Orange/black mystery bug
Location: Radnor, Pennsylvania (suburban Philly)
August 16, 2011 7:07 am
I saw this insect sitting on my car this past week and don’t recall ever seeing it before. The body/wings are about 5/8” long and with the antennae it was just over 1 inch total length. I’ve so far not been able to get an ID on what it is.
Signature: Orla
Banded Net-Wing Beetle
Hi Orla,
This little beauty is a Banded Net-Wing Beetle, Calopteron reticulatum. It is a generally accepted theory that orange and black insects display aposomatic coloration to dissuade predators, either because they are dangerous, or poisonous, or don’t taste good. The Banded Net-Wing Beetle is not dangerous or poisonous, and taste is relative. It may be part of a complex mimicry system that includes some moths and some wasps. The wasps sting, and insects that mimic them may benefit from the protection the wasps enjoy because of their stinging capacity. This is speculative editorialization on the part of our staff, and not something we can cite. You may turn to BugGuide for additional information on the Banded Net-Wing Beetle.
What kind of beetle is this?
Location: Granville, OH
August 15, 2011 11:44 am
Found on our deck in Ohio — bigger than other beetles we’ve seen.
Signature: Lisa Kelleher
Brown Prionid
Dear Lisa,
This magnificent beetle is known as a Brown Prionid, Orthosoma brunneum, and we have received a few identification requests for it this season. According to BugGuide, it: “Breeds in poles, roots(?) in contact with wet ground.”
Unidentified Beetle
Location: Kinder, Louisiana
August 15, 2011 4:18 pm
I found this cute little beetle running across a parking lot. I scooped her up and brought her inside for a photoshoot. I let it free soon after. I was wondering what type of beetle she (or he) was. Thanks for the help in advance!
Signature: Skyler
Black Caterpillar Hunter
Hi Skyler,
The large size of this Ground Beetle indicates that it is one of the Caterpillar Hunters. The southern sighting and the red puncture marks on the elytra or wing covers identifies it as a Black Caterpillar Hunter, Calosoma sayi, we believe. You may verify our identification on BugGuide.
Metallic Wood Boring Beetle?
Location: Pleasant Grove, UT
August 15, 2011 7:48 pm
Hello,
A friend and I found this beetle early June on a dying Aspen. I’ve never seen a beetle like this before, especially since it was very eye-catching. It was metallic gold, as if covered in glitter (the photos don’t do a justice to the sheen). My best guess was that it was in the genus Chalcophora, but it doesn’t quite look like a Sculptured Pine Borer to me.
Signature: Dave
Flatheaded Poplar Borer, maybe
Hi Dave,
You are correct that this is a Metallic Wood Boring Beetle, sometimes called a Jewel Beetle because of its gemlike qualities, but we disagree with your genus identification. Because of the bifurcated ends of the elytra or wing covers, we believe this beetle is in the genus Dicerca.
Flathead Poplar Borer, perhaps
You indicate that you found it on a dying poplar tree, which is strong evidence that it might be a Flathead Poplar Borer, Dicerca tenebrica, which according to Bugguide has the following food preferences: “Larvae in bigtooth aspen – Populus grandidentata Adults on other Populus spp.”
Flathead Poplar Borer, we believe
Found on a Milkweed flower
Location: chicago il area
August 15, 2011 10:55 am
Hi,
Thanks for your site. I am unable to identify this one. It was found on a milkweed bloom. HELP 
Thanks – Steve
Virginia Ctenucha and Japanese Beetle on Milkweed
Hi Steve,
WE doubt if you need an identification of the Japanese Beetle buried in the blossoms in the upper left of the inflorescence, but perhaps you do. We suspect you want the identification of the Virginia Ctenucha, a diurnal Tiger Moth. You can see BugGuide for additional information on the Virginia Ctenucha.
Thanks Daniel,
I adjusted the post on my wordpress site to indicate your help identifying this moth.
Thanks – Steve
http://photoindex.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/bug-on-a-milkweed-bloom-need-to-identify-this-one/
Ground Beetle, But what kind?
