What’s this bug?
Location: Fox Chapel, PA
September 4, 2011 5:28 pm
I took these photos on July 14th around 11:30 am at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve in Fox Chapel which is about 15 minutes East of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was a bright sunny day and the brown case that this bug appeared to be carrying around and sheltering beneath caught my eye on a leaf.
Signature: Linda Willhide – Volunteer Naturalist for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve
Case Bearing Leaf Beetle Larva
Hi Linda,
This is the larva of a Case Bearing Leaf Beetle in the subfamily Cryptocephalinae, though we cannot provide you with a species name. According to BugGuide: “As far as known, the larval stages are all casebearers, living in and protected by a case constructed of their fecal matter and sometimes plant debris. The case is shorter than the larva that remains folded inside it.” Here is a photo from BugGuide that looks very close to your individual.
Case Bearing Leaf Beetle Larva
Daniel,
Thanks so much for identifying it!
I looking forward to sharing this information with my fellow naturalists and the children on the educational nature walks.
Have a great day!
Thanks again,
Linda
1
Red Bug
Location: Safford, Arizona
August 20, 2011 6:59 pm
Can You identify this bug? Found in the Arizona desert on top of Mt Graham near Safford.
Signature: Zombiemarble
Potato Beetle Larva
Dear Zombiemarble,
This is a Leaf Beetle Larva in the family Chrysomelidae, and larvae can often be quite difficult to properly identify. Knowing the food plant is often a tremendous assistance. There is a strong resemblance to the larva of the Colorado Potato Beetle (see BugGuide), however, this is not a Colorado Potato Beetle larva. We suspect it is another member of the genus, or perhaps a closely related genus. Though BugGuide does not picture the larva, circumstantial evidence leads us to speculate that this might be the larva of the Reddish Potato Beetle, Leptinotarsa rubiginosa, a species only reported from Arizona on BugGuide.
Green/Blue Beetle
Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
August 13, 2011 9:24 am
Hi,
hoping you can help identify this little beauty.
Found on a rose bush in Phnom Penh, Cambodia – mid afternoon, rainy season.
Signature: C
Frog Legged Leaf Beetle
Dear C,
If you are interested in more than a name, you can find all the research we have done to identify a previous submission of the Frog Legged Leaf Beetle, Sagra femorata, by reading our archives.
¶ Posted 13 August 2011 § ‡ ° Waiting for identification
August 4, 2011 6:24 pm
Hi
I submitted a photo mid last month hoping you could help me. I fully acknowledge that you state you are a small team and don’t manage to respond to everyone. My question is how long should a person wait before they assume you weren’t able to help them? E.g. If I haven’t heard or seen it on your site by now should I assume you couldn’t help me?
Thanks in advance.
Kristin
Signature: Kristin hoskin
Hi Kristin,
As you indicated, we cannot answer all of our mail. Please resubmit your image and questions to this email and we will try to respond. Don’t forget to include your location since you will not be using the form this time.
Original information from early July
Hi
thank you. Sorry for the delay in reply. I’ve been sick and was not checking emails. Here is my submission response email.
The location of the photo was Bosque, Texas. My home location is Christchurch, New Zealand.
Your submitted question:
I’ve been visiting Texas and chasing bugs because they move slower than the birds there and I have a better chance of getting a good shot. I’m having trouble finding the name of this one though. Can you help? The photo file name is the date and time the photo was taken in Zulu not Central US Daylight Savings Time if that helps with identification.
Beetle
Ed. Note: To be continued …
August 9, 2011
Since Mom is visiting the editorial staff, we are trying to limit the time we spend online. This appeared to us to be a Leaf Beetle, but we did not recognize it and Leaf Beetles can be quite difficult to identify properly, so we wrote to Eric Eaton to get his opinion. Here is his response.
Eric Eaton’s opinion
Daniel:
Not positive, but I’m thinking it is a leaf beetle, Anomoea nitidicollis:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/218151
Larvae are casebearers.
Eric
Thank you. I’ll keep surfing based on that to find out more about them.
I must say – you do a great job. I spent several hours on bug photos today and was pleased at the end of my efforts to have identified five of them. How you do so many amazes me!
Regards
Kristin
¶ Posted 08 August 2011 § ‡ ° Dogbane Beetle Lovin’.
Location: Toledo, OH
August 6, 2011 9:48 am
Found these guys while I was out looking for some milkweed to abduct for my monarch caterpillar I am raising at home. Beautiful little guys, and definitely not shy! I am about 85% sure of my identification, but please correct me if I am wrong! I love you guys.
Signature: Katy
Mating Dogbane Beetles
Hi Katy,
Your identification of mating Dogbane Beetles is absolutely correct. They truly are a pretty little species.
Mating Dogbane Beetles
1
Unidentified Red Beetle
Location: Chicago IL, July 24 2011, 4pm
July 24, 2011 2:12 pm
I found this one crawling on my leg in the garden and I’ve never seen it before…so I grabbed my cam and snapped as many shots as I could…I couldnt find any other bugs online to match this one, a rather small beetle too, no longer than a fingernail
Signature: Meg C
Lily Leaf Beetle
Hi Meg,
This is a Lily Leaf Beetle, Lilioceris lilii, a Eurasian species that has become established in Canada and the Northern states. Adults and larvae feed on the leaves of many cultivated plants in the lily family.
Correction: July 28, 2011
We just received a comment bringing to our attention that what we misidentified as a Lily Leaf Beetle (see BugGuide) is actually the same Blister Beetle that confused us earlier in the month. It is actually Rhyphonemognatha rufa which may also be found on Bugguide.
¶ Posted 25 July 2011 § ‡ ° New bug for me!
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada
July 17, 2011 9:39 am
I found this little guy on my watering can today. I’ve never seen one before. It’s about the size of a ladybug but I’ve never seen this metallic green on a bug before. Do you know what it is? I live just outside Fredericton, New Brunswick in Eastern Canada.
Signature: Cheryl Jones
Dogbane Beetle
Hi Cheryl,
This beautifully metallic Leaf Beetle is a Dogbane Beetle, Chrysochus auratus.
Thank you very much for your reply. I can’t believe I’ve never seen one before! I’ve lived here all my life (and I’m 62). You’d think I’d have noticed them before. lol
Cheryl
¶ Posted 18 July 2011 § ‡ ° What’s this beautiful metallic beetle?
Location: Hockessin, DE (northern DE near PA)
July 13, 2011 7:39 pm
I rescued this jewel-tone bug from a spider web at the mouth of our garage today. I hope it’s not the insect boring holes in the dogwood, but it was too pretty to leave there. I moved it to the lid of our garbage can to photograph it before it flew to the downspout, then away. It’s the middle of July, hot and sticky weather, but this is the first bug of this kind I’ve seen in a year, a welcome change from the onslaught of brown marmorated stinkbugs which infest the area. We are very near the mushroom farms of Kennett Square, PA, if that’s relevant.
Signature: ShutterBug
Dogbane Beetle
Dear ShutterBug,
The metallic coloration of the Dogbane Beetle, Chrysochus auratus, is quite spectacular and photogenic. The species is found west (correction EAST) of the Rocky Mountains.
Thank you very much for the information! I appreciate it (and can now label my photographs appropriately!) Wonder what it’s doing in Delaware, though? (Just rhetorical – I don’t expect an answer!) Thanks again!
Oops, we meant East of the Rocky Mountains.
¶ Posted 14 July 2011 § ‡ ° 
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