amphibious insect
Location: PEI
July 23, 2011 2:08 pm
We found this bug in a puddle, in the country, on Prince Edward Island,Canada.
Signature: Josh
weird bug came out of a puddle.
Location: Prince Edward Island, Canada
July 24, 2011 9:53 am
We were walking in the back fields the other day and this thing came scurrying out of a puddle. We slowed him down long enough to snap a pic. No one around here has ever seen one.
Signature: Josh
Water Tiger
Hi Josh,
Thanks for resending your identification request. We had actually opened your email yesterday and we had plans to post your request, but somehow time got away from us and we forgot about it. This is a Water Tiger, the larva of a Predaceous Diving Beetle in the genus Dytiscus. You can see numerous examples on bugGuide. Water Tigers are fierce hunters and they are capable of catching and feeding upon tadpoles and small fish.
Hi, thanks for the reply, and information. I apologize for sending it twice, i sent it from a new mobile phone and thought the first one did not go through. It’s amazing how many interesting creatures there are.
Thank you very much for your time,
Josh
2
Whats this bug?
Location: Gaines, Michigan
July 24, 2011 11:01 am
These wasp looking bugs cloud around our yard, they never seem to land they just fly in circles. We caught one and it is less than an inch long, and it has weird antennas. They just appeared this month, please help!
Signature: Alan Rodgers
Five Banded Tiphiid Wasp
Hi Alan,
This is a male Five Banded Tiphiid Wasp, Myzinum quinquecinctum. According to BugGuide: “A slender, shining black wasp, with yellow crossbands. Males are more slender than the females and have an upturned black hook at the end of the abdomen. There are 5 yellow bands on the abdomen of the female (the second is broken in the middle) and 6 narrow, more regular ones in the male. Both head and thorax are marked with yellow. Legs of the males are strongly yellow, but they are reddish in females. Wings are brown.“ This is not an aggressive species, and males form “Bachelor Parties” like this one we posted in 2007.
Luna Moth
Location: Freeport Maine
July 24, 2011 10:42 am
I discovered a Luna Moth on my barn door. It stayed with us 3 days before a 2nd one appeared. They stayed an additional day and a half for a total of 4 1/2 days for the first and 1 1/2 days for the 2nd. I understand it is very rare to see one, let alone 2 in the same place at the same time. We live in Maine and this is the first time we have ever seen one before.
Signature: Lisa in Maine
Luna Moth
Hi Lisa,
Luna Moths have a relatively extensive range, and each year we get numerous reports. While they have a large range, the population does not seem to be distributed evenly. In areas where conditions are favorable and food plants are available, they can be quite plentiful. Reports indicate that Maine is a location where populations of Luna Moths can be quite dense.
Luna Moths
2
mall green cicada
Location: Northeastern Louisiana
July 23, 2011 5:27 pm
Dear Bugman,
I uploaded this information to your site in June, but never got a response, so something must have gone wrong with the upload. I found this cicada in my pool skimmer, it was already dead. It was a lime green color and much smaller than the regular annual cicada. It didn’t look like a periodical and didn’t have red eyes. The first image is the day I found it, when it was still brilliant. The second image was a day later and he had faded in color. I found the common the other cicada and used him as a comparison for size. Hope you can shed some light.