Location: Vastwood Park. Hancock County Kentucky
August 15, 2011 9:20 am
I am pretty sure this is a Ground Beetle, but I am unsure of what kind of Ground Beetle it may be. Could it be a Feirce Ground Beetle?
This beetle was found under the bark of a rotting log, along with a centepede, 2 bess beetles, and a Click Beetle larva.
On a side note, I have found that a tool called a ”Rock Hammer” makes for a great tool to use to search for insects and larva in rotting logs.
Signature: MattG
Woodland Ground Beetle
Hi Matt,
This is not a Fierce Ground Beetle. We are relatively confident that this is a Woodland Ground Beetle in the tribe Pterostichini, based on photos posted to BugGuide, but we cannot with any certainty provide you with a species name. The following links are all from BugGuide. The likeliest genera are Myas and Pterostichus, with the subgenera Abacidus and Euferonia being strong contenders. An exact identification would require an expert and probably examination of the specimen, however, our odds on favorite, based on this photo posted to BugGuide, is Pterostichus permundus.
Location: Elyria Canyon State Park, Mt Washington, Los Angeles, California
August 13, 2011
WE keep returning to the Milkweed Meadow to document the progress there, and the Monarch Caterpillars have both vanished. The Bumble Bee is usually there during the time the sun strikes the blooms, but we are still not certain if this is Crotch’s Bumble Bee or the California Bumble Bee.
Which Bumble Bee is it???
We also noticed numerous tiny beetles on the milkweed blossoms.
Bumble Bee and Soft Winged Flower Beetles on Milkweed
Alas, the old model digital camera we are using does not have a macro setting that will allow us to get closer. We would like to identify these beetles. After the fact, we had a terrible thought that they might be the Walnut Twig Beetles that are spreading the 1000 Cankers Diseaseto black walnuts in the western states. This matter will take additional research. Many beetles with wood boring larvae feed on pollen as adults. We should return tomorrow morning and collect a few specimens to take to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
Soft Winged Flower Beetles on Milkweed blossoms
These is about the largest closeups that we can make.
Soft Winged Flower Beetles on Milkweed
Soft Winged Flower Beetles on Milkweed
Soft Winged Flower Beetles on Milkweed
Eric Eaton to the Rescue, Again
Daniel:
These are pretty easy to subfamily level. They are soft-winged flower beetles in the family Melyridae, subfamily Dasytinae. After that it gets really messy, really fast! Nobody wants to try to ID them even to genus…..
Eric
Safly?
Location: NW WA state
August 14, 2011 6:15 pm
I am in NW WA, found 3 of these crawling around and ovipositing on a dead grand fir. They have a short tail, but not as long as the ones in the horntail pictures. Their antenna are very long and curl when they aren’t exploring like this one is. They have a fuzzy head, but the body is smooth. Very interesting insect. Thanks for doing this site, quite cool.
Signature: Nature lover in WA
Lion Beetle
Dear Nature Lover,
Morphologically, the Lion Beetle, Ulochaetes leoninus, is very atypical, and it doesn’t really resemble any other members in its family Cerambycidae, the Longhorned Borers. This is only the fourth submission of this rare alpine species we have ever received.
Excellent! Thank you. My husband and I have been in the woods and up in the mts quite a bit and this was something quite new and interesting. We are at 400 ft elevation in thick regrowth of grand fir with some cedar, dogfir, etc mixed in. These guys were on a dead grand fir. Thank you for your great site and for responding so fast. My sisters will be quite interested also.
The subject should have been “sawfly” but for some reason I missed the “w”, though “safly?” makes sense too.
Looking through your website for the other 3 submissions, found one from another person in my area. Ours did this raising of the front legs also. The dead tree they are laying on has sawdust around it, thinking is full of termites so we were planning on dropping and burning it. However, we will leave the bottom part they were on for their eggs and larva to have and put the lowest rounds off in the woods, just in case there are some in there.
I find it odd that 2 of your listing come from high country, 2 from the Port Townsend area low country. Keep up the good work and thanks again.
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2009/08/03/flower-longhorn-deformed-cosmosalia-chrysocoma-we-believe/
Jean
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