Rhinoceros cicada
Location: Mulu National Park in Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia
July 10, 2011 7:58 pm
Hi,
I took a photo of this pair of ’rhinoceros cicadas’ in Mulu National Park in Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia in 2005. Any idea what they are? Rhinoceros cicada, was what our guide called them, but that doesn’t help much!
Thanks
Signature: Miles
Fulgorid Planthoppers
Hi Miles,
These are Fulgorid Planthoppers in the family Fulgoridae, commonly called Lanternflies. They are related to Cicadas, so Rhinoceros Cicada might be a local name that we hadn’t heard before.
¶ Posted 11 July 2011 § ‡ ° Fluffy little gnats
Location: Foristell, MO
July 10, 2011 1:09 am
These fuzzy little guys come flying around my house near St. Louis, Missouri in early June each year. Their wings look like some sort of fly, but they’re as small as a gnat. They look like little pieces of cotton fluff floating through the air until they change direction. I haven’t had any luck finding them on your site. Can you tell me what they are? ps – absolutely love your site!
Signature: Kathy Spalinger
Woolly Aphid
Hi Kathy,
We haven’t posted a recent photo of a Woolly Aphid in some time. Woolly Aphids are in the subfamily Eriosomatinae and according to BugGuide: “Nearly all members of this subfamily alternate between host plants, generally with a woody primary host (on which overwintering eggs are laid, and on which some species induce galls) and an herbaceous secondary host.”
Wow, thanks for the superfast response. I never even thought of looking under aphids – they have such big wings. Glad to know what they are. They seem to love landing on our basil plants, but I never see them eating anything, so I wasn’t too concerned. Cute little bugs.
Keep up the great work! I show the site to people all the time, because I just love the beautiful, fascinating photos from all over the world.
Thanks again,
Kathy
¶ Posted 10 July 2011 § ‡ ° Leafhopper and beetle identification
Location: Huejutla de Reyes, Hidalgo, México
June 30, 2011 11:55 am
Der Bugman,
Help me with the identification of the leafhopper and the beetle as I have not managed to find anything like it in the network. Regards
Signature: Axel
Leafhopper
Hi Axel,
First we want to state that we are splitting up your request into to postings to simplify our archiving format. We don’t recognize this gorgeous Mexican purple and orange Leafhopper, and we are going to begin researching its identity. Meanwhile, we are posting the photo in the hope that one of our readers is able to provide any information. We did find a very similar image on page 6 of this site that came up when we googled Costa Rican Leafhoppers. Clicking the image takes one to FlickR and this Leafhopper identified only as Apogonalia.
¶ Posted 01 July 2011 § ‡ ° Do you know the name of this insect?
Location: Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
June 30, 2011 9:51 am
Dear bugman,
I found this insect in my garden on my sunflower leaves. It was in the evening and the temperature was kind of cool. I found it in June.
Signature: LIss
Candystriped Leafhopper
Hi Liss,
Sadly, though it is quite beautiful, the Candystriped Leafhopper, Graphocephala coccinea, is not considered to be a beneficial insect in gardens. The Urban Wildlife Guide is a nice source of information on the species.
¶ Posted 30 June 2011 § ‡ ° ID Request
Location: Mysore, Karnataka, India
June 29, 2011 3:27 am
Hi Daniel,
I am writing from Mysore, India. I found a very tiny bug in our garden which I could not identify. This is very tiny – about 1mm. I also found a bug of the same species but with a tube-like extension at it’s hind quarters which looked like an egg sack. Please help me with the id of this bug from the images attached.
Thanks in advance 
Subharghya Das
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_mask/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000180038520
Unknown Hemipterans
Dear Subharghya Das,
All we can say for certain is that your insects are in the order Hemiptera, but beyond that, we haven’t a clue. They are most likely a plant feeding species that uses piercing/sucking mouthparts to feed on plant fluids. The tubelike extension is most like a waxy filament that is produced by many insects in the order. We hope to be able to provide a species name in the near future.
Unknown Hemipteran
Dear Daniel … Thank you so much for such a prompt reply !! It will be really great if someday I can know the name of this beautiful looking tiny bug !! And of course Thanks for the Lead about Hemiptera !
With Warm Regards from India
Subharghya Das
Unknown Korean insect
Location: Seoul, Korea
June 27, 2011 9:13 pm
These insects became a huge infestation about 4 years ago in Seoul. Since then they have had a large yearly population in the city. They became bright red as they mature and then also grown wings. As juveniles, they are wingless, but able to jump hundreds of times their body length.
Signature: DaveT383
White Cicada Nymph
Hi DaveT383,
This immature Fulgorid Planthopper goes by the deceptive common name of White Cicada. It is native to China, but in recent years it has invaded Korea where it has become established. Here is an early What’s That Bug? posting that has some informative links.
White Cicada Nymph
Bug in Nicaragua
Location: Southwest Coastal Nicaragua
June 24, 2011 6:10 pm
I would love to know what this is.
Signature: Bugman
Peanut Headed Bug
We really love this insect and the superstitions that surround it. It is a Lanternfly, Fulgora laternaria, and it is commonly called a Peanut Headed Bug or Alligator Bug. Here is what the Virtual Rainforest Website has to say: “This weird looking creature is an insect, in the family Fulgoridae of the order Homoptera. The Fulgorids all have enlarged foreheads, but it is most remarkable in the peanut-head, so named because its head looks like an unshelled peanut. It grows to about three inches (8 cm) long. The peanut-head can’t bite. Its mouth is like a straw, so all it can do is suck juices from plants. That’s why it needs a lot fancy defenses to scare away predators, like it’s strange head. Scientists think that the head is supposed to imitate a lizard’s head, and animals that don’t eat lizards are scared away. It is part of a complex anti-predator scheme the bug uses. The peanut-head has large red and black spots on its underwings that look like large eyes when the bug spreads its wings. If these don’t scare away predators, the bug releases a skunk-like spray. In the rainforest there are so many things that want to eat the peanut-head that it needs a lot of defenses.” Here is a previous posting from our archives where we discuss some of the lore surrounding this interesting insect which is known as a Machaca in South America. Though we generally refrain from citing Wikipedia, we cannot resist perpetuating this fascinating myth: “In several countries, such as Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela, there exists the myth that if somebody is bitten by the machaca, he or she must have sex within 24 hours to prevent an otherwise incurable death. The popular belief in Bolivia (Santa Cruz de la Sierra) is that it is a dangerous insect dependant on its wing colours but the insect is actually harmless to people.”
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¶ Posted 25 June 2011 § ‡ ° here’sa nother odd one
Location: cordova, tennessee
June 24, 2011 11:19 pm
the first 2 images are from an insect found on rattle snake master plant.
Signature: mavis
Speckled Sharpshooter
Hi again Mavis,
This is another Sharpshooter, and this one has a common name. It is the Speckled Sharpshooter, Paraulacizes irrorata, and as usual, we turned to BugGuide for the identification.
i thank you again. i have been using bug guide, but since i am somewhat of a novice, unless i can nail down the correct order, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. slowly, but surely i will learn more.
mavis
¶ Posted 25 June 2011 § ‡ ° 
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