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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Winter Firefly

Unknown Beetle Southern NH
March 6, 2010
I found this beetle outside today. It was just sitting on a rock. It was about 50 F today, the warmest it’s been for many months here in southern NH. I’d like to know what type of beetle it is. Also, I’d like to know what it eats. In the future I’d like a method to identify bugs like this. I looked at a web-site bugguide.net which has a lot of information but it is quite difficult to sort through. Any suggestions? Thank you!
Sophie
Southern NH

Winter Firefly

Hi Sophie,
WE believe we have identified your Winter Firefly, Ellychnia corrusca, on BugGuide.  The time of year is one of the strongest pieces of evidence supporting the identification.  BugGuide’s Data page has information on sightings at various times of the year.

Winter Firefly

Posted 06 March 2010 § Fireflies and Glowworms ‡ Comments (0) °

Rove Beetle from Austria: Staphylinus caesareus

Odd looking insect
March 6, 2010
Greetings, on my summer holiday (July 2009)I found this insect crawling on the ground. It was about an inch long. Here’s hoping you can tell me what this is because it’s been bugging me ever since I took the photo with my mobile phone. Only one picture was reasonable, the rest are all vague but I added one because it shows some more detail on the head.
Thank you for your time.
Henk de Vries, The Netherlands
Carinthia, Austria

Rove Beetle: Staphylinus caesareus

Hi Henk,
This is a Rove Beetle in the family Staphylinidae.  We will try to get a species identification when we have more time.

Rove Beetle: Staphylinus caesareus

Comment:
This is Staphylinus caesareus.
mardikavana

Thanks for the comment mardikavana.  We found a link on Wild About Britain that pictures and describes Staphylinus caesareus.  We also found a matching photo on BioLib.  Rove Beetles are important predators that help to control populations of invertebrates.

Posted 06 March 2010 § Rove Beetles ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged:

Blurry Dots: Pantry Beetles or Carpet Beetles, perhaps

dark borwn bug small like a lady bug with white dots on and wings.
March 4, 2010
i keep finding them round my room, sometimes on the wall but i have found one in the car. They are really starting to freak me out and was hoping you could tell me what they are.
Help
Bedroom

Blurry Dots or possibly Pantry Beetles

Dear (not terribly) Help(ful),
We believe you may need more help than we are able to provide.  A bedroom and a car are not really geographical locations in any way that would provide us with the information we requested in terms of geography, and your photo is pretty much useless for any identification purposes.  We can only surmise that you probably have either Pantry Beetles or Carpet Beetles, or perhaps even both.

Posted 06 March 2010 § Pantry Beetles, Grain Weevils, Spider Beetles, Meal Worms and Carpet Beetles ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Grain Weevils and Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis

Grain Weevils
March 2, 2010
I was shocked to read repeatedly on your site that bugs called grain weevils are not harmful to humans. If you did the proper research, you would find that inhalation of dust from the grain weevil causes a serious illness in humans called hypersensitivity pneumonitis, which results in pulmonary fibrosis and is FATAL. I know this because I have this illness, which I contracted from an infestation of grain weevils from a box of dry pet food. If you look up hypersensitivity pneumonitis in any medical textbook, you will find that Miller’s Lung, caused by the grain weevil, is one of the causes of this fatal disease.
Goldy G.

Dear Goldy G.
We will research this condition and link to findings on the web.  Here is what we found upon researching Miller’s Lung.

Posted 03 March 2010 § Weevils ‡ Comments (4) °

Unknown Rhinoceros Beetles from Brazil: Megasoma actaeon maybe

Big Beetle Classification
February 26, 2010
These bugs were seen in an area of Brasil that is almost uninhabited, except for a select few farms, and groupings of indigenous tribes in a large preservation area, close to the Xingu river.
These bugs appeared after torrential rains, and came out at night – usually getting stuck on their backs, if they weren’t mating. The males and females differ, as one has a large horn. I have found several beetles that seem to have their characteristics, though haven’t found the correct name. Can you help? :)
Amaris in Wonderland
Rio Culuene, Mato Grosso, Brasil

Rhinoceros Beetle

Dear Amaris,
It is very often the case with Rhinoceros Beetles, Scarab Beetles in the subfamily Dynastinae, that the male possesses spectacular horns while the female is hornless.  It appears though that you may have submitted images of two different species.  The hornless close-up individual with the ridged elytra or wing covers appears to be a different species from the horned individuals in the long shot which look like they have smooth elytra.  Perhaps one of our readers will be able to provide more information than a subfamily name Dynastinae and the general common name for individuals in the subfamily Dynastinae, Rhinoceros Beetles.

