Weird stinging bug
Location: San Antonio, TX
October 15, 2011 5:24 pm
Hi,
This little bug was hanging out in one of the throw pillows on our sofa. It stung my wife about a week ago, but we never saw it. A few days ago, it stung me and I caught it in the act. I managed to kill it without squishing it and got some pretty good close-up photos of it. I couldn’t find anything like it on the Internet. It appears to have 6 lets, good sized pincers on its head, and some kind of stinger on its abdomen. It’s mostly bright green, with some brownish markings on it’s top side. Any idea what this thing is??
Signature: Thanks! Steph & Mike
Lacewing Larva Carnage
Dear Steph and Mike,
This is an Aphid Wolf. Lacewings and their larvae, which are known as Aphid Wolves, are beneficial predators in the garden that consume vast quantities of Aphids and other plant pests. We have received numerous reports of people being bitten by Lacewings as well as by Aphid Wolves, but the effects of the bite do not last long and they do not do any permanent harm. The advantages these insects bring to the garden far outweigh the annoyance of an occasional bite, and they should be tolerated.
Weird caterpillar
Location: Midwest City, OK
October 15, 2011 1:27 pm
What the heck is this??
Signature: Elizabeth
Spiny Oak Slug Caterpillar
Hi Elizabeth,
This caterpillar is in the genus Euclea. We found a matching photo on BugGuide, and we believe there is a good chance it is the Spiny Oak Slug, Euclea delphinii, a species with a highly variable caterpillar. Exercise caution when handling the Spiny Oak Slug as well as other members of the family Limacodidae, as many species have stinging spines.
1
Weird Insect!!
Location: Batavia, OHIO
October 14, 2011 10:29 pm
I was a few minutes from home today and saw this bug swarming toward my windshield, and finally landed and was whipping some kind of a tail or stinger around. It stayed on the window the rest of the way home and it actually terrified me to get out because I didn’t know if it could sting. What is this bug??
Signature: Mandy H.
Giant Ichneumon
Dear Mandy,
We can well imagine your fears considering the appearance of the Giant Ichneumon, however, they are perfectly harmless. What appears to be a stinger is an ovipositor for laying eggs deep inside tree branches and trunks that are infested with the larvae of wood boring insects. Stingers of bees and wasps are modified ovipositors, however the ovipositor of the Giant Ichneumon has not been modified to sting.
Cockroach:Atlanta falcons Fan???
Location: Chesapeake, VA
October 14, 2011 11:19 pm
I saw this red black and white insect on the door in the back of the warehouse where I work. Its near the woods by a huge clearwater lake I was wondering if you could identify him. I’ve never seen one of these before, and I’ve lived in chesapeake all my life and it was during the time when the dismal swamp was on fire.. so maybe it migrated from NC? whats that bug?
Signature: -Jay
Assassin Bug
Hi Jay,
Your bug is classified in a totally different order than the cockroach. This is an Assassin Bug and we identified on BugGuide as Mictomus purcis, a species with no common name. Perhaps you should propose “Falcon’s Fan Assassin Bug” to the proper authorities as a suggested name.
Red Gum Psyllid and Lerp
Location: Contra Costa County, CA
October 14, 2011 1:06 pm
I used the IC IPM website to identify this as a red gum psyllid (Glycaspis brimblecombei). I didn’t see any on What’s That Bug?, so I thought this would make a good addition.
Oh, did I kill him by removing the lerp?
Signature: Fel
Red Gum Lerp Psyllid
Dear Fel,
Thanks so much for sending us your photo. We don’t know much about the invasive, exotic Red Gum Lerp Psyllid. We did find a nice UC Riverside Center for Invasive Species Fact Sheet on the species.
1
red-legged Nephila image on Google Image search results
October 14, 2011 10:18 am
I’m going to guess that this is NOT the sort of question that normally interests you guys, but I’m running into some odd (I think) data manipulation with regard to my image, and Nephila rufapoda in general. If you don’t mind, I’m going to send you a second image of the same red-legged Nephila from Taiwan. If you decide to publish that and comment on it, then I would expect it to turn up in Google Image search results -as did the first image of the same spider. It would be interesting to find out whether or not the image was subsequently removed.
I’m not usually like this, by the way. This is my first internet mystery.
Signature: Dane Harris
unidentified species of Nephila
Location: Taiwan
October 14, 2011 10:24 am
I have a second picture of that unidentified Nephila species from Taiwan. My friend Thomas Evjue has pointed out that the pedipalps on the critter in my picture are red, whereas the pedipalps in the only picture of Nephila rufapoda are black after the first joint. Is that enough of a difference to denote a different species, or could the difference be explained by geographic isolation?
Signature: Dane Harris
Golden Silk Spider
Hi again Dane,
We cannot say for certain if this is Nephila rufopoda, a subspecies or a different species. Thanks for sending another photo to accompany your previous photo.
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Please identify this bug thanks!
Location: Wiltshire, England.
October 13, 2011 8:25 am
Dear Mr Bugman
I found this bug in my greenhouse today – it was trying to escape from a plastic plant module – no idea how it got in there. It was about 3cm long. When I tipped it out into the garden, it fell on its back and the underneath was an irridescent blue. I live in Wiltshire. Would love to know what it is, and whether I did the right thing in letting it go!
Signature: Karen
Lousy Watchman
Hi KAren,
We just learned some fascinating information. This is a Dung Beetle, and upon doing the research on species from the UK, we learned on the Down Garden Services website that this is a Common Dor Beetle or Lousy Watchman in the genus Geotrupes. According to the Down Garden Services site: “Dung beetles are important because they get rid of a lot of animal faeces, breaking it down and incorporating it into the soil, so helping in the recycling of nutrients. This also makes the world a less smelly place to live in and reduces the numbers of other insects like flies which would otherwise breed in it. In the UK dung beetles utilise the dung of cows, horses, rabbits, deer and sheep, eg. a cow produces about 7 tons of dung per year. The Common Dor Beetle, Geotrupes stercorarius, is known as a ‘tunneller’, usually found in cow dung; they make tunnels below the dung. They are good at flight and a single beetle flies around until it finds a fresh cow pad. Once a pair have got together they dig a tunnel beneath the pad and drag as much dung as they can down into it. The females normally stay in the burrow, using their long broad legs to build numerous galleries in the soil. Dung is deposited in each gallery and an egg is laid in the dung, providing the emerging grub with nourishment. The males provide the dung pellets for the female to bury. Often they have a colony of mites living on them hence the name Lousy Watchman.” The Wild About Britain website has a nice photo of the blue undersides.
Dear Daniel
You are amazing! Thank you so much, we are all thrilled that you identified our bug.
Can’t thank you enough!
Karen.
Maybe a caterpillar?
Location: Tallahassee, fl in the fall
October 13, 2011 12:03 pm
This bug has been crawling on my car for about 3 days. I tried to put it on a leaf and it got all puffed up and wouldn’t come off.
Signature: Jessica
Crowned Slug
Hi Jessica,
You are correct that this is a caterpillar. More specifically, it is a Crowned Slug, Isa textula, one of the stinging Slug Caterpillars in the family Limacodidae.
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