Skip to content

Monthly Archives August 2011

Antmimic Spider

Location:  Louisiana
August 27, 2011
My cat was toying with it, Louisiana
Ryan

ant mimic louisiana 300x222 Antmimic Spider

Antmimic

This is one of the Antmimic Spiders in the family Corinnidae and we believe it is most likely Castianeira amoena based on photos posted to BugGuide.

1

Posted 28 August 2011 § Ground Spiders and Ant Mimics ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Northern Widow with Egg Sac

How big can black widows get?
Location: Sanford, NC
August 26, 2011 10:52 am
My husband was moving the basketball hoop in our yard (getting ready for the huricane), when we spotted this huge spider with an even bigger egg sack. she was the size of a dime and her sack more like a nickel. The biggest spider and sack we had ever seen. Under the hoop was also 3 other large sacks and 2 smaller black widows. We did exterminate them, as our 4 children & small dog play in that area with no shoes on. My question is: how big can black widows get? I did not know that they got this large! Thank you
Signature: Keriann

northern widow egg sac keriann 300x224 Northern Widow with Egg Sac

Northern Black Widow

Hi Keriann,
The red spotting on the back of this mature Widow identifies her as a Northern Black Widow based on the information contained on BugGuide.  We have seen adult female Western Black Widows with abdomens nearly as large as a marble or a small grape.  These are mature females that are most likely filling with eggs.  While we feel badly that you have exterminated several Black Widows from your basketball court, we fully understand your concern for your children and pets.  Black Widows are not an aggressive species, and they are rarely found far from their web, unless they have been disturbed.  We once allowed a Western Black Widow to keep her web by our porch light.  We knew she was there and we were not concerned about getting attacked.  You would be much safer to fully educate the children regarding the dangers of being bitten by a Black Widow and ensuring that they learn to recognize them.  If you killed three individuals in your yard, there are most likely more to be found in hidden locations and you will probably not be able to eliminate them all.  We hope Hurricane Irene steered clear of your area.

1

Posted 28 August 2011 § Black Widow § Eggs ‡ Comments (0) °

Black Soldier Fly

Slow and dumb
Location: South Central VA
August 27, 2011 5:23 pm
We LOTS of these fly’s, bee’s or whatever they are. They don’t have stingers and fly really slow and are really easy to swat once they have landed…. I call them the B-52’s of flies (fly slow and low)…What are they? We have a small goat herd with a couple of cows and pigs and these are in the barn. Once they get inside they gravitate to the windows, or up into the lights.
Signature: Fed up with swatting bugs

black soldier fly carnage 300x211 Black Soldier Fly

Black Soldier Fly

Dear Fed up with swatting bugs,
If you are truly “Fed up with swatting bugs”, then just stop.  This is a harmless Black Soldier Fly.  They are often associated with compost piles and similar habitats because that is where the larvae live.  Black Soldier Fly Larvae are a positive contribution to a healthy compost pile.  As you letter indicates, they do not sting, nor to they bite.  We would urge you to learn to tolerate these harmless creatures.

1

Posted 27 August 2011 § Soldier Flies ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Aphids

Deceptively simple.
Location: Langley, BC Canada
August 27, 2011 11:22 am
Greetings!
Please help with insect id (I’ve been researching for hours to no avail). A colony of these (see pics.) was discovered on the roof edge of our metal shed; they are tiny, so at first glance looked like aphids, but moved along rather quickly in a row, ant-like to and fro. They departed from one corner of the roof and at the next corner turned around and marched right back; if they carried anything it wasn’t noticeable. There were wingless nymphs of at least a couple of different sizes; the corner under the roof that they returned to had some spider web-like threading & I guessed was their home (I didn’t find an opportunistic spider in ambush, but of course there could’ve been one).
The shed is shouldered by a camellia, which was treated for scale last year & early this year, and a laburnum whose foliage on this year’s new shoots came out scrawny & misshapen like it was affected by galls (no success ID-ing that so far).
The winged insect I got off the laburnum, it was a great model: didn’t want to move even if prodded. Its body, not counting the legs, is 1/8”. The wingless youngin’ kept on running (this one I got off a chair that’s under the laburnum: the nymphs seem to like taking a walk on inorganic surfaces).
I sure hope you can help me ID & determine what they eat.
Many thanks!
Svetlana.
Signature: Puzzled.