Rhinoceros Beetles

Daniel and Amaris:
I can’t be certain because the images provide little sense of scale and the photo of the males is short on detail, but I will take a stab at it anyway. I think they are probably Rhinoceros Beetles in the genus Megasoma, possibly M. actaeon, which range across northern South America. These are very large beetles indeed (up to 12 or 13 cm long for males), so Amaris can probably let me know right away if I am off track. M. actaeon are sexually dimorphic, females are hornless and their elytra are rough (sort of like walnut shells), whereas the males are smooth and shiny. You can also check out the ‘Butterflies and Beetles of Argentina’ site (scroll down to the fifth image), or ‘Naturalworlds’ (two pages of photos and information). Regards.
Karl

Posted 01 March 2010 § Scarab Beetles ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged:

Unidentified Weevil from Peru

blue mystery bug from peru
February 27, 2010
My son spotted this bug while we were out on a nature walk. It is a bright blue. While I’ve spent several hours searching your site for something similar, all I’ve found is the masked hunter (but I doubt it is this because there was absolutely nothing this color anywhere near where we were… no blue carpet :) . It is similar in color to the blue-green citrus weevil, but it’s body doesn’t look like it as it’s rather bumpy. Just thought it’d be fun to identify it, though I didn’t imagine it would be this hard… :)
He was about 2cm in length and was crossing a dirt road near a farm of coconut trees. We live in ceja de selva (which is on the eastern slopes of the Andes, above true rainforest level).
my images are here:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_3EJtySjkSuU/S4msrS0yY1I/AAAAAAAAG1c/N1LLzoMcECE/s400/IMG_0799-1.JPG
and here:
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_3EJtySjkSuU/S4ms0DcygNI/AAAAAAAAG1g/vyY9CHNqQCk/s400/IMG_0802-1.JPG
amy in peru
tarapoto, peru

Unknown Weevil

Hi Amy,
This is a Weevil.  Alas, we haven’t the time to research the species at the moment, but perhaps one of our readers will be able to identify the species.

thank you for getting back to me!  I have a request for a name in case it hasn’t been officially recognized…
my kids would like to call it the ‘turquoise blue tuttle beetle’… of course now that we know that it’s a weevil…
maybe it should be the ‘not-at-all-evil-blue-tuttle-weevil’ :)
anyway, thanks again :)
amy in peru

Hi again Amy,
You should post a comment to this posting to be informed automatically in the future of an identification.

Posted 28 February 2010 § Weevils ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged:

Red Palm Weevil bites tourist in Paphos, Cyprus!!!

What is this bug?
February 25, 2010
My dad was bitten by this bug while on holiday in Paphos, any idea what kind of beetle it is?
Any
Paphos

Red Palm Weevil

Dear Any,
This is a Red Palm Weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus.  According to M. Ferry and S. Gómez who wrote the paper “The Red Palm Weevil in the Mediterranean Area” which is posted online on the Palm’s Journal, “The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier, has become the most important pest of the date palm in the world.”  We were not aware that Red Palm Weevils would bite humans, and we believe this was an anomoly.  We suspect David Gracer might be writing that the grubs are edible.

Posted 26 February 2010 § Weevils ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: ,

Gorgeous Longicorn from the Philippines: Cereopsius praetorius possibly

Some Ladybug Impostor
February 25, 2010
Ever since I bought my camera, it had always been my wish to be able to take a photo of a nice red ladybug with those cute black spots. I never had a chance, however, as I always see those ladybugs with a dull yellow color instead. One day, during a company outing, I saw this HUGE ladybug-like insect on the lamp post and I thought my dream of a ladybug picture had finally come true (with a large one to boot!). But looking at it, it doesn’t really seem to be a ladybug at all, except for the colors. This was confirmed by everything-ladybug.com, who said that ladybugs are fairly consistent in their oval/round shape, which is not true in this insect. So, since my dreams are all crushed now, I just want to know what bug this is who tried to fool me into thinking that it’s a ladybug… Thanks in advance for your help in this!
Beverley
Laguna, Philippines

Longicorn from the Philippines

Dear Beverley,
While we think Ladybugs are lovely creatures, we feel that the subject of your photo, a Longicorn in the family Cerambycidae, is far more special.  We tried doing a web search, and found the Insect Designs website of specimens for sale.  One species from the Philippines,  Cereopsius praetorius, looks close, and there is a note that the pattern varies.  We found a second website, Saluguband Philippine Beetles, with images of dead specimens as well.  Though the markings on the dead specimens are similar to your photo, the colors are not nearly as vivid.  Often dead specimens lose their vibrant coloration.  Perhaps Karl will have better luck confirming this identification.

Hi Daniel,
Wow, I’m really impressed how fast you guys can identify bugs.  Anyway, I’m also grateful for your reply.  Now I can appreciate this ladybug impostor more knowing that it is far more special than the ladybug it is trying to look like :)
Beverley

Karl Agrees
I think you got it, Daniel. It must be a Cereopsius and although there are at least 10 species in the Philippines, none look nearly as close as C. praetorius (I was able to find images of all but one). K

Posted 25 February 2010 § Longhorn Beetles ‡ Comments (3) °

Unknown Mating Weevils from Viet Nam

Good Old Fashioned Weevil Lovin’
February 23, 2010
I found these guys on a day hike at Cuc Phuong National Park in Vietnam. It was around May 13th and the rainy season had not quite started yet.
Danielle
Vietnam, Cuc Phuong National Park

Mating Weevils from Viet Nam

Hi Danielle,
We will attempt to identify these Weevils.  Can you tell us how large they were?

