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Leafcutter Bee

Fly mimics a Bumble Bee and is inverted!
Location:  Fairfield, Maine USA
August 23, 2010 12:35 pm
Dear bugman,
I thought this was a bumble bee at first, but then it flew near me and it flew like a hummingbird. Another very distinctive trait that does not show in my pictures, was that its abdomen was curling upward (in profile) toward the sky, instead of the typical downward curl profile I see most bees doing. Sorry it’s really hard to describe and the thing was so active I lost track of it almost immediately. Anyway, I am very curious to know what this was, so here are the only pictures I could get. Not bad, but sort of simpilar viewpoints…
Thank you,
James R

leafcutter bee james 300x229 Leafcutter Bee

Leafcutter Bee

Hi James,
This is one of the Leaf-Cutting Bee in the genus Megachile, a large and complicated genus that would require an expert to identify the species.  According to BugGuide:  “Most nest in pre-existent holes in wood. Female typically cuts neat, more-or-less round pieces out of leaves to serve as separators between cells of nest.“

Hi Daniel,
Thank you so much for the rapid identification!
It’s always exciting to learn a bit about an insect I’ve never seen or heard of before.
Best wishes,
James

Posted 23 August 2010 § ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Leaf Cutting Bee

Black insect with thin yellow stripes and ?stinging and/or biting capabilities
Location:  Palo Alto, CA
August 22, 2010 4:41 pm
Dear What’s That Bug,
I had a most unfortunate experience last night and this morning, and I was wondering if you could help me identify *what* it was. A few times during the night I awoke to a buzzing sound in my ear, though I couldn’t find the source. Shortly after I woke up, I felt a sharp pain on my wrist, then a bit later a few more on my back. These became 3 mm tall welts with a sunken poke mark in the middle.
Eventually, I found the source: a black insect with four thin yellow stripes on the last segment. It has something that looks like a short and thin stinger at the end and a pair of pinchers on the head (please excuse my terminology — I have some botanical training, but not entomological!). It also has narrow wings that it usually keeps folded on its body such that it’s hard to see them. Oh, but the insect does fly! There might even be a second, smaller pair of wings under the first, but it’s hard for me to see.
Could you please tell me what this is? I’ve seen these around before, but had never been assaulted by one!
Much thanks,
Bitten and/or stung

leaf cutting bee paloalto Leaf Cutting Bee

Leaf Cutting Bee

Dear Bitten and/or stung,
We suspect you were probably stung, though we are not certain if the sting of a Leaf Cutting Bee in the genus Megachile brings certain death as it does in a Honey Bee worker.  The jaws of a Leaf Cutting Bee are quite pronounced, and perhaps the bite may have caused the reaction you describe.   According to BugGuide:  “Most nest in pre-existent holes in wood. Female typically cuts neat, more-or-less round pieces out of leaves to serve as separators between cells of nest“  and the young feed on a variety of pollens.  Sadly, we fished a drowning Leaf Cutting Bee from our birdbath yesterday and it died.  According to Charles Hogue in Insects of the Los Angeles Basin:  “”Neatly cut semicircular notches in the leaf edges of one’s rose bushes indicate the presence of these solitary bees in the neighborhood.”

leaf cutting bee paloalto 2 300x239 Leaf Cutting Bee

Leaf Cutting Bee

Posted 22 August 2010 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Common Eastern Bumble Bee

Bee Id Help
Location:  Gainsville, Ga
August 20, 2010 2:05 pm
Picture taken Gainsville Ga.
August 19, 2010.
Is this a bumblebee or carpenter bee?
Yellow color but shiny abdomen?
Thank you,
J Serences

common eastern bumblebee j 300x232 Common Eastern Bumble Bee

Common Eastern Bumble Bee

Hi J,
In our opinion, this is a Common Eastern Bumble Bee, Bombus impatiens.  You can see BugGuide for additional information.

Posted 21 August 2010 § Bumble Bees ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Carpenter Bee Perhaps

August 16, 2010
Hello Daniel,
Thanks for your quick response and thorough information. I’m sorry about the cropped pic. My son took the pic and IM’ed it to me. If I can get a better one from him, I will email it to you. My brother and I are very interested in bugs. We have said that since our weather here in Ohio has been very hot and humid this summer and likened to the southern US climate that we may start to see insects indigenous to that area migrating up north. We feel this is an interesting concept and worth the watch. If I notice this then I will email you the info.
I have questions that maybe you can answer. This is regarding the black bumblebee with the fuzzy yellow back. In years past, we would see the regular size bumblebee going from flower to flower gathering pollen and there would be many seen. In more recent years (about five to ten years), this started to change. The bumblebees gathering the pollen are much smaller, few in numbers and now we see huge bumblebees with long thick abdomens in the spring hanging around carports and garages in groups of two to five, and they appear as though they are fighting each other. They have no interest in humans walking past. Their focus is strictly on attacking the other bumblebees. I looked at the BugGuide and there is no listing of the bumblebee as even being in Ohio. As I said, they were plentiful here and we still have them, but few of them are seen today except for what I described. Do you have any information about this and do you know what this spring ritual is?
My brother and I appreciate your information.
Kathy C. Seeman

Hi Kathy,
Without a photo, it would be difficult to be certain, but perhaps your large fighting bees are Carpenter Bees.  See BugGuide for information.