Signature: BugBunny
Cotton Green Cicada
Dear BugBunny,
Each year, beginning in May, the amount of mail we receive each day increases to the point that we are not physically capable, with our current staff, of answering even a fraction of the identification requests we receive. We try to post at least five new submissions each day, and we answer considerably more requests that do not get posted to the site. Generally those get just a name and they are emailed directly to the querant. Additionally, this past June, we were on holiday for a week, and during that time, no mail was answered. Our backlog of unanswered requests is truly vast, and we hope you do not take it personally that we never responded to your original request. This identification proved a bit of a challenge for us, but we believe we have the correct answer for you. With North American insects, we often begin trying to identify an unknown species on BugGuide, and we were unable to find any matching images there, however, we did find a Cicada with an intriguing name that was not pictured on BugGuide. The name Okanagana viridis caught our eye because the species name refers to “green” and we learned that the common name is the Cotton Green Cicada. BugGuide lists the range as: “western Mississippi, n. Louisiana, s. Oklahoma, parts o Arkansas and ne. Texas” and the habitat as: “Forested areas along watersheds and edge forests to the Black belt Prairie remnants.“ It flies in June and July and BugGuide also has this comment: “Not Common.“ We then did a web search for that name and we discovered the website Cicadas of the United States and Canada East of the 100th Meridian and scrolling down the page provided this image which looks like a match to your Cicada. The site includes the song of the Cotton Green Cicada and also provides this information: “A bright green, glossy cicada. Song is a continuous, thin buzz lasting around 30 seconds. Calls from very high in deciduous trees. Found in rare lowland forest patches of south-central states.“
Cotton Green Cicada (right) compared to Tibicen species
Thank you so much for the information. Yes I do believe this is it. I didn’t find anything about the size of the cotton green cicada on the BugGuide site. The one I found was much smaller than the common cicada. I have lived here for 60 years and I have never seen one of these cicadas. I am always looking for unusual bugs to share with my family and with all my exploring, this is the first one of these I have found. Thanks again.
¶ Posted 24 July 2011 § Cicadas ‡ ° Defies Identification
Location: Chico, CA
July 23, 2011 8:24 pm
Hello. I found this little guy in the yard on 22 July and was hoping you could identify it. At first I thought it was some kind of mantis, but I really haven’t a clue. I am no entomologist. A few details: it stood its ground when I moved in close with the camera, it tended to climb up the sides of the glass jar used to contain it, and it did not bite or sting me when I first caught it. Cheers.
Signature: Nate
Assassin Bug Nymph
Hi Nate,
This is an Assassin Bug Nymph, and we think you may have been lucky not to have been bitten. Assassin Bugs are predators, and there is one group, the Blood Sucking Conenose Bugs, that feed on mammalian blood, including humans. Most Assassin Bugs will not bite a human unless they are provoked, and handling one carelessly might result in a painful bite. We aren’t certain what genus your Assassin Bug nymph belongs to.
Immature Assassin Bug
Cerisy’s Sphinx?
Location: Vernon, BC
July 23, 2011 4:40 pm
I found this moth at a summer camp in Vernon, BC, Canada, at 10:00am, on July 23, 2011. It was on the steps of one of the buildings; it was a little sluggish but I managed to move it to a nearby stump so it wouldn’t be stepped on (which is where I took the picture). Is it a Cerisy’s Sphinx moth?
Signature: S. Lowen
Cerisy's Sphinx or One Eyed Sphinx
Dear S. Lowen,
We concur with your identification of Cerisy’s Sphinx, Smerinthus cerisyi, which is also known as the One Eyed Sphinx. You may read more on the species on the Sphingidae of the Americas website.
Green Fly?
Location: Arkansas US
July 22, 2011 9:29 pm
We found this bug in our pool skimmer and was unable to identify it online
Signature: Ashley
Soldier Fly
Hi Ashley,
After first browsing through countless Hover Fly images from the family Syrphidae, we eventually learned this stunning green fly’s identity to be the Soldier Fly, Odontomyia cincta, while continuing to search BugGuide. Though there is no information on the BugGuide species page, the genus page on BugGuide provides this information: “Adults take nectar, also sometimes found on dung” and “Eggs are laid on the edge of body of water. Larvae are aquatic, feed on algae. They stick tip of abdomen up through water surface to obtain air.“
Large Transparent winged Moth
Location: Bedford, Nova scotia, Canada
July 23, 2011 1:31 pm
Saw this one last night when the light in my porch attracted it. Thought it was a huge mosquito first, but see the moth like antanae in the photo. Body length about 4-5cm, quite large. Wings transparent. Never seen one like this before.
Signature: Wildlife Sightings, junponline.com
Summer Fishfly
Dear Wildlife Sightings,
You have sighted a Summer Fishfly, Chauliodes pectinicornis. You can find information on the species on bugguide. The pectinate antennae do resemble those of a moth.
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