HELP hippobosca equina, Lipoptena cervi
Location: Croatia
July 22, 2011 3:20 am
I need help with hippobosca equina bug. I live in Croatia and I have big problems with that bug. When I go to the nature many of this bugs attacked me. Once I have 30-40 bugs in the same time on my body. They are very agressive and it is very big problem for me because I must spend a lots of times in areas where they live. I contacted the local veterinary college but they only defined that is hippobosca equina. They can not help me. Im sending one picture but I think that there are some little differences between the sempels, depending in which part of the Croatian was. How can I protect against this insect? Please help.
Signature: Ana
Louse Fly
Hi Ana,
Louse Flies are ectoparasites of large mammals like deer and sheep. Those that parasitize sheep are sometimes called Sheep Keds. If they cannot find their preferred host, the will bite humans, as you have experienced. Alas, we don’t have advise regarding how to keep them from landing on you and biting, but we would guess that insect repellant might be a good place to start.
Daniel,
thank you for your response. Unfortunately I’ve tried with most standard insect repellants that I found but nothing is effective : (.
Br,
is this moth poisonous
Location: maryland
July 22, 2011 12:21 am
It looked like it had a stinger
Signature: ?
Royal Walnut Moth
Dear ?
Your moth is a Royal Walnut Moth and it does not have a stinger and it is not poisonous. We find it interesting that you would suppose that it is a venomous species upon seeing the adult, because it is the fearsome looking caterpillar, the Hickory Horned Devil, that generally elicits such a supposition. The frightfully spiny Hickory Horned Devil is also perfectly harmless.
jerusalem cricket like bug/spider/scorpion
Location: Central Oregon (Redmond)
July 22, 2011 12:09 am
Hello mr. Bugman,
I am just about as tolerable of bugs as they come but this guy made me jump. It moves very fast and is colored like a jerusalem cricket but has pincer like appendages in the front but without claws. It also has eight additional legs, excluding the pincers. It also has four ”fangs” two on top and bottom. It hasalso two body segments the rear one being longer, about 1/2 an inch. Let me know if you need more info.
Signature: bugboy
Solifugid
Dear Bugboy,
Your description of a Solifugid is so thorough, we could have identified it without a photo. Common names for the Solifugid include Sun Spider and Wind Scorpion, and like its arachnid relatives, Solifugids are predators, but unlike those arachnids, Solifugids do not have venom, which is lucky for humans as they are such fierce predators. Should a Solifugid try to bite a human, it would probably hurt, and possibly even draw blood, however, since they do not have venom, they should be considered harmless despite a frightening appearance.
What kind of insect is this?
Location: Ketchikan, Alaska
July 21, 2011 10:56 pm
I live in Southeast Alaska; Ketchikan to be exact. I friend of mine posted this picture on Facebook and now I really want to find out what this is! I’ve never seen anything quite like it!
Signature: Elizabeth
Giant Ichneumon
Hi Elizabeth,
This is a Giant Ichneumon in the genus Megarhyssa. Though this is not the best image we have received of a Giant Ichneumon, it does show the long ovipositor that is often mistaken for a stinger. Many stinging insects have evolved so that the ovipositor has also been modified into the stinger which only the female possesses. The Giant Ichneumon does not have a stinger, but the ovipositor is used to lay eggs beneath the bark of trees that have been infested by the wood boring larvae of various wood wasps, including the Pigeon Horntail. Your email has us excited because we do not get many insect identification requests from Alaska, and also because we did not realize the Giant Ichneumons ranged that far north. We believe your species is Megarhyssa nortoni since its colors and markings match and the species is found in the Pacific Northwest. Here is the BugGuide page on Megarhyssa nortoni.
help, is this a roach???
Location: western pennsylvania
July 21, 2011 11:26 pm
Please let me know what kind of bug this is. It was in my bedroom. Ignore the light black spot between the the first two white dots(closest to the head) as my husband burned it. (Cruel I know)
I live in western Pennsylvania
Signature: Jamie
Ivory Marked Beetle
Hi Jamie,
This is an Ivory Marked Beetle, one of the Longhorned Borer Beetles. It will not infest your home, though there are reports of adults emerging after many years from furniture that was built from wood that contained boring larvae. According to BugGuide: “Notorious for emerging from furniture after as many as 10-40 yrs (1)(4) Delayed emergence of E. quadrigeminata was discovered from a birch bookcase 40 years old.” We feel that burning a living creature constitutes Unnecessary Carnage, however, roasted insects, which are high in protein, are consumed in many cultures. Since this Ivory Marked Beetle was photographed on a spoon, are you able to provide us with any information on how it tasted?
