Location: Mt Washington, Los Angeles, California
October 10, 2011
When Daniel arrived at the What’s That Bug? offices after a long day at work, this Mexican Cactus Fly was buzzing loudly at the porch light. This elusive fly does not like to sit still in the garden, and Daniel has never been successful at getting a photo of a living specimen. He quickly snatched this one and chilled it for a photo opportunity. The incandescent lights and ungainly position of the Mexican Cactus Fly don’t really make the most attractive photo, but at least there is a photo to post of this skittish species. According to BugGuide: “Larvae feed on rotting cactus. Adults feed on nectar from various flowers.”
Cactus Fly
New Insect Found
Location: Cooper City, Florida
October 10, 2011 3:48 pm
Need your Expertize for identification of this insect.
I found this bug today in front of the lake, I was on my Deck sitting and just a couple feet away this Insect was swimming in the lake. I asked many people around, nobody seems to know that insect…
Monk
Signature: Your choice
Mole Cricket Swimming
Hi Monk,
Your insect is a Mole Cricket, and we get identification requests from around the world including numerous requests from troops in the Middle East. Your letter has us quite amused because you found this guy swimming. This is not the first time we have gotten such reports, but when a swimming pool is involved, we naturally figure that the hapless Mole Cricket fell into the pool and couldn’t get out. A lake is a different story, though we suppose it might have fallen off the dock, or perhaps a flying Mole Cricket misjudged a landing. In one previous posting, Paula indicated that they are “great swimmers”. If that is the case, the Mole Cricket, which is a subterranean burrowing insect, might be the first insect that we are aware of that is comfortable in the air, underground and in water. We still believe that though they are able to paddle, they are not happy in water, though crossing small bodies of water might be an advantageous survival habit that might explain the frequency of swimming Mole Cricket instances we have encountered.
Thank you for your quick response,
I’m glad you were amused; nonetheless my children were not entertained by this insect…
That was a memorable and grasping experience…
I also got Video seeing that insect swimming in the lake toward the deck…Swimming very well…Unfortunately your website does not accept video.
So to take pictures I decided to grab the basket from my Pool to catch the insect on the lake, and I carried it on my patio, took 1 picture and the insect run in my pool. Take a few more pictures…
But once again thank you
1
Tachinid Fly?
October 9, 2011
in paso robles yesterday, this very bristly, large beastie flew away from its mates on the coyote bush into the house. he was fearsome-looking, but didn’t mind being caught in a jar and released 
this guy had definite orange spots. i looked him up in the book i have in paso robles, but forget its name – the fly and the book…
clare.
Spiny Tachinid Fly
Ed. Note: This came to Daniel’s personal email address from a close friend. Here is some of the email chatter.
Julian Donahue provides some input
Tachinid, all right. Perhaps one of the ones that parasitizes the wild silk moths, like Hyalophora euryalus (that’s the name of the moth, not the fly). There are also some big ones that parasitize earthworms.
jpd
he looked big enough to parasitise anything his little heart desires!
i have only ever seen them in the fall… could that be?
http://bugguide.net/node/view/449075/bgimage
ooh – yes, that’s him (her?).
Tachinid Fly – Paradejeania rutilioides
they were all over the baccharis.
it’s a lovely camera. but, the beast was inside the house and i was outside the window shooting thru not exactly recently-cleaned glass. further, the beast was high on the rolled up blind – and i was on my tiptoes – wobbling
BugGuide reports them in California from August through December. BugGuide also notes: “Adults take nectar, especially from late blooming Asteraceae. Larval host: the arctiid moth Hemihyalea edwardsii, at least in part of its range (Hsu & Powell 1992).” Surprised Julian didn’t know that Arctiid host tidbit.
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Ceratomia catalpae parasitized by Apanteles congregatus
Location: Northeast Tennessee
Subject: Ceratomia catalpae parasitized by Apanteles congregatus
Location: Northeast Tennessee
October 10, 2011 9:02 pm
Or…
Catalpa Sphinx caterpillar with eggs from a parasitic Braconid wasp.
I took these at my grandparents’ house last weekend.
There was a congregation of about 6 caterpillars on the leaves of one branch of their Catawba tree. They were not moving and many had these eggs on them. Some were hanging (as if about to pupate, maybe?). Sorry they’re so blurry, my camera is really crappy:)
Love your site!