Posted 24 February 2010 § Weevils ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

Possibly Drugstore Beetle

LITTLE TINY BROWN BUGS
February 21, 2010
bugs are found in our laundry room most commonly. found more feeding on the dog treats in the cupboard. they were boring holes in the food. clinging to the towl in the cupboard. most of them are crawling up walls towward the white ceiling and light
Pat
columbus ohio

probably Drugstore Beetle

Hi Pat,
Numerous small beetles infest stored food products, and the Kendall Research website pictures many of them.  Your photo is not ideal for conclusive identification, but we believe this is most probably a Drugstore Beetle, Stegobium paniceum.  The West Virginia University extension website has a good pdf document on the Drugstore Beetle, and you may also view BugGuide for more photos and descriptions.

Thank you for your help. I think you are correct and as soon as I can further inspect a bug I will know for sure. Thanks again. Pat

Posted 22 February 2010 § Pantry Beetles, Grain Weevils, Spider Beetles, Meal Worms and Carpet Beetles ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Mating Cactus Longhorns

February 18, 2010
I tried to send a photo for your Bug Love page, but it failed to upload. Can you accept regular email with attachments?
Eric Eaton suggested that I submit some photos to you (and another site) several months ago, but I’m just now trying that.
Thanks,
Denny Schreffler
Tucson

Hi Denny,
Responding to this email should allow you to attach images.  Please include all the information that is required on our form, like the location, and some information about the insect.  Also, please confine your images to one species per email.
Thanks

February 21, 2010
Thanks, Daniel,
I “replied” by sending the photo through an different email program a few days ago, so I’m not sure that you received it.  Here’s a direct reply with an attachment.
Thought that you might appreciate a pair of Cactus Longhorn Beetles (Moneilema gigas) for your Bug Love page.
Northern Sonoran Desert (southern Arizona), late August during a light rain.
Denny Schreffler

Mating Cactus Longhorns

Hi Denny,
We don’t understand why you had problems originally, and we never received your response through your alternate email program.  We are going to contact our web master, who is currently driving across country on holiday, to see if he has a solution to your previous problems.  Having received this attached photo, we are positively thrilled that you submitted a totally awesome image of mating Cactus Longhorns, Moneilema gigas.  The camera angle is perfect and the quality and resolution are excellent.  According to BugGuide, members of this genus “feed on cactus, esp. cholla, Opuntia species.”

Posted 21 February 2010 § Longhorn Beetles ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Tortoise Beetle Larva on curry in Malaysia: Silana farinosa

Strange Looking Bug Not Identified
February 21, 2010
Hello, I see this bug on the leaves of our curry leaf tree. It doesn’t seem to feed on other tree leaves. Just the curry leaf tree.
mei
Malaysia

Tortoise Beetle Larva: Silana farinosa

Hi mei,
This is the larva of a Leaf Beetle in the family Chrysomelidae, possibly a Tortoise Beetle.  Providing the name of the food plant, curry, should make the identification easier.  We found a Local Beetles’ Battles page of the Asian Entomology Collection and Studies website, that pictures a Tortoise Beetle, Aspidomorpha deusta, and the quote:
“IN 1994, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia entomologist Prof Mohamed S. Mohamedsaid noticed strange white beetles on curry leaf plants. Careful study revealed that the beetles came from a genus restricted to Sri Lanka where it is represented by one species, Silana farinosa, commonly known as the tortoise beetle.
‘The occurrence of Silana farinosa feeding on curry leaves in Malaysia is probably a very recent introduction. It has never been reported before in the country,’ he says.
‘Aspidomorpha deusta’ is a common tortoise beetle east of Java. This foreign species was found on a beach off Kapar, Selangor. –
‘It’s very unlikely that its presence would have gone unnoticed, for the host plant is also an important crop,’  he explains, adding that the leaves of the plant are an essential ingredient in Malaysian cooking, especially curries.
The taxonomist, who works with UKM’s Centre for Insect Systematics, reckons the creatures might have been feeding on dry curry leaves when they were unwittingly packed into someone’s luggage and brought into Malaysia from Sri Lanka.
‘They are real pests as these popular plants are endangered by them,’  he says, adding that the curry leaf plant had never before been attacked by insects as it emits a powerful smell.
More recently, another species of foreign tortoise beetle was found on our shores.
‘In all my years of studying beetles, which included combing the beaches of Malaysia for tortoise beetles, I have never encountered a specimen belonging to the species collected in March last year,’ he says.
According to Prof Mohamed, Aspidomorpha deusta is common from Java eastwards to Papua New Guinea and Australia.”
We then found photos of larval Silana farinosa on the photomalaysia website, and they appear to match your photos.

Tortoise Beetle Larva: Silana farinosa

Posted 21 February 2010 § Leaf Beetles ‡ Comments (0) °

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