A bug to identify (imagine that!)
Location: Cedar Hill, Texas (just outside of Dallas)
December 1, 2011 2:24 pm
Hello,
I came across your website and I’m hoping you can help identify this bug I found in my house today.
I’m sure I’ll butcher the terminology here, but what you can’t see from the picture is that the bug has a good set of protruded or external mandibles.
Also, it was traveling with another of its kind that I have yet to catch.
Thanks for your help!
Signature: Samuel Thomas
Hickory Borer
Hi Samuel,
This is one of two species of Borer Beetles in the genus Megacyllene, and we suspect it might have entered your house in firewood and then emerged in the warmth of the home. Larvae of the Beetles spend their entire larval stage boring in wood, eventually pupating and then emerging as adults when conditions are right. We suspect this is a Hickory Borer, Megacyllene caryae, and not its look-alike relative the Locust Borer, Megacyllene robiniae. Locust Borers generally emerge in the fall while Hickory Borers emerge in the spring. Here is a photo of a Hickory Borer from BugGuide. The adult beetles will not harm your home, its furnishing nor its inhabitants.
1
maybe coming from our fireplace?
Location: watertown, ma
December 1, 2011 3:12 pm
hi there, we keep finding these bugs crawling around our bedroom… we saw one sticking it’s little head out of our fireplace & thought maybe that’s where they are gaining entry.
they seem to just come in & die & some of the dead ones have flourescent green puss/blood…
Signature: thanks or your help! – mary
Winter Moth: Flightless Female
Hi Mary,
Though your photo is not sharp, we are relatively certain this is the flightless female of the invasive exotic Winter Moth, Operophtera brumata, a European species that has become established in North America. Here is a previous posting of a Winter Moth from our archive, and you may also find images and information on BugGuide where it has been reported in Massachusetts.
Thank you so much! We thought it looked like a moth, but were thrown by the lack of wings… What a relief to know our home is safe, at least, feel a little bad for our perennials though.
Thanks again!
1
What is this mystery bug?
Location: New Mexico, not Colorado Springs
December 3, 2011 11:38 am
Hello there,
Please can you help me identify this?
Thanks,
Gillian
Thanks – by the way the bug was found in New Mexico, not Colorado as stated 
Fly Larvae, we believe
Hi Gillian,
Can you provide any additional information? What habitat were they discovered in? We believe these are some type of Fly Larva, but we would like to eventually provide a more specific identification.
1
Mother Wolf
Location: NSW, Australia
December 4, 2011 5:17 am
Hi again! Thought you might like this picture of a wolf spider and her egg sack. We found her while we where planting a mulberry tree.
Thank you!
Signature: Emma
Wolf Spider carrying her egg sac in her Chelicerae
Dear Emma,
We agree that this looks very much like a Wolf Spider, and that it most closely resembles the Garden Wolf Spider, Lycosa godeffroyi, which is pictured on the Brisbane Insect (and Spider) website. There is however, one very perplexing mystery for us. Wolf Spiders drag their egg sacs behind them from the spinnerets and Nursery Web Spiders including Fishing Spiders carry their egg sacs in their fangs or chelicerae like your individual. Here is a photo from our archive of a Fishing Spider with her Egg Sac and here is a Photo of a Wolf Spider with her Egg Sac, also from our archive. The Find A Spiderwebsite concurs with our statement: “Females produce a white or pale blue spherical egg sac and this may be carried around attached to the spinnerets. When the spiderlings hatch out they crawl onto the female’s upper surfaces, almost completely covering them. It is presumed this serves as an efficient means of dispersing the young spiders.” We hope to get some additional information on this mystery. Unfortunately, we cannot really make out the eye pattern arrangement in your photograph.
Wolf Spider or Nursery Web Spider???
I have a theory about why she was carrying her eggs like that. We disturbed her burrow when we where digging the hole for the tree. So she probably had to grab them quickly, and didn’t have time to do the spinneret/silk thing. It was a shame to wreck her home, but we have LOTS of these spiders around our house. Kind of hard to avoid them. We moved her away after I’d gotten some pictures, so hopefully she found a safe spot for them to hatch.
