What is this?
Location: Northeastern Colorado
December 8, 2011 12:20 am
Hi Bugman! I am having an issue with this bug around my house. I find them maybe every other day and they are almost impossible to kill. I step on them and they seem to just spring back to life. I finally killed it by drowning it in Windex (This was the only thing I had close to me). Please help! I am new to this area of the country and have never seen this bug before. I haven’t seen them except in the colder months after it has started to snow outside.
Signature: Tricia M.
Small Milkweed Bug carnage
Dear Tricia,
If you find these benign Small Milkweed Bugs “almost impossible to kill”, then perhaps you should just stop trying to kill them. They will not harm you, your home nor your pets. You may read more about Small Milkweed Bugs, Lygaeus kalmii, on BugGuide.
weirdest bug ever
Location: Washington D.C. area, by chesapeake beach
December 7, 2011 10:59 pm
We found this bug, dead, on my little brother’s bed in a pile of what looked like it’s own goo. It has a huge abdomen and it looks like six tiny legs only on the front. It has, what looks like, one large eye in the front. Very strange, we are just a little freaked out because we have never seen anything like it and it was on his bed!
Signature: -Kris Moss
Tick
Dear Kris,
This is a blood engorged Tick. Perhaps it entered the home on a household pet.
thank you for the reply. after i posted on your website i was able to figure that out on my own, it was fairly simple and i feel a little stupid. But maybe you can help me more, are there any steps that you suggest i take to ensure we dont find anymore?
Use a Flea and Tick product on your pet.
We think it’s a moth
Location: Ottawa, ON
December 7, 2011 11:13 pm
We’ve had a bunch of these in the house recently. They seem to be a moth of some kind, but they’re not in clothes or carpets or food. We’d like to know what it is, and what we can do to help get rid of them.
Signature: Bret and Meg
Indian Meal Moth
Dear Bret and Meg,
This is an Indian Meal Moth, a common moth that infests stored food in the pantry including corn meal and oatmeal as well as pet foods and bird seed. You should inspect the pantry and remove any infested grain products.
This 17-year Cicada nymph missed the party 
Location: Chicago, IL
December 8, 2011 12:29 am
I found this M. cassini nymph (judging by the fact this was the only song I heard in the area) on June 25, 2008 under a flat rock in my backyard on the far Southwest side of Chicago. It was a straggler from Brood XIII from 2007. I took this pic and let it crawl away.
Signature: Justin
Periodical Cicada Nymph
Hi Justin,
Thanks for sending us your photo of a “late” Periodical Cicada Nymph. It is not unusual for individuals to be early or late, and if enough members of a brood emerge in a different year and mate and procreate, a new brood may be created once they return to the 17 year cycle.
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¶ Posted 08 December 2011 § Cicadas ‡ ° how to raise muskmare walking sticks
Location: clearwater florida
December 6, 2011 4:47 pm
hi bug experts, i and my twin brother are avid entomologists. wondering how to raise muskmare walking sticks? We have searched the internet but to no avail. we have eggs and pregnant females. would like to know how to raise. please advise asap thank you very much.
Signature: anxiously waiting
Mating Muskmares
Dear anxiously waiting,
We have no personal experience raising Walkingsticks, but there is much information available online, including the Stick Insect Care page of the Bugs in Cyberspace website and the Care of Stick Insects on EarthLife. We would caution you to exercise care in the handling of Muskmares as they are capable of spraying a noxious substance that may cause damage to the eye. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to supply you with more specific information once your posting is live.
Update from Bruno Kneubuehler
on our site about stick insects (order Phasmatodea) I have written a detailed care sheet for Anisomorpha buprestoides. This should help you in getting started to breed such phasmids:
www.phasmatodea.com/web/guest/221
Normally their spray is not really harmful and causes some temporary irritation if it hits the eyes. But of course there might be persons which have a stronger reaction (like it is the case with bee stings)
Bruno
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Green Bug
Location: California
December 7, 2011 12:06 am
Hey just found this bug on my wall. Couldn’t find anything on it, first thought it was a fly then a dragonfly but noticed it had long antenna which I didn’t see on other dragonfly pictures. completely stumped on this one.
Signature: Chris
Green Lacewing
Hi Chris,
This is a Green Lacewing and it is sometimes called a Goldeneye. This is a common beneficial insect that consumes large quantities of aphids as both a larva and an adult. Adults are frequently attracted to lights.
Huge Green Caterpillar
Location: Fort Myers Florida
December 6, 2011 4:14 pm
Hi, I was pruning our coco plums (Chrysobalanus icaco) today Dec six when I found this caterpillar chowing down. He is twice as long as my thumb and as wide. I live in Fort Myers FL. I searched your site to find a picture & info. about this caterpillar, but did not find any. Maybe this is a different species! Thanks in advance for your help!
Signature: Carol Schumann
Imperial Moth Caterpillar
Dear Carol,
These are positively gorgeous photos of an Imperial Moth Caterpillar, Eacles imperialis. Thanks for also providing the name of the food plant, the coco plum. A recent posting of this species from September shows a brown coloration that could be either a color variation, or more likely, the darkening of the pre-pupal caterpillar that usually leaves its food plant to find an appropriate place to dig into the soil to undergo metamorphosis.
Imperial Moth Caterpillar
This is so cool! Thank you for the ID! I had so much fun out there watching him eat and taking his picture! 
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