Two insects in the house
Location: New Jersey
February 1, 2012 9:40 pm
We have these two separate small insects in our house. Neither bites. The small winged one doesn’t appear to fly. The small ticklike one (it’s not a tick) seems to congregate around our baseboard heat. I’ve tried all the websites but haven’t come up with a name.
Thanks in advance for any info…
Signature: Elaine
Aphid
Hi Elaine,
Both of your insects are Aphids, and they are most likely the same species. The winged individual is a sexually mature adult. Immature aphids and females that reproduce by giving live birth to clones without the need for a mate are generally wingless. Aphids are common pests on a wide variety of plants, including rose bushes, and you should be able to find much online information. We often hear of Aphids being brought indoors on Christmas trees, and that could be the source of your current sightings. You may have also brought Aphids in on plants that were brought indoors to avoid cold weather or even on fresh flowers from the florist or on fresh produce. Aphids will not harm your home.
Aphid
Thanks so much for your quick response. This answers alot of our questions!!
¶ Posted 02 February 2012 § ‡ ° bolivia bug
Location: Rurrenabaque, Bolivia
January 29, 2012 10:25 pm
This bug is from Rurrenabaque, Bolivia can you identify it please
Signature: M Schwartz
Fulgorid PLanthopper
Dear M Schwartz,
We identified your Fulgorid Planthopper as the Amazon Roostertail, Lystra lanata, on FlickR. The common name is listed as the Red Dotted Planthopper on Animal World where it states: “These interesting insects are members of the hemiptera or true bugs. They use their proboscis to penetrate their host plant/tree on which they are usually found to drink the sugary rich phloem. They excrete honeydew which is a sugary liquid stripped of the nutrients needed by the fulgorid but still of interest to other insects, chiefly ants. So, fulgorids (and many other hemipterans) can be found attended by many different species of ants which will actually cultivate, farm and defend their hosts. The white tails are actually made of wax. This strategy is possibly a ploy to fool birds and other predators who might mistake the extremely visible tails for the head. Found during a night hike in Iwokrama rainforest reserve, Guyana”.
Hello Daniel
Thank you very much for such prompt and helpful assistance!
Chuck McClaugherty
¶ Posted 30 January 2012 § ‡ ° Unknown Cost Rican Insect
Location: Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica
January 27, 2012 2:37 pm
Greetings
These two insects were observed on the bark of a huge tree (Terminalia) in the arboretum at LaSelva Biological station in the lowland rain forests of northeastern Costa Rica in late May 2006. They remained there most of one day but were gone (eaten, flew away?) the next morning. About 3 cm long as I recall
Signature: Chuck McClaugherty
Fulgorid Planthopper
Hi Chuck,
Two years ago, entomologist Piotr Naskrecki helped us identify this Fulgorid Planthopper as Phrictus quinquepartitus. There is a lovely drawing of it on FlickR. Costa Rican tour company Taraba Tours calls it the Dragon Headed Bug.
1
¶ Posted 27 January 2012 § ‡ ° Thames, North Island, New Zealand
January 21, 2012 1:17 am
Hi. I’ve been trying to search for images of an insect that is increasing in numbers in my vege garden, but so far I’ve been unable to identify it. Perhaps you could help, or point me to a place where I can browse through photos of insects. I think it is a moth, judging from the way it flies. I live in Thames, New Zealand. Thank you very much. (2 photos attached)
Signature: Dave Clingman
Passion Vine Hopper
Hi Dave,
Though it is moth-like, this insect is actually a Planthopper, probably a Passion Vine Hopper, Scolypopa australis, which we identified on the Brisbane Insect Websitewhere it states: “They are common in Brisbane bushes and gardens. When disturbed, they jumped away with a loud ‘click’ sound and disappeared in the air. Many of them can be found resting on the same plant during early summer. They are consider as pest on passion vine and kiwifruit. It seems that besides those vine plants, they feed on many other plants as well.” The smaller creatures in your second photo might be immature Passion Vine Hoppers.
