Crustaceans Archives - What's That Bug?

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Spider Egg Case

On April 27, 2013 · Category: Eggs, Sow Bugs, Pill Bugs, Isopods, Lawn Shrimp and Amphipods · 1 Comment

Subject: Unidentified, Unusual Egg Case
Location: Southern Michigan
April 27, 2013 7:39 pm
Dear Bugman:
I found this unusual looking egg case, while hunting for fossils. It was in a crumbly, sedimentary boulder, along with dozens of sow bugs, which were exposed when I split the rock open. The eggs are visible as round bumps through the papery/silky covering. Was wondering if some type of spider made this, or another kind of arthropod such as the sow bugs?
Signature: Chris O

What’s That with the Sow Bugs??? A Spider Egg Case.

Dear Chris,
We do not recognize this thing, but we would not rule out a fungus. We are posting this as unidentified and we hope that either we or our readership might find and answer for you.

Dear Daniel: After looking all over the internet for similar photos & an answer, I found a link on Bug Guide which has an almost identical photo of this type of egg sac. It appears to be the creation of a type of ground spider. Species mentioned during my searching are gnaphosid, zelotes and corrinidae. Here’s a link to the pic on Bug Guide: http://bugguide.net/node/view/181688/bgpage

Dear Chris,
Thanks so much for following up on this posting.

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Cockroach Crayfish

On April 11, 2013 · Category: Crustaceans · 2 Comments

Subject: Cockroach Crayfish
Location: Jaragua State Park, São Paulo, Brazil
April 10, 2013 9:11 am
Hi, guys!
These freshwater crustaceans are Aegla paulensis, and I found the common name cockroach crayfish in this page: http://fishopolis.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/cockroach-crayfish-aegla-platensis/
It seems that the genus Aegla is the sole member of the family Aeglidae and are endemic to South America.
Hope you enjoy it!
Signature: Cesar Crash

Cockroach Crayfish

Hi Cesar,
When we first saw the subject line, we thought someone had found a Mole Cricket. How wonderful to get a new posting of a Brazilian Crayfish from you.

Cockroach Crayfish

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Freshwater Isopod

On March 23, 2013 · Category: Sow Bugs, Pill Bugs, Isopods, Lawn Shrimp and Amphipods · Add Comment

Subject: aquatic bug
Location: Central Kentucky
March 22, 2013 2:53 pm
I found this bug in a small woodland stream today. I am located in Central Kentucky. The bug is alive and moving around and the current temp is 40 degrees. It has been below freezing at night for the past week.
Signature: A.Selter

Freshwater Isopod

Hi Guys,
I think I may have identified the bug via an old book I have, “Pond Life”, and BugGuide.net. I’ll call it an Aquatic Isopod Asellus. I didn’t locate a photo of this particular bug on your website so you can use mine if you like.
Thanks, Angela~

Hi Angela,
We didn’t realize you already found the identification. Here is our response:
Dear A. Selter,
This is a Freshwater Isopod, a type of Crustacean that is distantly related to marine lobsters and crabs as well as terrestrial Pill Bugs or Rollie Pollies. It seems to resemble the genus Asellus which is represented on BugGuide.

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Woodlice found in home brewery

On February 12, 2013 · Category: Sow Bugs, Pill Bugs, Isopods, Lawn Shrimp and Amphipods · Add Comment

Subject: What’s this bug?
Location: Drumheller, Alberta, Canada
February 10, 2013 8:43 pm
This bug was in the basement where I home brew my own beer. There is a lot of grain sitting around but all in sealed containers. Just wondering what kind of bug this is?
Signature: Neil

Woodlouse

Hi Neil,
This Woodlouse and its relatives were probably living in your basement long before it became a home brewery, but you probably didn’t notice them because you didn’t spend as much time there before. Woodlice are terrestrial Amphipods that are classified as Crustaceans. According to BugGuide: “Woodlice need organic matter, which can be found in most soils, and they need cool moist conditions. Many places that might seem too hot and dry have cool hiding places where they can wait out the dryness and heat. Woodlice hide during the day anywhere cool and dark, so they’re easily when the items they hide in are moved. They can be found anywhere humans live and cool, moist conditions exist.” BugGuide also notes that they eat: “Plant material, usually dead. If live plants are soft and moist enough on the outside, they will eat them and sometimes do damage.” Woodlice are also known as Pill Bugs and Rollie Pollies.

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Lawn Shrimp

On December 26, 2012 · Category: Sow Bugs, Pill Bugs, Isopods, Lawn Shrimp and Amphipods · Add Comment

Subject: Did Santa Leave These?
Location: Glendora, California
December 26, 2012 3:31 pm
Dear Bug Expert,
Yesterday (December 25) we found 100 small specimens in our salt water swimming pool. They were crawling up the sides of the pool, but would lose traction and fall back down to the bottom. Today there are only a few left. They are more active when fished out of the pool and jumped around and scurried off. And so did we…
They are small shrimp-like creatures with legs under their bodies and antennae-like feelers. We saw light and dark colored specimens (light attached). Oak trees, a lemon tree and crepe myrtle trees are next to the pool. The specimens look somewhat like silverfish. Thank you!
Signature: Freaked Out Family of Bug Sighters

Lawn Shrimp

Dear Freaked Out Family of Bug Sighters,
You have Lawn Shrimp or House Hoppers, terrestrial amphipods that live in damp landscaping. Interestingly, their exoskeletons absorb water, so if it is too wet, they will drown, but if it is too dry, they dessicate. They are not native to Southern California, but they have naturalized in the well watered landscaping we support in Southern California. They are generally not even noticed until there is a heavy rain and they seek shelter indoors. Then they quickly dry up and die, leaving reddish carcasses. Other than being a nuisance, they are not considered to be pests or dangerous.

