Weird Bug in Tucson Arizona
Location: Tucson AZ
October 19, 2011 9:11 pm
Hi, we saw this but outside an Ace Hardware store in Tucson Arizona USA. I have never seen anything like it here before. I took a few photos but didn’t want to get too close because it had huge pinchers. The thing finally flew away. It was about 1.5 to 2 inches long not including its antennae.
Signature: Meg
Long Jawed Longhorn Beetle
Hi Meg,
This is one impressive beetle. It is a Long Jawed Longhorn Beetle, Trachyderes mandibularis, and we have posted a few photos of this species in the past. According to BugGuide, its range is: “southwestern U.S. (TX-CA), south to Honduras, southern Florida.” The well developed mandibles indicates that this is a male.
Thank you so much. I can see how they got their name. Armed with the name of the insect I looked up more about them. Funny I had never seen one before in all my years living here.
Meg
Mantis- Arusha Tanzania
Location: Arusha Tanzania. October
October 20, 2011 2:30 am
Dear Bugman.
I would just like to share this picture of a Mantis that found its way into our house. She was non too pleased when I tried to put her outside. She responded by spreading her wings, then she sat up and turned her raptorial legs outwards to flash an inside streak of blue…quite impressive, very aggressive!
Signature: Teena
Devil's Flower Mantis
Hi Teena,
The threat posture seems to be globally universal for many Mantis species when they feel threatened. We will try to identify you species. The shield structure of the thorax is a significant identifying trait for your individual. It is not pictured on the African Mantis Study Groupwebpage.
Devil's Flower Mantis
Thanks so much Daniel for your email.
I am forwarding some pics of the mantis in different positions if that helps in the identification.
I have lots of interesting photos of invertebrates which I would love to share with the group. I certainly do not expect you to find the species of all of them. Is there a place on your website that I can post just for the sake of sharing- or is going through the identification request the way to do it?
Once again many thanks- your time is much appreciated.
Teena
Devil's Flower Mantis
Hi again Teena,
This is really a beautiful Mantis. We suspect one of our readers might be able to supply an answer in the future. Providing a comment on the posting will allow you to be notified in the future if that identification takes weeks, months or years. Though our editorial staff does not deal much with the social networking components of the website, we do have active Twitter and Facebook users and the postings there are not controlled, unlike the website proper.
Devil's Flower Mantis
Update: Unknown Mantis identified as Devil’s Flower Mantis
Shortly after posting these photos, Neftali wrote in and identified this awesome Mantis as Idolomantis diabolica. We did some additional research and learned it is called a Devil’s Flower Mantis. There is a great photo by Igor Siwanowicz on PhotoNet. There is also a nice photo on BioLib and it made the Rogue’s Gallery of the 10 Most Disturbing Bugs on Oddee.
Dear Daniel thank you very much for the identification of this beautiful Mantis as well as all the interesting links. Kind regards Teena
Teena Payne
1
National Moth Week
Posted October 19, 2011
White Lined Sphinx
Hi Daniel…it has been a long time, so I hope all is well on your end. I visit WTB often and the site remains incredible! I sent an email to you about two weeks ago, but to a different email address so I suspect it wound up somewhere in cyberland. Julian Donahue suggested I reach out via this email so hopefully it will now connect. I understand you and Julian are neighbors. Cool, two bug guys as neighbors, what are the odds?
So, I wanted to touch base about an exciting project we are working on. It’s called National Moth Week and is basically a cool way to spotlight moths and biodiversity. Hopefully it will bring a lot of people together with similar interests and turn on a lot of people to moths! We have a website up and running, though it needs work (like an interactive map, photos etc.) but its a start and is now being modified regularly to increase content and locations. Its at www.nationalmothweek.org We’ve got a cool logo too. BugGuide, Discover Life, BAMONA and Moth Photographers Group are on board and Dave Wagner and John Himmelman have also lent their support and will likely run or coordinate events. There has been unanimous positive feedback about holding a National Moth Week next year from everyone we’ve reached out to. We are also talking to LepSoc, AES, ESA, and others about being partners. The more we can spread the word about moths and biodiversity, the better!
By a bit of luck, the date of National Moth Week corresponds with the LepSoc meeting July 23-29 2012. These dates were actually selected to correspond to the southern moth night events already planned down that way (in NC, SC, MD, VA, GA, FL). (http://www.bwwells.org/mothnight) We didnt know that LepSoc was holding their meeting at the same time, but its perfect.