aphid svetlana 231x300 Aphids

Aphid

Hi Svetlana,
We feel strongly that both the winged individual and the individual without wings are Aphids.  The curiosity for us is why thy have decided to wander along the edge of the shed roof.  Perhaps their plant host has proven to be unlivable for some reason and they have fled in search of a new food host.  We cannot determine the species of Aphid, and that might provide some clue as to this unusual behavior.  Higher resolution photos would be a big help toward species identification.

aphid svetlana 2 Aphids

Aphid

1

Posted 27 August 2011 § Aphids, Scale Insects, Leafhoppers, and Tree Hoppers ‡ Comments (0) °

Convergent Lady Beetle

August 26, 2011
Location:  Elyria Canyon Park, Mt. Washington, Los Angeles, California
Several of the Indian Milkweed Plants growing wild in Elyria Canyon Park have serious Milkweed Aphid infestations, and one especially hard hit group of plants is also covered in black Sooty Mold.  See the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resourceswebsite for more information on Sooty Mold.

milkweed honeydew 20110826 300x225 Convergent Lady Beetle

Indian Milkweed with Sooty Mold

Convergent Lady Beetles, Hippodamia convergens,  have begun to feed off of the Milkweed Aphids, though it seems there are far too many Aphids for the few Lady Beetles that were observed.  Learn how to identify the Convergent Lady Beetle on BugGuide and read more about the benefits of the native Convergent Lady Beetle on the San Francisco State University Department of Geographywebsite.

convergent lady beetle aphids milkweed 20110826 300x221 Convergent Lady Beetle

Convergent Lady Beetle

1

Posted 27 August 2011 § Aphids, Scale Insects, Leafhoppers, and Tree Hoppers § attack of the fungus § Lady Bug ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , ,

Immature Gray Bird Grasshopper

Location:  Los Angeles, CA
August 26, 2011
While working in the garden yesterday, we couldn’t help but to notice this strikingly bright yellow Bird Grasshopper Nymph.  Generally the nymphs we see are bright green, but a comment from David J. Ferguson on BugGuideindicates:  “The nymphs of Schistocerca can be very difficult, because the colors vary so much in the same species, and different species can look very similar.”

bird grasshopper tomatoes 20110826 300x221 Immature Gray Bird Grasshopper

Gray Bird Grasshopper Nymph

1

Posted 27 August 2011 § Grasshoppers ‡ Comments (0) °

Metallic Sweat Bee

Half wasp, half bee
Location: Phoenix, AZ
August 27, 2011 10:04 am
So I look up, and there are 20 of these in my kitchen. I’m in Phoenix, AZ, its August, they can fit on my pinky nail, very small, iridescent green thorax and head, abdomen is striped black and yellow like a bee. Its hard to tell if its a wasp or a bee, but the morphology tells me bee. Any info would be appreciated, Thanks!
Signature: Colin

metallic sweat bee colin Metallic Sweat Bee

Metallic Sweat Bee

Hi Colin,
The insect in your photo is a Metallic Sweat Bee in the tribe Halictini, based on information posted to BugGuide.

1

Posted 27 August 2011 § Sweat Bees ‡ Comments (0) °

Reader Claims Decoy Wasp Nest deters Wasps

August 27, 2011
Hi Daniel.
I am not normally a random bug killer but the aggressive behavior in this particular instance brought it out in me.
Just for your information, while up visiting in Canada last summer I ran across phoney wasp nests that claimed to stop other wasps from building nests nearby (within 200feet). I took a chance and bought a paper version and a cloth version. They work. I haven’t had a single issue with nest building wasps since I placed them. Just the occasional solitary variety like the mud-dobber (?). I brought back some for my neighbor this year and she has hung them up now. So we can see if they work or if I just had really good luck. Normally we have several varieties of nests to contend with.
I will let you know in the future how they back up their claim. Now if I could find a harmless way to rid our house of mosquitos and flies… That would be a trick
Regards, James
James Rankine

Thanks for the tip on Wasp’s Nests James.  We will notify our readers of your success with the product.  We found a link to a company called Canadian Tire that sells the decoy nests.

Daniel.
You are quite welcome. Growing up in Canada, I am very familiar with Canadian Tire. A very large reputable chain of stores.
Regards, James Rankine

1

Posted 27 August 2011 § Hornets and Yellow Jackets § Paper Wasps ‡ Comments (0) °

Page 5 of 43« First...34567...102030...Last »