them if they’re useful/pretty.
Signature: Anna Moore
Oak Leafroller
Hi Anna,
Another reader just supplied us to a link entitled “Caterpillars Invade Tampa Bay” that provides information on the Oak Leafroller and other similar Caterpillars that are currently being reported in great numbers in Florida.
What is this?
Location: St. Petersburg, FL
March 7, 2011 2:58 pm
We’ve been seeing many of these drop from our trees recently (mostly from oak trees). In the past few days there have been hundreds around our house and we’ve been seeing them drop from trees all over the neighborhood this weekend. They are green, with a black head and appear to be some sort of larvae but not sure. Some are really tiny while others more than an inch long. They drop down on a silk-like thread so it now looks like we have spider webs all over. Any idea what they are, or what they will become?
Signature: Greg
Oak Leafroller
Green caterpillers
Location: St. Petersburg, FL
March 14, 2011 10:52 am
I recently sent in a picture of green worm looking bugs that hang on a thread of silk from our Oak trees. I just came accross this new item about them.
Caterpillars invade Tampa Bay!
http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=179758
”Jane Morse, with the Pinellas County Extension says the caterpillars are the larvae of either oak leafrollers or oakleaftier moths”
Just wanted to let you know!
Signature: Greg
Oak Leafroller
Dear Greg,
We apologize for not writing back to you. We had every intention of trying to identify this caterpillar phenomenon, but we got very busy with a personal matter. We are very happy you wrote back and provided a link to a news story on the Oak Leafroller or Oakleaftier Moth Caterpillars. Unfortunately, Jane Morse did not supply a scientific name for the Oak Leafroller or Oakleaftier Moths, but we did locate a Texas A&M Agricultural Extension Service webpage article that has some great information.
Spider or Insect?
Location: Barbados, (In the Caribbean)
March 12, 2011 5:53 am
I recently found this in my house walking VERY slowly across the floor, I covered it with a transparent container and left it for a while. As soon as the container was removed it sprinted, since i have 12” tiles i can probably say almost a foot a second.
Found another one a couple months later which got crushed under the car tyre.
Signature: Recker
Tailless Whipscorpion
Dear Recker,
Though it looks quite dangerous, this Tailless Whipscorpion is perfectly harmless (though not to Cockroaches) as it lacks venom. Tailless Whipscorpions are shy nocturnal hunters that will keep your home clear of Cockroaches and other unwanted guests. As you observed, they have the ability to scuttle quickly, often moving sideways like a crab. Tailless Whipscorpions are found in many locations worldwide, though they are most common in warm regions. Tailless Whipscorpions are neither Spiders nor insects. They are classified as Arachnids, the same Class that includes Spiders.
Grasshopper bug
Location: Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
March 12, 2011 7:26 am
Hi Team,
Found this bug on my door last night, it looks like a grasshopper or locust, but I have never seen one like it here ever.Its about 2-3 inches long with white stripes up its belly. Can you help?
Cheers Denis
Signature: Denis Fitzgerald
32 Spotted Katydid
Hi Denis,
We quickly identified your 32 Spotted Katydid, Ephippitytha trigintiduoguttata, by searching the Insects of Brisbane website. It is also known as a Mottled Katydid, and the etymologically incorrect Speckled Grasshopper. Though Katydids and Grasshoppers are in the same insect order, Orthoptera, they are classified in different suborders.
32 Spotted Katydid
Hi Daniel,
Thank you for your email and that you identified my grasshopper.
Seems its common up northern Australia. No wonder I have never seen this type so far south where I am, before.
Thanks again you guys do a GREAT job.
Cheers Denis
Small house bug?
Location: Halifax, NS, Canada
March 12, 2011 4:48 pm
Hi my name is Dillan and i was wondeirng what kind of bugs these are?
I have found about 10-20 of them on my window sill in my bedroon over the last couple of days. I’m not sure if they are in other parts of the house because they are so small I wouldn’t normally notice them. I live in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and found the bugs in March, 2011. The weather has been warming up lately but they bugs might have been here for a while I just never noticed them.
Thanks for your help!
Signature: Dillan
Booklouse
Hi Dillan,
You have Booklice, minuscule insects that are often found in damp locations indoors where they feed on mold. They will not harm you or your home, but if they are present in large numbers, they may be an indication that there is a serious mold problem. They can also sometimes infest stored foods. You can read more about Booklice on the Texas A&M Agricultural Extension Service website.
Spider? Stink Bug?
Location: South Florida. Pompano/Margate area
March 12, 2011 6:37 pm
This little critter kept coming to visit a photography class we were having. It looked like a spider, except for the rear end, which was held up like a scorpion holds it’s stinger. One of the staff at the park told us this was a stink bug, but I don’t really see a shield shape.
Thanks for any help you can give me in identifying it.
This one was located in Pompano Florida at Fern Forrest Nature Center.
Signature: Anne
Wheel Bug Nymph
Hi Anne,
This is an immature Wheel Bug, Arilus cristatus, and when it is fully grown, it is North America’s largest Assassin Bug. When fully grown, it is easily distinguished from any other Assassin Bug by a coglike projection on the thorax. You can find numerous images of adult Wheel Bugs on our website, including this example dating back to October 2009. Wheel Bugs and Stink Bugs are both True Bugs in the suborder Heteroptera, so your observation has merit. Additionally, Wheel Bug hatchlings, like this grouping sent this past January, are frequently mistaken for Spiders. Wheel Bugs are one of our Top 10 identification requests, though upon viewing that tag, we realize that we have not added any new images of Wheel Bugs in years.
What’s this beetle?
Location: Los Angeles, CA
March 12, 2011 9:18 pm
Hi!
See these guys on my walks in the hills all the time. Slow movers, maybe 1-2 cm in length.
Located in Montecito Heights, Los Angeles.
(not too far from you 
Thanks!
Signature: Aaron
Wooly Darkling Beetle
Hi Aaron,
This critter is a Wooly Darkling Beetle, Eleodes osculans, one of the desert Stink Beetles. They are often found ambling about in vacant lots and other open areas. The erect red hairs that cover the body are a distinguishing feature of the Wooly Darkling Beetle. You can see BugGuide for additional information.
Hi Daniel,
Thank you very much! I had incorrectly identified this guy as belonging to the Trichiasida genus, but I see he is definitely a Eleodes osculans!
These have been a common sight ambling along the hills around here, it’s nice to know who I’m walking with!
Many thanks
Aaron
Identify the bug
Location: California
March 13, 2011 4:17 pm
Hello! We keep finding these small bugs on our carpet, in our bedroom and I haven’t been able to identify it. It has two-tone body, almost black and yellow, very small, hard shell. I have attached pictures. I hoping these aren’t bed bugs, they dont look like them based on the pictures i’ve seen.
Signature: Rachelle Stimmel
Varied Carpet Beetle
Hi Rachelle,
This is the third identification request for the Varied Carpet Beetle we are posting this morning. The larvae can damage wool rugs and other organic materials found in the home and they also do significant damage to museum collections. They are cosmopolitan in distribution.
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