Signature: Easily Fascinated Strikes Again
Parasitized Catalpa Sphinx
Dear Easily Fascinated Strikes Again,
This is a very interesting sighting, though not really rare. We wish your photos were clearer, but we are posting the best of them anyways. Thanks so much for your concise personal observations.
Bug Love – Sulphur Butterflies
Location: New Canaan, CT
October 10, 2011 8:51 pm
Saw a large group of these Alfalfa Sulphur Butterflies on Zinias at the New Canaan CT Nature Center. There was a lot of mating going on. The male has solid brown rims around the edges of his wings and the female has spots in her brown wing edges. Aren’t they beautiful?! These and Cabbage Whites are the only butterflies I have seen for the last 2 weeks. I think the weather has shooed all the others away.
Signature: Hellywell
Alfalfa Sulfurs
Dear Hellywell,
Your photos of frolicking and courting Alfalfa Sulfurs or Orange Sulfurs, Colias eurytheme, are positively charming. Our editorial staff has fond memories of the Sulfurs flitting around the clover in the fields in Ohio, a sight that is sadly nonexistent in Los Angeles.
Alfalfa Sulfurs
Mom in Ohio claims that zinnias are the best garden flowers for attracting butterflies.
Alfalfa Sulfurs
1
cucumber beetle
Location: Bronx, NY
October 10, 2011 1:21 pm
Didn’t know what this was till I came across it on your site. This one’s reading the nutrition info on a can of nuts
Signature: Robbie R.
Spotted Cucumber Beetle
Hi Robbie,
Thanks so much for resending this image of a Spotted Cucumber Beetle using our standard form. Now all the information we require is formatted properly for posting. This is a particularly amusing photo to us. If we ever decide to create another calendar, this is the type of photo we like to use: high quality and just quirky enough to never appear in an reputable identification guide.
Sierra Leone Spider
Location: WAPFR, Sierra Leone
October 10, 2011 9:20 am
Hi – I found this spider on my backdoor in the Western Area Peninsular Forest Reserve in Sierra Leone this week. At first it looked dead but when I nudged it, one of the front pairs of legs moved around a bit. It seems to group it’s legs into pairs… I’ve never seen one like this so am fascinated to get any more information. Thanks!
Signature: Keira
Unknown Spider from Sierra Leone
Hi Keira,
We do not recognize your spider, and it has been our experience that other than moths and butterflies, African insects and arachnids can be very difficult to identify because there is not much credible internet information available, and we also suspect that many species have still not been correctly described. We suspect this is one of the Orbweavers, but we are not certain. This posture is often seen in members of the genus Argiope which your spider somewhat resembles, though Argiope species are usually more brightly colored. We are posting your letter and photo and tagging it as unidentified, and we hope to eventually be able to provide you with an answer.
Karl is knocking identifications out of the ball park!!!
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 2:47 PM
Unknown Spider from Sierra Leone – October 10, 2011
Hi Daniel and Keira:
It looks like a Net-casting Spider (Deinopidae) in the genus Deinopis, often referred to as Ogre-faced Spiders. The genus occurs globally, primarily in the southern hemisphere and particularly in Australia and Africa. The leg posture is typical and their hunting tactic is unique. They spin a web but rather than creating a stationary web that passively captures prey, they hold the web in their front four legs and drop with it onto passing insects as they hang in suspended ambush. The prey becomes entangled in the net and a quick bite then immobilizes it before it has a chance to struggle free. There are at least three genera of Deinopids in Africa (four globally) but the size and appearance suggest it is a species of Deinopis. Most online images are of Australian species, especially D. subrufa, and I was unable to determine a particular species name for this one. Regards. Karl
1
What type of bee is this
Location: Melbourne, Florida
October 9, 2011 3:26 pm
I found some bees making a hive in an old flower pot. I’d like to identify them in order to deal with them properly.
Signature: Jeff Cyr
Honey Bee Hive in Flower Pot
Hi Jeff,
These look like common Honey Bees, Apis mellifera, the domestic bees that are kept by bee keepers across the world. See BugGuideas well as numerous other education websites for more information. You can probably contact a local bee keeper and have the entire flower pot removed. With Colony Collapse Disorder sweeping the nation, bee keepers are always in need of new hives.
Honey Bee Hive in Flower Pot
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