Passion Vine Hopper
¶ Posted 23 January 2012 § ‡ ° ID needed for derbidae family hopper
Location: Lake Eacham, tablelands, far north qld, australia
January 9, 2012 10:07 pm
Taken near Lake Eacham, far north queensland. rainforest over xmas hols.
I have taken similar ones before (Lydda elongata (Fabricius)i think) but this has a large nose !
thanks in advance
Signature: Andy
Derbid Planthopper
Dear Andy,
Your Derbid Planthopper images are gorgeous and quite detailed. We are posting this as an unidentified insect, and we hope to be able to eventually provide you with a genus or species identification.
Derbid Planthopper
The closeup image is especially nice.
Derbid Planthopper
1
Moth???
Location: Dominical, Costa Rica
December 1, 2011 10:20 pm
This moth was found (already dead) in Dominical, Costa Rica. Which is on the central pacific coast of Costa Rica.
Is that large head a part of the moth? Something its emerging from? It is smaller than the body though.
Anyway, have been curious what this was.
Thank your for any help and your time.
Signature: Lenee
Peanut Headed Bug
Dear Lenee,
This interesting creature is a Peanut Headed Bug, Fulgora laternaria, and it is not a moth, but rather one of the Planthoppers. It is also known as a Lanternfly, a name that originated because it was believed erroneously that this species could glow in the dark. You may read about this species on the MSU website.
¶ Posted 04 December 2011 § ‡ ° Green bug on my passion flower plant
Location: Maharashtra, India
November 21, 2011 5:59 am
Saw this green and white striped bug on my passion flower plant. Cant see in the pic but it has red antennae. Its about an inch long.
Signature: Sukhie
Planthopper: Eurybrachis tomentosa
Dear Sukhie,
This is a Planthopper in the order Hemiptera, possibly in the family Fulgoridae, however, we were not able to find any matching images or an identification online in our brief attempt. Planthoppers have sucking mouthparts and they feed off the juices found in plant stems, leaves and fruits.
Identification Courtesy of Karl
I believe this is a Eurybrachyid Planthopper (Fulgoroidea: Eurybrachyidae), a small Old World family of Planthoppers (according to Wikipedia). The India Nature Watch forum site has several pictures of what appears to be the same bug, identified as Eurybrachis tomentosa. Regards. Karl
¶ Posted 22 November 2011 § ‡ ° What the hell!
Location: Spokane Valley – Eastern Washington
October 23, 2011 6:56 pm
These are some sort of gnat I think, they’re all over our tree out front. So just what are they and may I assume it’s a mating sort of thing…. huge swarm for sure! Curious about what they are and are they going to harm the tree?
Signature: Paul
Swarm of Woolly Aphids
Dear Paul,
We wish your photo showed an individual insect more clearly as it is difficult to make out details. Our initial guess is that these might be some type of benign Barklice, though we wouldn’t rule out some species of Ant. How long has the swarm been present? Did it quickly disperse?
Swarm of Woolly Aphids
We will try to get a second opinion for you.
Swarm of Woolly Aphids
Not ants … here are some individual shots. We’ve seen them flying around out in front of the house for about a week now, maybe more. They’re gnat-like and seem to have powdery white’ish butt… Good shots in this batch, should help quite a lot!
Woolly Aphid
Hi Again Paul,
Your new photos are a tremendous help. These are Woolly Aphids in the subfamily Eriosomatinae. Woolly Aphids have complex life cycles, often feeding on different plants at different stages. Earlier in the year, most individuals are females that reproduce parthenogenically. We believe the winged individuals are males. You can compare your photo to this image on BugGuide. Here is another photo from BugGuide. Knowing the host tree might help to identify the species.
Woolly Aphid
1
¶ Posted 24 October 2011 § ‡ ° 
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