Posted 16 August 2010 § Valley Carpenter Bee ‡ Comments (0) °

Robber Fly eats Bumble Bee

Ugliest Wasp EVER
Location:  North Texas
August 14, 2010 6:30 pm
Can you tell me what kind of wasp this is? This wasp will attack flying insects in the air,and if it catches them, seems to attach itself behind the insects head. Sucking out vital fluids perhaps? Also, when this wasp flies, it makes itself appear larger by keeping forelegs up above it’s head. Today one caught a bumble bee of which is in a couple of the photos.

saropogon eats bee texas 288x300 Robber Fly eats Bumble Bee

Robber Fly eats Bumble Bee

I do not know how it nests, I only notice these individually, on my blooming plants just waiting for a chance to catch something.
Curious about the ugliest insect I have ever seen.

saropogon texas 300x283 Robber Fly eats Bumble Bee

Robber Fly

Dear Curious atuiIhes,
This is a Robber Fly, and it is one impressive creature.  It looks very similar to the Hanging Thieves in the genus Diogmites, but not quite.  We searched BugGuide for related genera, and it most resembles members in the genus Saropogon, but there were no matches on BugGuide.  By doing a web search for Saropogon, we discovered the Key to the Saropogon of the United States page, and the description that seemed closest to your specimen is Saropogon birdi.  We searched that and came up with a photo on Flickr that looks identical to your specimen.  We also located a Midwest Biological Control News page entitled Know Your Friends with this tidbit on another member of the genus Saropogon:  “Saropogon dispar is the most injurious of a number of species in Texas that frequent apiaries — more than 700 of these flies were destroyed in one bee yard in a period of three days!“  We are relatively confident your Robber Fly is in the genus Saropogon, but we would like to try to consult an expert in the family for confirmation.  We will see if Eric Eaton can recommend a Robber Fly expert.

saropogon texas 2 277x300 Robber Fly eats Bumble Bee

Robber Fly

Daniel,
Thank you very much for getting back to me. After submitting the photos I looked at your bug of the month and kind of figured it out although I thought it was a hanging thief, it just didn’t hang.. lol    The next day I was out taking pics of butterflies, and one of the robber flies landed on my camera, I almost dropped the camera.. It was probably just trying to be friendly. Right!  Anyway, thank you so very much and I will be happy to know exactly which robber fly this is.
Rhonda, still slightly curious. :)

Update on Identification
August 17, 2010
Hi Rhonda,
We are still waiting to hear something from Robber Fly expert Dr. Robert A. Cannings, Curator of Entomology at the Royal British Columbia Museum who we emailed after posting your letter.

Update from Dr. Robert A. Cannings
August 18, 2010
Hi Daniel:  I don’t know Saropogons well, although I think you are
correct in assuming this is one. I’ve sent the photos to Eric Fisher in
Sacramento to check but he hasn’t replied yet. I’ll let you know when he
answers.
Cheers,
Rob

Update:  confirmation of Saropogon
August 26, 2010
Daniel, Eric Fisher says it looks like Saropogon combustus. So there you
are!
Cheers,
Rob

Posted 14 August 2010 § Bumble Bees § Robber Flies ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Hanging Thief consumes Honey Bee

Robber Fly
Location:  Mayfield, KY
August 8, 2010 2:13 pm
I know I have identified my bug as a robber fly, but it is not the red footed one chosen for the month of August. I have a set of pictures I’d like to share of the robber fly I found on the bush near my house. In the second photo, I noticed a lot of tiny life. There is some kind of larvae near his one foot where he is hanging on the plant. There are oleander aphids visible also. I thought the pictures showed a lot of detail on the robber fly. He looks positively wicked!
Hope you enjoy them.
Janet Fox

diogmites eats bee janet 257x300 Hanging Thief consumes Honey Bee

Hanging Thief devours Honey Bee

Hi Janet,
This magnificent Robber Fly is a Hanging Thief in the genus Diogmites, and they are called Hanging Thieves because of their habit of hanging, often from a single leg, while consuming their prey.  We found a photo on BugGuide that matches your specimen, but it is not identified to the species level.  We hope our continued searching will provide a species name for your formidable predator.  We thought that the abdominal markings might be an identifying feature, but browsing through the Diogmites species on BugGuide revealed too many possibilities that look similar for us to attempt a species classification.

diogmites janet 269x300 Hanging Thief consumes Honey Bee

Hanging Thief

Ed. Note: August 9, 2010
It is really impossible for our small staff to respond to all queries, and we were searching older letters for something, and we came across this email from Janet prior to the email above.  We would like to remind our readership that if you do not get a response after a week, please resubmit your request with all relevant information and please reattach the image.  DO NOT just send an email inquiring if we got your previous email because then we need to hunt through all unanswered mail.  We apologize for our limitations.