Since we started floating this idea about a few weeks ago, the support and positive feedback has been incredible. People\groups have said they would hold moth night events that week in NJ, CT, MA, NY, AL, MI, WI, WA and likely in PR, CA and TX and that is only in the first week of promoting this! The goal is to have at least one Moth Night event that week in every state. I think we can do it and bring tremendous focus and publicity on moths and biodiversity and all the various groups participating. It looks like CT and Mass may have statewide Moth Night events during the week at multiple locations.
We would also like to partner\collaborate with as many groups\organizations\individuals as possible and WTB is perfect! We are basically going to be the cheerleader and clearinghouse for Moth Night events around the country. We see this as very different from the National Noth Night held in the UK that is very data oriented and formalized. With National Moth Week each Moth night can be whatever it is. A single person looking at moths at their porch light, to organized events designed to bring people together. They can also be simply for naturalist purposes or for serious data collection. Whatever the organizer decides works for them is fine.
We’d love to have WTB as a collaborator and link it to the website and Facebook and vice versa and have help promoting this . I think all of us together can do something fun and incredible to bring attention to moths and more broadly biodiversity. I think these events and National Moth Week might just be the perfect venue for raising environmental awareness across the country.
Look forward to hearing from you about this and hopefully WTB as a partner, Dave
David Moskowitz
1
Wasp Nest Preservation
Location: Ridgefield, CT
October 18, 2011 6:58 pm
Hi Again!
I live in CT and can now think of 3 beautiful wasp nests nearby and am wondering if it is ever safe to collect one as an object of beauty. I have read in other less reliable places that wasps abandon a nest in freezing weather and batten down elsewhere and don’t return to the old nest in Spring. This would lead me to find a way to retrieve one in say February if I could be sure it was empty and wouldn’t ever be needed again. I am attaching a photo of the nest and ask you to verify that it’s a wasp nest and settle once and for all the issue of collecting it. Thanks for all your wonderful work!
Signature: Hellywell
Bald Faced Hornets Nest
Dear Hellywell,
This appears to be the nest of a Bald Faced Hornet colony. With the onset of cold weather, the workers die. New queens will mate and hibernate. The nest is not reused and it is safe to collect once the nest is abandoned.
1
Unsure of type of creature found in San Diego, Ca area
Location: Mission Bay San Diego, Ca.
October 18, 2011 11:07 pm
Hello! I am hoping you can help me. I was in San Diego visiting my family and the kids were playing in the water at Mission Bay in San Diego. They found an interesting creature. They called it a Sea Horse when they were presenting it to us. However, as you can see this really isn’t a sea horse, even though it has a face like one. It’s body is rough and seems to be rigid. I have no idea what it is, do you know?
Signature: Hayes Girls
Pipefish
Dear Hayes Girls,
You found a Pipefish in the family Syngnathidae which also includes Sea Horses. Here is a link to Aquatic Community with some information. There is a wealth of other information on Pipefish on the internet.
1
¶ Posted 19 October 2011 § Fish ‡ ° orange bug with black striped legs
Location: tuscaloosa, alabama usa
October 18, 2011 5:48 pm
I saw this bug at work one day and wondered what it might be it was on 10/18/2011 at abouth 2:00 in the afternoon
Signature: c.brown1023
Sycamore Assassin Bug
Dear c.brown1023,
You found a Sycamore Assassin Bug in the genus Pselliopus, probably Pselliopus barberi, though other species in the genus look quite similar. Assassin Bugs are predatory insects that are capable of biting humans if they are carelessly handled.
1
What’s that bug?!
Location: San Leandro, CA
October 18, 2011 3:30 am
Saw this outside my house. San Leandro, California. Body looks like a wheelbug’s but the head looks like an ant’s head. This thing gave my Duck a fight and won. It would curl it’s tail up and make a karate stance. Even took a video for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpNoz0TTrxY
Signature: Irvin Najera
Devil's Coachhorse
Hi Irvin,
The Devil’s Coachhorse is a European Rove Beetle that has become naturalized in parts of North America including Southern California. Though it strikes a convincing threat posture, it is not a poisonous species, though it is capable of releasing a foul odor from scent glands in its abdomen.
1
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