moth/caterpillar
Location: Southeast
May 21, 2011 8:11 pm
My husband and I found this moth/caterpillar in our front yard. I’ve never seen anything like it and can’t find any pictures resembling it on the internet. My pictures do not do it justice! It was bright (almost neon) orange and yellow and about 3 – 4 inches long. It never flew (extremely tiny wings), but just pulled its belly along the grass. The pictures were taken in Charlotte, NC on May 21, 2011 between 8:00 and 8:30pm.
Signature: Ryann
Newly Emerged Regal Moth
Dear Ryann,
Your impression that this moth was somewhat caterpillar-like can be easily explained. This is a newly metamorphosed Regal Moth or Royal Walnut Moth. Its wings have not yet expanded. The caterpillar, known as a Hickory Horned Devil, is the largest North American Caterpillar, and when it is ready to transform, it buries itself and forms a pupa. After overwintering, the adult emerges and crawls to the surface. You were fortunate enough to encounter this Regal Moth at that point in its transformation.
Mating Cecropia Moth
Location: North of Indianapolis
May 21, 2011 7:10 pm
Just a picture to add to your collections. Found in Indianapolis 5/20/11. Sooo pretty. I came to you to find out what they were 
Signature: Cynthia
Mating Cecropia Moths
Hi Cynthia,
Our Bug Love page hasn’t had a really sexy photo in a few months. Thanks for sending photos of this positively gorgeous amorous pair to add to our archives.
Mating Cecropia Moths
10
Strange moth like bug on window screen
Location: Mokena, Illinois
May 21, 2011 8:43 pm
We found this bug attached to our screen window. It looks a bit like a moth, but has what appears to be a stinger attached to its butt. We are from Mokena, Illinois and the temperature is about 75 and humid.
Signature: Thank you, Brian Smith
Small Eyed Sphinx
Hi Brian,
Your impression that this looked like a moth was correct. It is a Small Eyed Sphinx, Paonias myops, so named because of the eyespots on the underwings.
What’s that bug, lol?
Unknown Fly
Subject: What’s that bug, lol?
Location: Northeast Ms.
May 21, 2011 10:42 am
What a neat site! I am fascinated by insects, so I will be here often, lol! I found this bug in my house last night. I live in NE Ms.
After moving him/her outside, I took these photos. I thought it was a lightening bug, my husband thinks Wasp, and I have friends on FB that think it’s a Cicada. I don’t think it’s any of these. I figure this is a pretty basic insect that I should know, and feel rather dumb that I don’t, lol! I have been all over the internet looking at images and have had no luck identifying it so far.
Thank you for your time! 
Signature: PHolland
Unknown Fly
Dear P Holland,
We are having a terrible time trying to identify this insect. Here is what we are certain of: It is a Fly. Beyond that, we suspect it is a Flower Fly in the family Syrphidae. The closest match we are able to locate on BugGuide is Monoceromyia floridensis, but sadly, the details of the antennae are not clearly visible in your photos. BugGuide indicates that species if found in Florida, but Mississippi isn’t that far from Florida. Perhaps it is a close relative. The positioning of the wings has allowed us to eliminate any of the Thick Headed Flies found on BugGuide which also have some similar looking species. It is evident that this fly is a wasp mimic because of the narrow waist and coloration. Many Flower Flies mimic bees. We hope one of our readers will write in to confirm or refute this identification.
Unknown Fly
Thank you for the quick reply!!! I had 2 more folks insist earlier today that it’s a wasp. Ha… they were wrong!!!!
yellow cluster
Location: stewrtstown PA
May 21, 2011 1:58 pm
Hi. I was wondering what this yellow mass was. Found it hanging off a shasta daisy leaf in my perennial garden. Seems to be almost suspended with very faint spider webs surrounding it, not really growing ON anything. Maybe 1-2 inches long. Wasn’t sure if it was an insect egg mass or a slime mold–it’s been a very wet 2 weeks.
Signature: lt
Orbweaver Spiderlings
Dear It,
We believe these are newly hatched Orbweaver Spider spiderlings. They should soon disperse by releasing a strand of silk and catching a breeze, a technique known as ballooning.
Well thank you so much Daniel Marlos. I hope that’s what they are. I will watch closely. PS “Spiderlings” is a great word.
Thnx again
Lauren
red/orange eyed bugs
Location: northcentral Texas
May 21, 2011 5:13 pm
These bugs/beetles were crawling around the sidewalk and rocks at Elm Fork Nature Preserve in Carrollton, Texas. I believe it was summer and they have been spotted in dry fallen leaves at Hagerman NWR in Sherman, Texas also.
Signature: Brenda Loveless
Red Shouldered Bug
Hi Brenda,
You encountered an aggregation of Red Shouldered Bugs, Jadera haematoloma, also known as Goldenrain Tree Bugs. The winged individual is an adult, and the individual with more red markings is an immature nymph. Red Shouldered Bugs often form large aggregations. You may read more about the Red Shouldered Bug on BugGuide.
Red Shouldered Bug Nymph.
Big bug in our backyard
Location: Williamstown, New Jersey
May 21, 2011 2:19 pm
My 10 year old daughter found this bug in our backyard late May 2011 and was trying to find out what it was. The best she could come up with was ”some kind of weird beetle” but in our many camping trips had never seen anything quite like this. Can you help?
Signature: Curious Girl Scouts in NJ
Eyed Elater
Dear Curious Girl Scouts in NJ,
We are a bit late in getting to our mail this morning. There was some technical difficulty with our site this morning, and then we had some late morning commitments. We just returned from the Theodore Payne Foundation to do a dress rehearsal of our presentation next week and we are pleased that it seems there should not be any technical problems. This is the largest Click Beetle in North America, the Eyed Elater.
?Longhorn Beetle?
Location: Arundel, West Sussex UK
May 20, 2011 5:41 am
Came across this beetle today 20052011 on framework of conservatory.
Could you identify, please?
Signature: Brian
Thick Legged Flower Beetle
Dear Brian,
Without too much effort, we quickly identified this comely specimen as a male Thick Legged Flower Beetle, Oedemera nobilis, on the National Insect Week website (June 25 – July 1, 2012) where it states: “This spectacular metallic-green beetle is usually seen on flowers. Only the male – seen here – has the characteristic thickened hind ‘thighs’ (femora). This species is common in gardens and grassland, and in open spaces in woods, in the south, but is more often found in coastal areas in the north of the country. The larvae feed and develop within plant stems.” The Natural England website adds this information: “This species is often seen on the flowers of ox-eye daisies. Another commonly seen species in gardens is a dull sage-green colour. Both are common throughout southern and south east England, but are a lucky rare find in the north, apart from south Cumbria where they are not uncommon. Adults feed on pollen in a wide variety of open-structured flowers. It may be found on various members of the daisy, carrot and rose family, including hogweed, hawthorn, dogrose and bramble. The larvae live in hollow plant stems.”
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