Thanks for the theory Emma. We still hope to hear from a few folks we contacted.
Eric Eaton responds
Daniel:
You are correct to at least the family level. I suspect her egg sac became detached from her spinnerets and so she is carrying it this way for the time being; or perhaps the sac is about to hatch?
Eric
1
Bugs on Outside of home
Location: Central PA
December 4, 2011 12:36 pm
Hello, I have these little bugs all over the outside of my house. I am not sure what they are. There are a lot of them and I didn’t know if I should get them taken care of the issue or not. Thanks for your time.
Signature: Ryan Lucas
Small Winter Stonefly
Dear Ryan,
This is a Small Winter Stonefly in the family Capniidae and this past January, a submission from Pennsylvania was our featured Bug of the Month. Small Winter Stoneflies, which are sometimes called Snowflies, will not harm your family nor your home. They are harmless creatures that need fresh unpolluted water to survive, so their presence in large numbers is an indication that you have unpolluted running water nearby.
Thank you for the quick response!!
It is good to know that these are safe bugs and that the stream nearby is not polluted. It’s a great site you have and is very helpful.
Thanks again!!
Ryan Lucas
What is this?
Location: Alabama
December 2, 2011 10:19 pm
What kind of bug is this? I saw it in central Alabama – Cheaha State Park, about 2,000 ft elevation. It was crawling along the forest floor. It was about 3.5 inches long.
Signature: With Ink
Muskmare
Dear With Ink,
You have submitted a photograph of a Southern Two-Lined Walkingstick, Anisomorpha buprestoides, and it is also known by the common name Muskmare. The name Muskmare refers to two characteristics of this species. Adults are frequently found in a mating position with the diminutive male riding atop his mount. The species is also capable of spraying a noxious substance with amazing accuracy, and there are reports that damage to the cornea can occur if the musky spray hits the eye.
Thanks! I’m glad I didn’t get sprayed.
Justin
Correction
December 6, 2011
We just received a species correction that this is a Northern Two-Lined Walkingstick, not a Southern Two-Lined Walkingstick. It is interesting that BugGuide does not recognize the common name Muskmare for either species or the genus.
Nasty Wasp
Location: Hawkesbury, Sydney, Australia
December 4, 2011 5:19 pm
Hello again,
Wondering if you can identify this wasp. Sorry the picture is not too clear, but these are aggressive wasps and they’re deep in a fairly dense garden. I didn’t want to get any closer or move the bushes around in case I provoked an attack. The nest is in a geranium bush, but quite low to the ground and is around 8-10cm across. The wasps themselves are about 2.5-3cm long. My boyfriend was gardening there and was stung on the knee when he accidentally disturbed them. The sting was extremely painful and shortly afterwards he came over very hot for a while. The sting area was painful for about 2 weeks.
We are in the Hawkesbury region, a rural area about an hour out of Sydney.
Signature: Tracy
Paper Wasps
Hi Tracy,
These are Paper Wasps in the genus Polistes. They are not normally aggressive, but they will defend their nest. We just finished posting another submission of Paper Wasps from Australia.
flattie!
Location: key largo, fl
December 4, 2011 8:51 pm
Hey guys! Here’s a cool flattie spider hanging out on my bathroom wall. I live in key largo and I was wondering if I could get more specific species info from you
Signature: wheezy
Flattie
Dear wheezy,
Thanks so much for sending us your photo. From what we have been able to glean from BugGuide, Flatties are in the family Selenopidae, and new world species seem to all be classified in the genus Selenops. According to BugGuide, there are: “7 species in BugGuide’s range (North America north of Mexico), but many species in Central America that can be possible imports.“ We are unable to provide you with an accurate species identification at the moment.
¶ Posted 04 December 2011 § Flatties ‡ ° 
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