Moth that looks like a leaf?
Location: Oklahoma City
August 23, 2011 8:32 am
This moth is on my house, right outside the front door. It’s very cool, looks like oak leaves! 
What is it called?
Signature: Elizabeth
Walnut Sphinx
Hi Elizabeth,
This interesting moth is a Walnut Sphinx, Amorpha juglandis. You can verify our identification on the Sphingidae of the Americas website.
spider
Location: Ede, The Netherlands
August 23, 2011 2:04 am
This spider was spotted in the Netherlands last Saturday (20th of August). Including its legs it was about the same size as a streched out hand. I’ve never seen anything like this before, that’s for sure!
Signature: Hello!
Male Huntsman Spider
This appears to us to be a male Huntsman Spider, Heteropoda venatoria, a mainly tropical species that sometimes is introduced to cooler climates because of shipments of bananas and other items. They are not dangerous despite their large size and frightening appearance. They are nocturnal hunters that will prey upon cockroaches.
Dear Daniel,
Thank you for your swift reply! It sure is reassuring to know it only eats cockroaches!
Kind regards,
Ruben Maas
Hi Ruben,
They will prey upon more than just Cockroaches, though that seems to be a favorite prey for them.
Hi Daniel,
I meant reassuring more in the way that it would not prey on me while I sleep. Most indiginous spiders here are the size of a fingernail, not an entire hand, hence my discomfort 
Cheers, Ruben
In many tropical countries, they are allowed to live in the house. We imagine in The Netherlands, they might not survive the winter outside, but it might survive the winter indoors. Your individual is a male, as evidenced by his large pedipalps, so you don’t need to worry about him laying eggs and being overrun with Huntsman Spiders. If we were you, we would make him a pet. Just warn your visitors who your newest roommate is.
what bug is this
Location: milwaukee wi
August 23, 2011 5:11 am
found this on my living room wall.
first time i have seen a bug other than a spider and earwig. you will have to zoom way in on the pictures but you can see it..
thanks for your help
Signature: me
Firefly
Dear me,
This appears to us to be a Firefly in the family Lampyridae. Fireflies are also called Lightening Bugs. You can read about them on BugGuide. You should really try to get out more to see more bugs.
Whats this?
Location: Wigan
August 23, 2011 5:56 am
Hi, can you identify what this bug is and if it needs getting rid of? its in my dogs yard and quite near to our front door. I see them coming in and out of the nest frequently.
Signature: Jenny
Square Headed Wasp
Hi Jenny,
As we prepared to post your identification request, we needed to research Wigan since we were uncertain if it was a location or a typographical error. We did locate a Wikipedia entry that identified Wigan as a town in greater Manchester, England, so we are indicating your location as U.K. We believe this is a Square Headed Wasp in the subfamily Crabroninae, and we learned on BugGuidethat “Some nest in hollow stems or in abandoned galleries in wood, others burrow in the ground. Prey is mostly flies, but some utilize other insects.” Assuming that your individual is one that hunts flies, you can determine if you want a predator that reduces the number of flies attracted to your dogs’ feces and potentially entering your front door or not. These are solitary wasps, and though you may have numerous individuals nesting in the same vicinity, each is excavated by a single female who provisions the nest with flies for her developing larvae. Solitary Wasps do not defend their nests in the same aggressive manner as social wasps like Yellowjackets.
Square Headed Wasp Nest
Tiger Bee Fly photos
Location: Los Angeles, California
August 23, 2011 4:12 am
I was able to identify this Tiger Bee Fly, thanks to this site! I thought you might like these photos I took yesterday. I had never seen one of these before, so I was very curious. This guy landed nearby on a white shirt I had hung up to dry. I think he stands out nicely against this background.
Signature: Adam Shipman
Tiger Bee Fly relative
Hi Adam,
We are happy to hear you were able to use our website to identify your Tiger Bee Fly, Xenox tigrinus, but we would advise you, and anyone else, to be sure to check our site against other resources since we are not infallible. BugGuide is always an excellent place to identify North American species from Canada and the United States. BugGuidelists the identifying features as “A large Bee Fly with a distinctive wing pattern. Note the large, wrap-around eyes.” We have observed that there is some degree of variability in the pattern on the wings between individuals. Since you indicated that the fly landed on a white shirt, we adjusted the levels in the corresponding RGB histograms to whiten the fabric.
Tiger Bee Fly relative
Ed. Note: We just received a comment correcting our identification and we agree that this is Xenox habrosus.
Ear Wig?
Location: Maricopa, AZ my living room
August 23, 2011 12:33 am
HI bug man, or bug gal =) me and my wife have noticed quite a few of these little pests running around and we really aren’t to sure if they are ear wigs or something else. I look forward to hearing back from you!
Signature: ?
Webspinner
Dear ?,
This is a Webspinner in the order Embiidina, and we are not certain why you are calling these benign creatures pests. According to BugGuide: “”silk galleries are spun under stones and bark, in debris, cracks in soil or bark, among grass roots, lichens, mosses, and epiphytic plants” and they feed on “dead plant material plus lichens and mosses found around their galleries.” They also exhibit some maternal care of the offspring.
Tank you daniel, for that explanation, I referred to them as a post because I didn’t know what they were and we find a few every night. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge
Grasshopper
Location: Northeast Florida
August 22, 2011 7:43 pm
I saw this grasshopper in my yard in northeast Florida yesterday and again today. I’ve never seen one like it. It’s tan all over, and has very odd-looking striped eyes. It doesn’t seem to have wings or at least not fully grown wings. I went through all the grasshopper messages and photos here on WTB but couldn’t find anything that matched it.
Signature: Karen
Mischievous Bird Grasshopper
Hi Karen,
We haven’t decided if we are more amused by the scientific name Schistocerca damnifica, or the common name Mischievous Bird Grasshopper. Both are pretty awesome. You are correct that this immature nymph does not yet have fully developed wings. You can read more about this species on BugGuide where it is described as: “Uniform reddish brown coloration above with no lighter bands, small size and pronotal ridge help distinguish this from other members of the genus.” We believe it is a new species for our website, unless this unidentified Red Grasshopper posted in 2005 is the same species.
What a name for a grasshopper! Thanks for identifying it for me. I’ve never seen a grasshopper like this before.
Karen
Unknown Caterpillar
Location: York, Pennsylvania USA
August 22, 2011 6:21 pm
Hi, I have a smooth green caterpillar we found near our stream. It is pale gray on the back, lime green on the sides with black dots and white halos around the dots. It has a yellow ring around its head and rear end. It had a black ”tail” with a yellow base. We looked in 3 books but couldn’t find it. Any help would be appreciated.
Signature: Mercy
Snowberry Clearwing Caterpillar
Hi Mercy,
This is the caterpillar of a Snowberry Clearwing or Bumblebee Moth, Hemaris diffinis. The adults are diurnal sphinx moths that are often mistaken for hummingbirds. You may read more about this species on The Sphingidae of the Americas website.
Daniel,
Thank you so much for your ID and your information. I really appreciate it! -Mercy Harris
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