Giant Spider in the bathroom
Location: Weymouth Massachusetts
May 24, 2011 2:45 pm
Dear Bugman, Last night I found this spider in my bathroom. We live in Weymouth Massachusetts and our back yard is all forest. I have young children and want to ensure that they are safe. Please advise. Thank you!!
Signature: Concerned Mom
Fishing Spider
Dear Concerned Mom,
Fishing Spiders in the genus Dolomedes are large and though they may appear to be quite frightening, they are harmless.
Plant bug ID
Location: Hyampom, CA
May 25, 2011 1:25 am
Hello,
I am trying to ID this little guy. It was found in Northern California near the Oregon border. It hasn’t caused any plant damage that I can see.
It resembles a Boxelder bug but has no x marking on its back. Everything else seems the same (color, shape and size).
Do you have any idea what it might be?
Thanks in advance.
Signature: Steve
Bordered Plant Bug
Hi Steve,
Your mistaking this individual for a Boxelder Bug is understandable. It is a Bordered Plant Bug, most likely Largus californicus. According to BugGuide, it feeds upon: “Mostly plants (flowers, leaves, fruit) from a range of families, with a preference for Lupines. L. californicus is not considered a “pest species” of economic importance.” We will be going through our archive to find some nice high resolution images of this Bordered Plant Bug to use in our presentation at the Theodore Payne Foundation this Saturday.
Wattle-killer
Location: Perth Hills, Western Australia
May 24, 2011 5:22 am
Hi Bugfolk,
A friend pointed me to your site after seeing the attached photos.
I cut down a large dead wattle about two years ago and found these holes and exoskeletons. I’ve shown them to a few people, but not managed to find out what it is. To add to the challenge, the photo isn’t what the bug would have looked like when it was alive!
My note on the photo identifies the remains as about 8cm long (+/- 2cm).
Any identification or pointers you could provide would be really welcome!
Signature: James
Pupa of a Borer Beetle
Dear James,
This is a beetle pupa from the family Buprestidae, a group that is commonly collectively called the Metallic Borer Beetles or Jewel Beetles. There are many Australian species and some are quite host specific. We cannot provide a species name.
Wattle Tree with Borer Damage
Grossed out
Location: Lynnwood, WA
May 24, 2011 12:48 am
Holy crap, I was eating my angel food cake and spotted this thing crawling around in it. I flipped out mentally, but brought it out to my kitchen where the light was better and set it down to take pictures of it.
I went through the rest of the cake pretty thoroughly and found no evidence of other similar bugs, but I can’t shake the feeling that this thing was in here before I bought it at the grocery store.
Please help me figure out what it is, and tell me if it’s dangerous.
Signature: – Freaked Out
Lacewing Larva searches for Aphids in Angelfood Cake
Dear Freaked Out,
We do not mean in any way to minimize the trauma you felt upon encountering this lost Lacewing Larva while eating your angelfood cake, however, we chuckled none the less. The Lacewing Larva, if it was capable of feelings, would have also felt traumatized at the realization that it was no longer in a habitat conducive to hunting Aphids. Lacewing Larvae are found in gardens and among plants and they are very adept hunters that are cherished by organic gardeners because they help to control harmful insects. Lacewings are even sold in quantities, though they are not quite as popular as either Lady Bugs or Preying Mantids in the biological warfare arena. We highly doubt you found any additional Lacewing Larvae in your cake, though we feel quite certain that the entire pastry ended up in the garbage can. It is worth mentioning that many insects are contained in processed foods that are sold by reputable manufacturers and markets. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has strict guidelines that must be followed regarding the upper limit of allowable insects in food, though most people are unaware that some insects are found in the foods they purchase and that they fall within the standard. Here are some statistics on the limits that we copied from the Insects Are Food website:
“Insects are commonly found in the following foods:
Apple butter – 5 insects per 100g
Berries – 4 larvae per 500g OR 10 whole insects per 500g
Ground paprika – 75 insect fragments per 25g
Chocolate – 80 microscopic insect fragments per 100g
Canned sweet corn – 2.3mm-length larvae, cast skins or fragments
Cornmeal – 1 insect per 50g
Canned mushrooms – 20 maggots per 100g
Peanut butter – 60 fragments per 100g (136 per lb)
Tomato paste, pizza, and other sauces – 30 eggs per 100g OR 2 maggots per 100g
Wheat flour – 75 insect fragments per 50g“
what is this?
