Polyphemus inflates his wings
Location: S. Illinois
April 7, 2011 7:55 pm
Found this Polyphemus as a cocoon in a tree nursery last fall. He hatched out this afternoon, here he is at emergence plus 5 minutes, and plus 4 hours.
We’ll release him in the woods tomorrow at dusk.
Signature: Bert
Polyphemus Moth newly metamorphosed
Hi Bert,
Thanks so much for sending in your photos of a newly emergent Polyphemus Moth.
Polyphemus Moth
UNKNOWN INSECT
Location: Central Greece Mt. Tymfristos
April 7, 2011 12:13 pm
I cant’ find this insect.
It seems like ”procerus violaceus” but there are many doubts.
Please help me !!
Signature: Elias
Ground Beetle
Hi Elias,
Though this is definitely a Ground Beetle in the family Carabidae, we are uncertain of the species. The name you suggested is an obsolete name, and you may be searching in older texts. The genus Procerus is now listed as Carabus, and that is a likely classification of your insect.
Ed. Note: We received a comment clarifying the error in our previous response.
Spiders Galore at Delray Oaks Natural Area
Location: Delray Beach, Florida
April 7, 2011 12:21 pm
Hello What’s That Bug! I love your site. I am the volunteer coordinator for the Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management – so I am outside a lot working with dedicated volunteers who want to protect the county’s natural resources. Obviously, we come into contact with lots of bugs. I always head to your website when I have a critter I can’t identify. I know this spider – golden-silk spider. I thought you might like this picture since you can clearly see the spider is spinning silk to fix her web. I watched her remove a twig that had fallen into her web – she cut it out and then proceeded to repair the area where the stick was. So cool! I also came across lots of crab-like spiny orb weaver spiders and orchard spiders – those guys were way too small to get a good photo. Keep up the great work!
Signature: Ann Mathews – Senior Environmental Analyst
Golden Silk Spider
Dear Ann,
Thank you so much for your kind letter. We really love your photo of a female Golden Silk Spider, Nephila clavipes.
What is this bug?
Location: Southern Maryland
April 6, 2011 12:11 pm
I found this bug in my bedroom on my bedskirt. At first I thought it was some sort of cricket but it does not hop and when I tried capturing it, it made a weird noise. Also, when it is flipped on its back it has a very hard time flipping back over.
Can you please let me know what this bug is?
Thanks!
Signature: Mandy
Banded Hickory Borer
Hi Mandy,
We believe that your Longhorned Borer Beetle is a Banded Hickory Borer, Knulliana cincta, based on BugGuide.
Bug/insect credo
Location: Bugs in theory
April 6, 2011 2:03 pm
Dear Bugman,
I absolutely love your site! Even most of the unnecessary carnage section. However, I’d like to share my credo. (I’m going to use the word ”bug” to describe both bugs and insects.)
1.) If I’m outside and a bug is over there and I’m over here, I don’t touch it. Live and let live. I might even watch it from afar.
2.) If a bug enters my home uninvited, I consider this home invasion and I act accordingly; the ”intruder” dies. I was raised in Idaho, the lovely potato state. Though the state’s motto should be ’shoot first, ask questions later’. I feel this way about all intruders big or small. In this instance we can say, ’Shoe first, ask questions later.’ I wouldn’t step in a badger’s hole and think it’s not going to attack me. That’s just silly, it’s protecting it’s space. I am just protecting mine.(Also, don’t tell me you don’t happily go around the house with the fly swatter in the summer because I won’t believe it! And mosquitoes…)
3.) If a bug happens to land/fly violently into my person, I consider this an assault and I’m going to defend myself against the attacking wild. I’m just an innocent by-standard (see number 1.) I’m not harming anything! If some thug came up to you with malicious intent, wouldn’t you try to defend yourself? Even if this person was only 3’4. Just because I’m bigger doesn’t make it O.K. to assault me. Period. It’s not my fault if the bug gets a boo-boo. That’s what happens when you mess with the big kids.
4.) Being a bug doesn’t mean being my enemy. Just as I allow friends into my home, I do allow known nice/beneficial bugs into my abode. I don’t kill butterflies. I don’t kill praying mantis. (And not because they are pretty either! Although maybe Zorak has something to do with it.) Fuzzy caterpillar? Come on, it’s fuzzy!! Lady bugs… Yeah, that’s all I can think of. Oh, Daddy Long Legs! Anyway, those buggies (and others!) get taken outside by my spouse. I don’t go tromping through the wilderness looking for bugs to fry with a magnifying glass, THAT is unnecessary.
Signed,
-M-
P.S. It’s natural to fear the unknown, so thanks for keeping this site up and running. Thank you for continuing to education about the harmless bugs and the not so harmless ones. It is appreciated. Please, go easy on us though.
Signature: Ride a pony bug man, not a high horse!
Zorak
Dear M,
Thank you for taking the time to write. We hope Hanna-Barbera doesn’t come after us for copyright infringement. We agree with you fully that it is natural to fear the unknown, and we hope our website helps to dispel some of that fear with regards to bugs. For the record, we cannot tolerate Argentine Ants invading our offices, which they always seem to do after especially heavy rains and more frequently during the hot dry summer months in Los Angeles. We routinely squish aphids and scale insects in the garden as well.
Mysterious Tiny Bug
Location: Port Angeles, WA
April 6, 2011 5:25 pm
Hello, I’ve been taking macro photography shots of insects for quite a long time and I hadn’t ever come across this tiny bug before, so I thought I would send it your way to see if you can enlighten me as to its identify. The bug is no more than 0.2 cm across, and I found it on the underside of a rotting piece of alder. Due to its size and semi-transparent shell, I’m guessing it is a juvenile of some form of insect that I might otherwise be able to identify (perhaps a stink bug due to the shape of the shell). Thanks for you time, and look forward to hearing from you!
Signature: Eli Owens
Mite
Hi Eli,
In our opinion, this is some species of Mite, and it has a very unusual anatomical structure. We cannot find any matching images on BugGuide in the superorder Acariformes. Perhaps an expert in Mites, known as an acarologist, will write in with an identification some day.
Unidentified ant
Location: Napa, CA, USA
April 6, 2011 9:36 pm
Hello,
These little buggers live (I think) in a dying Oak tree in the front of my yard and are very busy along their trails into my house. I live in Napa, California and it is early spring. Any idea what type of ant they are?
Signature: J. A. Reif
possibly Carpenter Ants
Dear J.A.,
We believe, because of their large size and their location in the tree that these are most likely Carpenter Ants in the genus Camponotus, though we do not have the necessary skills to identify them based on their anatomy. They somewhat resemble this photo of Camponotus clarithorax from California posted on BugGuide. General information on Carpenter Ants can be found on the information page for the genus on BugGuide.
Carpenter Ants, we believe
What kind of bug is this?
Location: Shoreham, NY
April 6, 2011 9:38 pm
Hi,
I’ve found several of these little critters all over my house – in the kitchen, in the bathroom, on random walls and on the rugs. They are very sluggish and tend to just sit there making them easy targets to do away with. They are black with a white or brownish band and are about a millimeter long. My home is located in a development which is surrounded by woods and the dirt the area is mostly clay if that helps. I first started seeing them this winter. It was very and very snowy. I saw them again today it had rained both yesterday and this evening. Thank for your help.
Signature: Lost in the Woods
Larder Beetle
Dear Lost,
You have Larder Beetles, a common pest of stored food products that has a cosmopolitan distribution. Clean out the pantry and you should find the source of the infestation.
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