rss Whats this bug called
Location: Trinidad & Tobago, Caribbean
February 3, 2012 7:25 am
My friend found this bug flying around in her kitchen, what is it?
Signature: Betty
Glowworm
Dear Betty,
This is actually a beetle known as a Glowworm. Adult males fly and have branched or plumose antennae while females are larviform. Larvae and sometimes females are bioluminescent. You can compare your photo, which sadly is of a very low resolution, to those posted on BugGuide.
Do you know what kind of bug this is?
Location: Charlotte, NC
October 9, 2011 11:10 pm
Hi there,
This bug was outside my door yesterday. I live in Charlotte, NC. Any idea what it is?
Thanks,
Charlotte
Signature: Charlotte, NC
Glowworm
Hi Charlotte,
Had you turned off the lights, you might have been treated to seeing this Glowworm in the genus Phengodes glow, like this image from our archives.
Thank you so much! My friends thought it was a palmetto bug egg/larvae, etc. Whew. I am relieved!
Young Palmetto Bugs look just like adults, but smaller and without wings.
what bug is this
Location: milwaukee wi
August 23, 2011 5:11 am
found this on my living room wall.
first time i have seen a bug other than a spider and earwig. you will have to zoom way in on the pictures but you can see it..
thanks for your help
Signature: me
Firefly
Dear me,
This appears to us to be a Firefly in the family Lampyridae. Fireflies are also called Lightening Bugs. You can read about them on BugGuide. You should really try to get out more to see more bugs.
Wonders from Malaysian Borneo!
Location: Malaysian Borneo
August 12, 2011 9:09 pm
Hey Bug-people!
A challenge for you!
I took myself backpacking through Southeast Asia a while ago, and came back with some amazing pictures of bugs.
I’ve included three of what were to me the most fascinating and baffling varieties. Can you help me identify them?
Cheers!
Signature: Doug
Netwing Beetle Larva, or Firefly Larva
Hi again Doug,
We have split up your question into separate postings. … Your third insect is a larval Firefly not unlike this North American example. Did we meet your challenge?
Wow! I guess everything’s bigger on Borneo, because that larval Firefly was nearly three inches long!
Thanks for that. The info about the flatworm was particularly fascinating.
Doug
Hi again Doug,
We are ready to research the Bornean Firefly Larva, though we cannot discount that it might be a Netwing Beetle Larvae. Eric Eaton says the way to tell the difference it to introduce a snail. If the beetle larva eats the snail, it is a Firefly Larva. If it prefers fungus, it is a Netwing Beetle Larva. We imagine that there may also be snail and fungus specificity in the preferences. Here is an example from The Flying Kiwi of a Larviform female Netwing Beetle from Viet Nam, and here is another example of a Netwing Beetle and The Flying Kiwi‘s, AKA Richard Seaman’s, written account: “I didn’t notice that this one in Malaysia was glowing, but it turns out that both this and the Vietnamese “firefly” aren’t fireflies at all, they’re actually the larvae of net-winged beetles in the genus Duliticola, otherwise known as “trilobite larvae” because of their prehistoric shape; the one you see here is Duliticola hoiseni. The drops of liquid on this one’s back look like they are some toxic substance exuded for protection, I’m not sure if that was for my benefit or whether it was already feeling stressed when I arrived.” Interestingly, last year Bert traveled to Malaysia and he sent us a Netwing Beetle or Firefly Larva as well as a Land Planarian. Though there are similarities, they are both distinctly different for your examples. We imagine there is great diversity in the jungles, and there may also be distinct local populations that over time have developed into distinctly different looking relatives that may or may not be different species.
Bolivian giant larva
Firefly Larva
Bolivian giant larva
Location: Samaipata, Bolivia
July 17, 2011 8:15 am
It is killing me not knowing what this giant is! I saw this amazing creature in Amboro National Park, Samaipata, Bolivia. It looks like a very, very large firefly larva. It has bioluminescent spots just like a firefly larva. The only problem is it was about 4 in / 10cm long! Found it wandering across a path midday last November, the begining of rainy season. I found another one at my house in Pailon, Bolivia but it was only 1.5 inches.
Signature: Jason
Firefly Larva
Hi Jason,
We agree that this must be a Firefly Larva, though we would never have guessed it was four inches long. The bioluminescent spots are a very good indication that your identification is correct. We wish you had included a night shot. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to assist in a species identification. Your photographs are quite stunning.
