identity unknown
Location: pulau ubin, singapore
August 23, 2011 8:51 am
hello mr bugman, please Identify my black fly. i found this bug digging in the white sand until it make a whole.
Signature: anything
Thread Waisted Wasp in our opinion
Dear anything,
We believe this is a Thread Waisted Wasp in the family Sphecidae, and we are struck by the similarity between your wasp’s face and this Great Golden Digger Wasp posted to BugGuide. We believe your Asian species may be closely related to our North American species. The female Great Golden Digger Wasp provisions her nest with paralyzed Katydids to feed her brood.
Thanks for your effort. But thread-waisted wasp has a red color near the its tail but my one is a pure black . For a moment i will use the name you given to me. Thanks
The family Sphecidae is known as the Thread Waisted Wasps and it probably contains thousands of species world wide.
Black and Yellow Bug
Location: Millbrae, CA
August 23, 2011 5:45 pm
Hello,
I found this guy hanging out under the sunny part of my bathroom closet door. It was yesterday, at Millbrae, CA (94030). I can’t figure out what this is. It moved really really super fast like a silver fish does. Its underside was white with a lot of tiny parallel segments. It’s very mysterious, I’ve never seen it before. I thought it was going to move like a lady bug but it did not. It also has long skinny black legs and antenna. What is this? And did he travel here from a flower? Or is from this area? Never seen it in my life.
Thank you! -Crystal
Signature: Crystal
Cockroach
Hi Crystal,
We will identify this Cockroach in the morning. We really love your photo which would be an excellent image if we ever do another calendar.
PS. I think that two long antennas were actually coming from his butt side. As you can see, he has a small head and smaller antenna on the other side. When I caught him with my insect looker, he moved forward from the side that is opposite of those 2 really long antennas you see up top.
Crystal
Hi Crystal,
Your Cockroach is Phyllodromica trivittata, and BugGuide provides some interesting information, beginning with: “Recently introduced into California, apparently now in Marin, Petaluma and Cotati” and “Reports of high abundance both indoors and outdoors make it likely that reproduction is occurring outdoors with subsequent invasion of nearby structures. As this species adapts to this new environment, studies will need to be conducted to confirm this.” Here is a final remark regarding its origins: “Known from dry habitats around the Mediterranean. It has been recorded from Morocco; Algeria; Spain; Italy (Sardinia Island); Italy (Sicily); Libya; and Israel. Given that it has not been recorded as being a pest in buildings in those countries (as far as I’m aware) it is unlikely to invade buildings in the USA. Comment by George Beccaloni (The Natural History Museum, London, UK).” The head is actually on the side with the long antennae. The shorter appendages are known as cerci and BugGuide has a nice definition of them.
Thank you for identifying this mysterious creature… but cockroach does make sense, especially its swiftness, its one piece body – which eliminated the cucumber beetle idea, its cerci, and its non-beetle looking underside… it’s a pretty cockroach. But the idea that it’s a cockroach is kind of creepy, especially because its American cousin is a pest. 
Thanks again!
-Crystal
larval stage of what bug?
Location: Temecula, CA
August 23, 2011 9:19 am
This morning I found many of these dead under a hanging petunia basket, many dead in the family pool, and one crawling and almost ready to drop in the pool. They’re all about 3/4 inch long. I don’t know if they dropped from the basket because I had sprayed ant insecticide onto the slab(boy, we have been overrun with ants!)so they may have wandered into the dead zone from somewhere else.
They crawl like maggots but these don’t look like the housefly white larva.
Signature: Gene
Black Soldier Fly Pupa
Hi Gene,
We have categorized this as a Maggot on our website. It is a Black Soldier Fly Pupa. The Larvae of the Black Soldier Fly are very common in healthy compost piles, and they often wander away from the compost when it is time to pupate.
Butterfly
Location: North Texas
August 24, 2011 1:34 am
What is the common name of this species?
Signature: Anthony K.
Female Checkered White
Hi Anthony,
We really like your photo of a female Checkered White, Pontia protodice, and we wish someone with more gardening knowledge would tell us the identity of this composite flower. We identified it in Butterflies Through Binoculars, the West by Jeffrey Glassberg.
August 24, 2011 5:31 pm
Hi, the flower is a gaillardia. I have some in my yard and really enjoy the blooms and resulting seed heads.
Thanks for giving us such a great bug site!
Signature: Donna Wilkinson
Thanks Donna.
1
What is this?
Location: Kentucky
August 22, 2011 6:11 am
This floated down to a picnic area, seems to have 4 legs, it turned it’s head so we know it was alive. Not sure if is bug or vertabrate creature. An adelgid maybe? But only appers to have 4 legs.
Signature: Curious in Maine
What's That Thing?
Dear Curious in Maine,
We are curious what you were doing in Kentucky. We are not sure what this is, but we feel greatly confident that this is not an insect, nor do we believe it is an animal. It is most definitely NOT a Spun Glass Caterpillar.
My friend and her family were picnic-ing in a park. This creature floated down and she got it on her finger. It was definitely alive because it turned it’s head. I will ask if she got any other photos of it.
THANKS
Update: September 2, 2011
We have a new theory based in part on the comment we received: “Speculation over there is that, like you said, it’s not a spun glass slug caterpillar, but it may be just part of one. Maybe a bird got one and shook it at the tentacle floated down and still had some reflex action that made it appear alive.” A new letter we just received that appears to be a Spun Glass Caterpillar that is losing its appendages or tentacles has made the comment we received seem correct. We would amend the theory to allow for the possibility that Spun Glass Caterpillars might shed their tentacles just prior to pupation.
6
No Idea what this is
Location: San Juan County New Mexico, USA
August 23, 2011 8:35 am
I have sent you the clearest photo possible. It seems to have a beetle like shell possible wings underneath, a head and neck that slink in and out like that of a slug and an Ant shaped head.
Signature: New bug watcher
Blister Beetle
Dear New bug watcher,
This is a Blister Beetle in the family Meloidae. We have identified the species as Pyrota concinna based on a few photos posted to BugGuide. This is a new species for our site. You should read up on Blister Beetles in our archive and on BugGuideso that you are aware of any potential dangers that might arise from trying to handle them.
Blister Beetle: Pyrota concinna
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