4
a species of Melaphe!!
Location: Historic City of Troy, Turkey
July 22, 2011 8:30 am
I was going to ask what this guy was-I saw him in the city of Troy in Turkey this May. But, I found I didn’t need to ask thanks to ”LESVIAN MILLIPEDES”
Posted by danielj July 7th, 2004 at 12:00 am and ”TURKISH MILLIPEDE”
Posted by danielj April 18th, 2006 at 12:00 am. Your research is appreciated! Now I can tell my deviant watchers what it is =D
Signature: Thanks much!
Millipede
Hi D,
We are happy to hear you were able to self identify your Trojan Millipede as a species in the genus Melaphe from the family Xystodesmidae, and please send our best to your deviant watchers.
Moth size of Giant Swallowtail
Location: Seminole, Florida
July 20, 2011 10:14 AM
Hi Daniel
Saw this at about 7:30a.m. today in front yard. I thought it
was a bat at first. Seminole ,Florida 33776
No exageration – it is the size of a “Giant” – Giant Swallowtail.
Sorry the pics aren’t better.
Do you know what it is?
Have a Great Day!
Brent
Black Witch
Hi Brent,
Your moth is a male Black Witch. Females have light bands across the wings. The Black Witch is a species associated with more tropical climates, though their northern migrations have been recorded for more that 100 years. It is unclear why so many individuals fly north, as far as Canada, since their food plant, the acacia, does not grow in the North. In recent years, the Black Witch has been reported to breed in the southernmost U.S. We may be witnessing a range expansion due to global warming. According to BugGuide: “The northward migration out of Mexico is triggered by Mexico’s rainy season which typically starts in early June and lasts through October. Most US records are from June-August, with a considerable number of records from September-Novermber. [sic] Very few US records from December-May.”
LARGE Caterpillar found in Ozark, Missouri
Location: Ozark, MO (southwest Missouri)
July 21, 2011 10:39 pm
Can you identify this large dark/bronze/copper/brown colored caterpillar? We found it in early July in my flower bed, not far from my Walnut tree. It was about 3 inches long. We saw no others before or since. I’ve lived here 12 years and have never seen such a creature! In the photos, you can see the ”horns” and the tufts of ”hair”. It has a black ”band” across it’s head. Also, what Moth or Butterfly will it become?
Signature: ~Susi M.
Hickory Horned Devil
Hi Susi,
Your large caterpillar, a Hickory Horned Devil, will nearly double in size and change color from brown to aqua-green as it progresses through metamorphosis to become the largest North American Caterpillar. We received our first Hickory Horned Devil sighting of 2011 a few weeks back and we have been getting numerous reports of the adult Royal Walnut Moths this summer, which makes us believe that there will be even more mature caterpillar sightings in August and September. Folks don’t usually notice the Hickory Horned Devil until the caterpillars have grown to full size and then climb from the trees to crawl upon the ground in search of a suitable location to dig beneath the surface where pupation occurs. Walnut and Hickory, which provide the common names for the moth and its caterpillar, are just a few of the trees that serve as a host for the caterpillar. Others include sumac and persimmon. The adult Royal Walnut Moth, like other Giant Silk Moths, does not feed as an adult. Adults live long enough to mate and lay eggs. BugGuide has a nice series of images of various instars of the Hickory Horned Devil. The fully grown caterpillar with its bright coloration and striking horns is often likened to a Chinese dragon.
Daniel,
Thank you SO much for replying so QUICKLY!! We found a very large moth last night fluttering against a rock wall here, put it in a jar and by morning it had laid numerous eggs! We think it may be the Royal Walnut Moth from our Hickory Horned Devil Caterpillar you identified! I will take photos and send them to you to be sure. It doesn’t look exactly like the other Royal Walnut Moths I’ve seen photos of at the Bug Guide link you sent me, but it may be one of them. I’ve lived here many years and have never seen these caterpillars near any walnut trees in this area. Where are they normally from? And why would they be appearing here all of a sudden? Thanks again.
~Susi Meredith
Ozark, Missouri
Hi again Susi,
Just because you didn’t notice any Hickory Horned Devils does not mean they were not present. Even though they are large, they could easily escape notice in a large tree. Since the adult moths fly, they are capable of increasing their range to places where there is available food. Perhaps you are part of a natural range expansion.
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