Firefly Larva
I can’t help but wonder if this could be a case of neoteny. I cannot imagine an adult firefly this size larva would produce! It is also possible it is an unsubscribed species, there are new discoveries being made in this relatively unexplored forest all the time. Not long ago they found a new species of Monkey there. I am sorry I didn’t get a night shot. I have been doing a lot of digging and asking around to ID this guy with no luck so far.
Jason
Just a few additional thoughts Jason. Many female adult Fireflies are larviform. Many larvae are larger than the adults. Please provide us with a comment on your posting if you ever get any additional information in the future.
Male Sawfly – family argidae?
Location: Naperville, IL
June 24, 2011 6:27 pm
Hi Daniel~
I have searched and searched, and the best I can do at ID-ing this inch-long insect on my house siding is to conclude that it is some kind of male sawfly, per its wasp-like appearance and its intensely-feathered antennae. I’ve looked at conifer sawflies and argid sawflies, but the length of its body with respect to its wings is throwing me off – as is its impressive set of mandibles and armor between its wings and head. So perhaps it’s not a sawfly at all? Can you help? Thanks so much! (P.S. You asked a question a few days ago regarding two photos I sent of hatching Monarch caterpillars. The only way I was able to respond was via a comment to those photos, not in the usual way. I hope you saw my reply.)
Signature: Dori Eldridge
Male Glowworm
Dear Daniel~
I found it! It’s not a sawfly at all. It’s an adult male glowworm beetle – probably a Phengodes plumosa. Those elytra and the length of its body sent me to beetles after I exhausted the sawfly and ichneumon wasp categories. There is an image on bugguide.net that is nearly identical to mine: http://bugguide.net/node/view/167293/bgimage. Still, you might like to add these photos to your glowworm collection. Thanks so very much!
Dori Eldridge
Male Glowworm
Hi Dori,
We are happy that you were able to self identify your male Glowworm, and we are thrilled that we can post your photos, though we disagree with your comment that the photo on BugGuide is nearly identical to your photo. The color and clarity of your image are even better. It is interesting that the antennae are plumose and the species name of Phengodes plumosa acknowledges that. Your photos are awesome.
Male Glowworm
Yes! …especially considering that it is only the adult male glowworms that have the plumose antennae. I feel especially lucky to have spotted and photographed this insect now after reading that they’re not so commonly encountered. It posed for me without moving for about 3 or 4 minutes, after which I left it. When I returned a few minutes later, it had gone. I hope to find a female larviform glowworm one day to photograph, too. Thank you for your most kind words, and best regards to you. -Dori
firefly flashing
June 21, 2011 10:57 pm
Dear Bugman,
Just as a previous reader was astounded a few weeks ago (see your June 14th post re firefly flashing), I witnessed something tonight that I have never seen before in my short 32 years of observing lightning bugs, which are very common here in northern Illinois during the summer months. These lightning bugs were flashing more rapidly than I have ever seen lightning bugs flash before. I was able to concentrate on a few individuals close on the fence post, and their flashes were extremely fast, not like the normal relaxed on and off glow I’ve always known them to have. These bugs were flashing so rapidly it reminded me of a strobe light. And there were so many in the field flashing like this that it looked literally like twinkling Christmas lights. I just stood there staring because I really had never seen such a sight. Anyway, sorry for rambling, but I thought it interesting that I would be privy to seeing this after just having read a post on the same subject on your sit
e. I am a big fan of the site. Keep up your great work!!
Sincerely,
Amy Berogan, Rockford, IL
Signature: Amy Berogan
Dear Amy,
Thanks for your comment. While in Ohio in June, Daniel also had the opportunity to witness one single rapid flasher that also seemed bent on flying quickly as it covered a great deal of space in a short period of time. He was used to seeing Fireflies hovering about in the same area while flashing slowly.
Firefly synchonized fast flashing
June 14, 2011 6:40 pm
I live in North Texas by a public park. Last night (June 13th) I noticed that the fireflies were flashing at an extremely high rate (faster than anything I have seen so far on You Tube) and they were all in sync, sometimes two would pair up in their flight patterns. They then went dark but started again after about 5 seconds. This happened repeatedly and I would have loved to have stayed longer but my dog insisted that we see to his needs.
The other interesting thing was that this flashing show was continued by other fireflies some distance away (for bugs that is). Thought I had read something about this but realize that it was more about them being synchronized than this “hyper” flashing. Felt like I was in nature’s disco.
Wondered if it was just a variation of their mating display or if it was triggered by some environmental factor.
Signature: Vicki Davis
Hi Vicki,
Thanks for supplying us with your first hand observations on Firefly flashing. Each species of Firefly has a different signal used to attract a mate. While we are unable to provide you with any concrete information on the species you saw, we would guess that this is nothing unusual.
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