Janet’s Original Request
Strange bug
Location:  Mayfield, KY
July 31, 2010 8:27 pm
I have recently started on some nature photography. We have a bush next to our driveway that has a vine growing on it. I have found that the small white flowers on the vine is a host for many bugs. I was out there the other day and saw a very strange looking bug. It looked like a mutation of a dragonfly and a mosquito. I got a couple pictures of it, then focused on something else. Next time I looked for it, it was higher up the bush and had caught a honey bee. I watched as he stuck his needle nose into the neck area several times. Then he turned the bee around and stuck him in the hind end. Then he turned the bee around a couple more times, then stuck his straw nose into the back end to (I assume) drink his insides. I have looked up predatory insects and can not find this particular bug. Can you tell me what it is?
Sincerely, Janet Fox

Posted 09 August 2010 § Robber Flies ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Robber Fly eats Bee

Fly, Dragonfly, Bee Killer wasp?
Location:  Bismarck, North Dakota
August 7, 2010 1:39 am
I took photos of this insect today. It originally flew around my flowering basil, mimicing the bees, going from flower to flower. Then I saw it grab a bumble bee, to eat it. I wrote about it on my blog today: http://sewartfullyminded.blogspot.com/2010/08/bee-fight-and-bee-killer.html
At first glance I wondered if it was a dragon fly because of the long tail, but it behaved differently. It is fuzzy like a bumble bee but has such huge eyes. I followed it taking photos. It didn’t seem to like that and tried to evade me. It landed on the grape leaf and as I continued to take photos it eventually retreated behind the leaf.
Doreen

robber fly eats bee doreen 300x192 Robber Fly eats Bee

Robber Fly eats Bee

Hi Doreen,
This adept predator is a Robber Fly in the family Asilidae, and we believe, due to its size, that it is in the subfamily Asilinae, but we haven’t the time to research the species at the moment.  You may view some possibilities on BugGuide.

Posted 07 August 2010 § Bumble Bees § Robber Flies ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Mystery Plant: Nectar bounty for Monarch, Tiger Swallowtail and others

Busy Bush
Location:  North Middle Tennessee
August 3, 2010 1:12 pm
Hi Daniel,
I don’t know the name of these bushes they are a nuisance. Grow almost everywhere have thorns that tend to break off in your hand, these flowers (sweet smelling) are followed by berries (black) that stain. That being said right now they are the main attraction in the neighborhood for all sorts of insects. Bees, wasp, flies, moths, butterflies are all competing for the nectar. I have spent hours standing in one spot photographing all sorts of critters. (I do keep my distance cause the bees are ”packing heat”) However they all seem to just have eating on their minds, haven’t noticed any agressive behavior from any of them toward each other or me for sticking my nose into their business. One absence I have notice from the nectar feast is ”Honey Bees” they are all but extinct around here. I realize this is off topic but I found all of the bush’s activity interesting. Thanks for all you do and have a wonderful day.
Richard

monarch richard 300x227 Mystery Plant: Nectar bounty for Monarch, Tiger Swallowtail and others

Monarch and Bumble Bees

Hi Richard,
What, pray tell, is “off topic” in your letter?  We find it to be spot on topic.  We hope one of our readers can provide the name of this plant, because though you have provided some of its negative qualities, it seems the benefits of providing a bounty of nectar for insects and probably berries for birds would make it a very desirable plant for nature enthusiasts who populate their gardens with plants that will attract wildlife.  Among the visitors you have documented are a Monarch Butterfly, a Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly, Bumble Bees and an Ailanthus Webworm Moth.  We are sad to hear of the demise of the local Honey Bee population.  We can only hope that Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) will run its course and the surviving bees will have the genetic resistance to make a comeback.

tiger swallowtail richard 300x243 Mystery Plant: Nectar bounty for Monarch, Tiger Swallowtail and others

Tiger Swallowtail, Ailanthus Webworm and other pollinators

Note to Readers: If you recognize this plant, please provide a name.

August 5, 2010 10:04 am
Daniel:  I wonder if the thorny, flowering plant with Tiger Swallowtail and Ailanthus Webworm Moth on it could be
Hercules’ Club (Aralia spinosa) or (less likely) Devil’s Club (Oplopanax horridum).
Best,
Dave Fallow in Madison Wisconsin

Hello Daniel,
I never though it would be of any interest to anyone but since you posted it I became corrious and did a bit of internet searching. The bush is a :”Devil’s Walkingstick” or “Aralia spinosa L.” here is a link to the plant:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ARSP2&photoID=arsp2_008_avp.tif
Thank you for all you do and have a wonderful day.
Richard

Posted 05 August 2010 § Brush Footed Butterflies § Bumble Bees § Ermine Moths § swallowtails ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

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