can you tell me the name of this one
Hi I saw this in Thailand and wanted to know its name . sorry the photos arnt very good
Thanks Bruce
Hi Bruce,
Your very blurry insect is a Lanternfly.
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Posted 11 April 2008
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Insect ID
Can you help us ID this insect? We found it in our driveway in Ormond Beach, FL. We live about 8 miles from the beach in a neighborhood with lots of live oak trees. We’ve done lots of looking on "bug websites" with no luck. Thanks in advance for your help.
Laura Pugliese
Hi Laura,
This is an Oak Treehopper, Platycotis vittata. This was a new species for our site yesterday when we identified a group of nymphs sent from California. Your photo depicts the winged adult.
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Posted 08 April 2008
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Help me identify this bug…
Hello – I have searched desperately all over the web to identify this bug infesting my 160 year old oak tree in my back yard. Can you help? Thanks so much,
Rena Lowry
Rocklin CA
Hi Rena,
These are Oak Treehopper Nymphs, Platycotis vittata. Amazingly, according to BugGuide, the species: “Does almost no damage to the host trees
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Posted 07 April 2008
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Mysterious Bug
I wondered if you could help ID this bug for me. I am located near Cairns, FNQ, Australia. I have seen these in sedge grass near a local pond. They always have their wings in this position. I suspect they may be some kind of Cicada but have been unable to ID it so far.
Andy MacDougall
Hi Andy,
We solicited the help of Eric Eaton, and he wrote: “Fulgoroidea (planthoppers) that I don’t recognize more specifically!.” Coincidentally, your photos were also sent to us by a member of a photography forun where you must have posted the images. The other email also contained view from above that was not among the images you sent.
Update: (03/25/2008)
Unknown planthopper from Australia
Hi Daniel,
The insect might be a member of the Derbidae family, which live in the tropics and According to the CSIRO “The Insects of Australia” they include the Zoraida: “The body of the Zoraida is very short, but the wings exceedingly long and narrow.” www.ne.jp/asahi/rhyncha/index/samE/dbrisam.html Regards,
Grev
Identification of a sapsucker
Hi, This was spotted in New Zealand in large numbers on grapevines, olives and native vegetation (all along the edge of pines). It appears to be sap-sucking on vigorous and mature tissue — honeydew present, bees attracted. Its wings have 4 bits to them. Could not visibly see any sucking mouthparts with the naked eye. Very docile but hop with force when disturbed. Wings lay flat, not erect. Bodyshape reminiscent of leafhopper but wings are throwing me off – much more moth-like. Maximum dimension 1/2 inch square. Any clues appreciated!
Cheers
These are Planthoppers as you originally suspected. We located the Ricaniid Planthoppers on the Geocities website, and believe this might be the Passionvine Hopper, Scolypopa australis. We found a website that states: “Scolypopa australis … remains as the only ricaniid recorded in New Zealand” as well as: “This species builds up into huge populations on passion vines and kiwifruit vines causing heavy deposits of ‘honeydew’. This leads to the growth of sooty moulds which impair the marketability of the fruit.”
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Posted 22 February 2008
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Hey there.
We found this “blue fly with a fur coat” flying around our yard. Any idea what it might be? We live in Chelsea, Québec ,Canada. Love your site! It’s super useful. Thanks for your help,
Celine & Marc
Hi Celine and Marc,
This is a Woolly Aphid in the genus Eriosoma. The winged ones are males.
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Posted 30 December 2007
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Weird things in my yard
I posted these to my facebook account months ago and none of my friends have any idea what these things are. They disappeared as mysteriously as they appeared.
Gaspare Maggio
Hi Gaspare,
You didn’t tell us where your yard is, which might help in an accurate identification. You may be in Italy, or you may be in Australia, or you may be in Canada. We just don’t know. This is a Fulgorid Planthopper. Your photo lacks critical detail for an exact species identification, but it does seem to resemble a photo posted to BugGuide of an immature Acanalonia bivittata, the Two Striped Planthopper.
Giant Panamanian Leafhopper
Bugman,
Merry Christmas! I know it is the holiday and all, but your website has been like a Christmas present to me. So many beautiful, weird, and interesting things! And I greatly appreciate the attitude of enjoying them simply for their own sake, and not destroying them. Attached is a photo I took along the Pipeline Road in November 2007. It is about 2-inches long and looks like a leafhopper to me. It had this fuzzy stuff trailing along that appeared to be attached to the abdomen. Odd bug. Any ideas? Thanks!
