Mystery Bug
Location: Newmarket, Ontario
May 15, 2012 7:10 pm
Hi,
Saw this strange looking bug on our patio. It was able to fly and resembled a ladybug in flight. You can see it’s antennae sticking out – body underneath carapace was roughly same color (orange/red).
Signature: Rob
Clavate Tortoise Beetle
Hi Rob,
This distinctive beetle is a Clavate Tortoise Beetle, Plagiometriona clavata. Are you growing tomato plants on the patio? According to BugGuide: “plants in the tomato family (Solanaceae): ground-cherries (Physalis), Jimsonweed (Datura stramonium), and Solanum spp.; other reported host plants probably incidental.”
Thank you! It was indeed on a tomato plant…
Rob
What’s that bug… in Alaska?
Location: Kotzebue, Alaska
May 7, 2012 8:54 pm
Hello,
I get the feeling this is a common bug that I should know the name of, but I would sure appreciate your help identifying it for someone here in Kotzebue, Alaska (NW arctic coast). It was found in their house while vacuuming.
Thank you for your time and assistance…
Signature: MJ
Larder Beetle
Hi MJ,
This is a Larder Beetle and they commonly infest stored foods.
Beetle with antler-like antennae
Location: Japan, Mie (Central Japan, south of Nagoya, near coast)
May 5, 2012 6:20 pm
This beetle I photographed in Japan in 2005 (was it really so long ago?!), shortly after dusk on the 4th of May.
My best guess is Pyrochroidae, others on the interwebs have suggested Eucnemidae Melasidae or Elateridae.
Are the ”antlers” for detecting scents/pheromones, or to they have another purpose.
All the best
Signature: James Kilfiger
Click Beetle
Hi James,
Because of the antennae, your guess of family Pyrchroidae, the Fire Colored Beetles, was a good, though wrong guess. Not many Click Beetles in the family Elateridae have such pectinate antennae, but there are some species. Interestingly, we very quickly found a match to your Click Beetle on Natural Japan where it is identified as Pectocera fortunei = hige-kometsuki. Natural Japan provides this information: “Lots of these click beetles were flying around one particular tree (I’m sorry I didn’t identify the tree!). They are pretty big and their method of flying is quite ungainly, elytra out to the sides and abdomens hanging down, making them look like flying crucifixes. They were very active and wouldn’t keep still to be photographed but I managed to catch one in my hat. I put it on a leaf and it immediately took off again! By the way, the male uses its huge feathery antennae for detecting females.” Here are photos of a male and female on a Japanese website.
Green beetle?
Location: Newmarket, Ontario
May 6, 2012 10:05 am
Hi,
Trying to identify this guy – look slike some kind of green beetle?
Signature: Rob
Six Spotted Tiger Beetle
Dear Rob,
Though the number of spots is variable, this is known as a Six Spotted Tiger Beetle.
Friendly bug
Location: Portland, Oregon
May 5, 2012 11:13 pm
My son found this lively and beautiful bug on a hike in Forest Park in Portland, Oregon, on a shady part of the trail. There are so many distinctive things about this insect, but we are unable to identify it with our guides. My son remembers this bug and wants to know its name so he can call to his friend the next time we go there! Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Signature: LauraB
Snail Eater
Hi LauraB,
Determining the order and family are the best way to try to identify an insect species. This is a Beetle and it is subclassified as a Ground Beetle in the family Carabidae. It is one of the Snail Eaters or Boat Backed Ground Beetles in the genus Scaphinotus, and we believe based on the appearance of the elytra or wing covers as well as the documented range that this might be Scaphinotus angusticollis which according to BugGuide is found in : “Humid coastal forests of Pacific Northwest.”
What is this little beetle?
Location: New Lenox, IL
May 4, 2012 4:43 pm
Let me start by saying, I LOVE this website! I browse through your bug pages often and have for years. I recently started a bug group on Facebook where we share pictures of bugs that we find. (Anyone is welcome to join us: http://www.facebook.com/groups/105250039607014/136565559808795/?comment_id=136568363141848)
One of our members recently found this little beetle in her back yard in New Lenox, IL. We were wondering if you could help us identify this cute little guy?