Location: Webberville, MI
May 23, 2011 4:09 pm
black and yellow looking ricket/grasshopper
Signature: Ken
Hickory Borer
Dear Ken,
You didn’t provide us with terribly much information, and information is a great assistance with species identification. Perhaps your internet provider or cellular telephone provider has a character limit on texting, or maybe you just didn’t have time. Since it is spring, we believe this is a Hickory Borer, Megacyllene caryae, a species that is very difficult to distinguish from its close relative the Locust Borer which appears in the fall and is often found on goldenrod feeding on pollen and nectar. The majority of sightings of the Hickory Borer on BugGuide are from February through April and there are none in late May. Perhaps this individual emerged from firewood you had in your home, and the interior temperatures affected its biological clock. It is believed that both species, as well as numerous other Longhorned Borer Beetles in the family Cerambycidae, mimic wasps for protection since many wasps (including Yellow Jackets) are capable of stinging and beetles are not.
At first glance…
Location: Western NY state
May 23, 2011 5:08 pm
I found this bug on my shirt pocket May 21, 2011 in Western NY state. It looked iridescent in the sun, but it looks even more interesting in the shade. It wasn’t very active – after brushing it off my shirt, it calmly posed for pictures. I don’t have a clue as to what it is, but the pics looked quite interesting to me.
Signature: Gary D. Timothy
Metallic Borer Beetle
Hi Gary,
This is a Metallic Borer Beetle in the family Buprestidae, and we believe we have narrowed the identification down to the genus Dicerca, however, there are many species that look quite similar that are found in your area (24 species listed in North America), and we do not feel comfortable taking the identification to the species level. You can see BugGuide for the possibilities. BugGuide indicates: “Many breed in decaying hardwoods.” The detail of the head might make species identification a bit easier for an expert.
Metallic Borer Beetle
Cannibalistic Dragonfly
Location: Bradenton, Florida
May 23, 2011 1:46 pm
Good Afternoon! Huge fan of your site, thank you so much! Spotted these dragonflies ”flying” together, it was only after I got close and heard the crunching and noticed that one was headless that I realized one was eating the other. Gross but cool photo – thought you might like to have it.
Signature: Linda Lamp
Dragonfly Cannibalism
Dear Linda,
Thank you so much for sending us your awesome images documenting Dragonfly cannibalism. We must admit we are a bit challenged with Dragonfly species identification. Perhaps our readership will be able to provide the names of the two individuals in this photo. We believe the predator may be one of the Mosaic Darners in the genus Aeshna (see BugGuide) and the prey may be a Skimmer.
Dragonfly Cannibalism
Update: May 24, 2011
We were in such a rush to get to work yesterday, we compiled this posting in a hurry, and in retrospect, we believe this second photo might make species identification easier as the wing veination is more evident.
puzzled in Pa?
Location: western Pa
May 22, 2011 10:00 pm
My boyfriend and I were out walking along the shore of the Ligonier Creek in western Pa, we spotted a nice location to sit and talk on a couple of larger rocks. My boyfriend picked up a smaller rock to skip across the creek when we came accross this insect. We both love being outdoors but we never saw a bug like this before. So we picked it up put it in a container and brought it home with us for further analysis. WE ARE STUMPED!! Can you help? We would like to release it back into the wild tomorrow. Thanks alot!
Signature: puzzled in Pa
Hellgrammite
Dear puzzled in Pa,
This is a Hellgrammite, the larval form of a Dobsonfly. If you think this larva is impressive, you should check out some images of adult male Dobsonflies in our archive.
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