Allen Chartier
Hi again Allen,
This is one of the wax producing Fulgorid Planthoppers in the family Fulgoridae. Sorry we are unable to exactly identify the species. We received another example of this species from Costa Rica in February of this year, but were unable to properly identify it.
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Posted 25 December 2007
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I love this website
Thanks for past & future ID’s. This insect no bigger than 3rd of an inch on the side of my car at my farm in Brown Co, OH 06-17=07. No person or book has been able to tell me yet.
Mary Jo White
Hi Mary Jo,
We believe this is some species of Psillid or some other Hemipteran. We have contacted Eric Eaton and have confidence he will be able to assist in the identification.
Hi, Daniel:
Happy holidays to you, too! The insect in the image is a plant bug in the family Derbidae, and the genus Anotia. Might be the species Anotia bonnetii, with images on the Bugguide website, but I’m certainly no expert in that obscure family:-) I can’t even tell you anything about their biology, sorry. Very nice image submitted to you, though.
Eric
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Posted 23 December 2007
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Fly?
Hello,
There are lots of these little guys flying around my home in Haliburton ON. Hoping you can tell me a little bit about them. Thanks,
Jamie
Hi Jamie,
We can tell you this is not a fly as it has four wings and flies have but two. Maybe it is one of the Microlepidoptera. We are going to check with Eric Eaton and Julian Donahue to see if either can identify the family, genus or species.
Three Corrections: (11/09/2007)
Daniel:
Hahahahahaha! It fooled you:-) The images are of an aphid, probably one of the woolly aphids. They are dispersing now to alternate host plants where they will overwinter.
Eric
Microlepidoptera–Not! This is a male homopteran. My best shot is a Woolly Aphid, family Eriosomatidae. That’s the closest I can key it out from the photo–thank goodness the wing venation is clearly visible, as it fits this family perfectly.
Julian
Hello,
I am only a ninth grader, so I don’t claim to know much, but I think that the mystery microlepidoptera is actually a woolly apple aphid (Aphididae// //Eriosoma). I live in Wisconsin, and we have many of these little critters flying around our crab apples. They don’t seem to harm our trees much, but I have noticed that in late summer in the evening they will fly off the trees and “hover” in the air until dark. Another thing about the woolly aphids is that their “wool” will rub off if you try to catch them, which may be why this bug is not so furry. Thank you so much for creating such a wonderful site and advocating the wonderful world of bugs, it is definitely one of my favorite web pages-it is amazing. I hope I was of some help, if I am correct about this insect.
Amy
Fellow Bug Lover from La Crosse
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Posted 08 November 2007
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Bug on a leash
Hi bugman. Some of my friends went to Mexico this summer. They brought me these pictures of this weird bug. It was on a leash! What kind of bug is this? Thanks,
Francesco Saverio
Hi Francesco,
This is a Peanut Headed Lanternfly, Fulgora lanternaria, which is found in the Central and South American tropics. According to Wikipedia, this insect, known as the Machaca in the Amazon, has a very interesting superstition surrounding it: “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 insect is actually harmless to people.”
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Posted 06 October 2007
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Hi I have a bug!
Hi
These bugs seem to be everywhere at certain times of the year around the backyeard of our garden. As you can see they have two horn-like things on their backs. They’re about 1cm long or less and when un-disturbed they lay their ‘horns’ out flat behind them. I’m starting to think they may use them to jump. And yes, they jump. This one jumped an easy 1.5m when i scared it, others have jumped from the ground up onto the table and they all do it with amazing accuracy. When they jump they make a little ‘click’ sound. Also, they spend a lot of time walking around slowly, and when disturbed they like to walk sideways like a crab, nervously edging along before jumping if you startle them. I don’t mind them but they do freak you out occasionally when they jump, but more importantly i’d like to know if they are good or bad for the garden. Thanks!
Nick
Hi Nick,
Your otherwise thorough letter did not provide us with a location, which would have been very helpful. We are guessing you are from Australia and that these are probably immature Wattle Hoppers in the family Eurybrachyidae. They have sucking mouthparts and suck the sap from wattle trees, as acacia are known in Australia.
Hey thanks! You ended almost a decade of mystery. The bugs are from Sydney, Australia, i had to rewrite the email because of a mis-click and forgot to include the location the second time. Thanks again,
Nick
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