Signature: Admin of Plants, Fungus & Bugs…Oh My!
Leaf Beetle
Dear Admin of Plants, …,
This is a Leaf Beetle in the genus Calligrapha. We believe we have correctly identified it as Calligrapha bidenticola based on photos posted to BugGuide where it is indicated that Illinois is within the range of the species. Thank you for your kind words. They are greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much for getting back to me, I truly appreciate it! I have started offering help with identification of bugs in my group using my knowledge, whatsthatbug and the bug guide. I hope this might take some work off of your plate in the future. I also have plans of taking more professional photos of the insects I happen upon. I would like to compile a field guide of sorts of east cost insects and publish a book using KickStarter to fund the project. I am also thinking about starting a blog to better catalog what I find out there.
My facebook group has taken off! I originally had 3 members (I started the group as a joke) and people started joining! Now we have 22 members, most of them women. I hope that I can encourage more people to join. So many people are scared of bugs because they think they will be stung. It is a great group and I look forward to having your website as such a wonderful resource in the future. It has offered me many hours of educational entertainment and whenever I am able, I plan on donating what I can to help your cause.
Thank you again for getting back to me. If there is anything I can do to help you out, please let me know. I am a stay at home mom running a small home business sewing cloth alternatives. I have time on my hands and am more than happy to offer some of it to help out.
Unknown, Possibly a termite?
Location: Falling Waters, West Virginia
May 3, 2012 5:46 am
Hello,We have had a mild to moderate issue with medium-large sized black ants that I am assuming are ”carpenter” type ants. Then a larger bug appeared in my bed and I am wondering if it is a termite or some sort, and also what kind of ants are frequently making me use statements involving puns. They are ”bugging” me…The assumed termite is Dark Brown, roughly 3/4 of an inch long, has six legs, Yellow Stripes/Spots on back of abdomen and Thick Pincer type jaws, and is currently only moving when i turn on the light to my digital microscope…Hopefully my pictures will help. Isn’t it ironic that I can’t sleep with all these ants, and then i couldn’t find any live ants for the third picture? I try not to kill all of them but my chihuahuas must have gotten hungry haha. I look forward to your reply and thank you for your time
Sincerely,
Signature: -Brandon D.
Oak Timberworm
Dear Brandon,
This is not a termite. It is a Beetle, but we don’t know which beetle. We will continue to research this matter.
Oak Timberworm
Ed. Note: Thanks to a comment by Bugophile, we now know that this is an Oak Timberworm, a species of Weevil.
Eric Eaton provides some information
May 5, 2012
Yes, that is a “primitive weevil,” Arrhenodes minutus, and a male (females have a longer and much more slender “snout.” The family is Brentidae, and most members are in the tropics. The beetles are usually found under bark, or on the exterior of logs on overcast days or at dusk.
Eric
¶ Posted 04 May 2012 § ‡ ° Caterpillar ?Cicada larvae
Location: Michigan
May 2, 2012 9:39 pm
I found this caterpillar in the garden on a sunny day in May in Michigan. It was very fast and before I got my camera it disapeared. When I located it, it had burrowed head first into the leaf litter on top of the soil. It had some bristles near the head. Looks like a cicada larva to me but the pictures I saw looked different.
Signature: Linda
Scarab Beetle Larva
Hi Linda,
This is the larva of a Scarab Beetle and it is commonly called a Grub. Though we are uncertain of the exact species, we suspect it might be the larva of a Green June Beetle, Cotinis nitida, which you can find pictured on BugGuide.
Thank you for the identification. It certainly does look like the one in BugGuide. I forgot to mention the size, it was large, at least 3 inches. My bug book shows the Green June Beetle larvae at 2 inches. I love your site and have it bookmarked. Thanks again, Linda
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