Dear Bug Expert,
Thank you very much for answering our Christmas wish! So very prompt too. I called my adult children that had just left here and were on their way back to their own homes and they were relieved. My son in law actually was the one that Googled you and went into the very cold water to retrieve our specimen this morning. We have had a lot of rains lately, so assume that is why it happened, sorta freaked us out
Happy New Year to you and thank you for your help,
Not so Freaked Out Family of Bug Sighters

We are happy that we were able to clear up the mystery for you.

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Rollie-Pollies or Woodlice

On October 30, 2012 · Category: Sow Bugs, Pill Bugs, Isopods, Lawn Shrimp and Amphipods · Add Comment

Subject: Rollie Pollies
Location: Caldwell, Idaho
October 29, 2012 7:51 pm
Dear Bugman,
I’m doing a bug collection for school, What is the scientific name for Rollie Pollies?
Signature: Kaesha

Woodlice

Dear Kaesha,
Your photos are so nice. We wish they were of higher resolution. Rollie-Pollie is a common name used for Woodlice or Pill Bugs, Crustaceans in the suborder Oniscidea. You can see the taxonomy breakdown on Bugguide.

Ed. Note: We did a bit more research and as we suspected, these images were pilfered from the internet. Our submission form contains a disclaimer: “Also, you swear that you either took the photo(s) yourself or have explicit permission from the photographer or copyright holder to use the image.” We will be writing to the author of The Sweeting Spot to request permission to reproduce the photograph. Plagiarism is an issue that we take very seriously.

Erika from The Sweeting Spot responds
Subject: Re: Rollie Pollie photo
Website: The Sweeting Spot
October 30, 2012 10:17 am
I received a message from Daniel a few moments ago about photo usage for a rollie pollie photo that I used on my personal blog a few years ago. I’m a bit embarrassed to say that I don’t own the photo – I thought I got it from a free stock photo website, but I could be wrong. It’s possible I may need to take it down as well! Sorry I couldn’t be more help.
Signature: Erika

Thanks Erica,
We looked at the metadata in the digital file and it does not exist. I think we are both safe at this point.

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Crayfish from Australia

On October 29, 2012 · Category: Crustaceans Tagged With: WTB? Down Under · Add Comment

Subject: Strange bug!
Location: Fern Tree Gully, Victoria, Australia
October 28, 2012 6:55 am
Hi!
While walking through the Fern Tree Gully reserve in Australia, we came across a strange bug. It looked like it was trying to burrow down into the soil.
There was a creek near by, so we also wondered if it was some kind of crab/lobster type bug that perhaps a bird had just picked up and dropped?
Never seen anything like it. Hopefully you can help identify!
Thanks a lot
Signature: Jason OConnor

Crayfish

Dear Jason,
This is a Crayfish, an aquatic, freshwater Crustacean that burrows into the mud and is able to survive periods of drought underground. It appears that this Crayfish is missing its front claws, however, they are able to regenerate. According to Encyclopedia Britannica: “Lobsters and crayfish regenerate claws and legs in a straightforward manner as direct outgrowths from the stumps. As in other crustaceans, however, these regenerates lie immobile within an enveloping cuticle and do not become functional until their sheath is shed at the next molt.”

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Red Admiral Supplants Crayfish as photo subject

On October 7, 2012 · Category: Crustaceans · Add Comment

Subject: Red Admiral butterfly
Location: Mercer county NJ
October 7, 2012 3:04 pm
I’m more and more amazed at the butterflies I keep finding as I actually start to look for them. I usually go crayfish hunting at lunch and have gotten some very nice pictures like the one below and sometimes a new addition to my fish tanks.I’ve almost stopped looking for crayfish the last couple of months to try and find, identify and take pictures of new butterflies before the cold weather kills them or forces them to migrate. My latest is this Red Admiral. As always thanks for being such a great source of information and great pictures
Signature: David from NJ

Red Admiral

Hi David,
We are happy to hear you find our website so helpful and we are definitely benefiting from your fine photographic additions. Your Red Admiral photo is quite lovely. Though many Red Admirals migrate, we thought we recalled information that Red Admirals may hibernate as well, and we found some information on the Convention on Biological Diversity website, though that British website is speaking about the Eurasian population of this species since Red Admirals are found throughout the northern Hemisphere. The site states: “Some individuals don’t migrate, especially when there is a gentle winter. They will hide in small holes and hibernate waiting for warmer days.” We are very intrigued with your interest in crayfish. When in our childhood, we had a small crayfish in a tropical aquarium, but it was returned to a local pond after it caught and ate our Serpae Tetra. Just yesterday we made a trip to the local aquarium store, Tropical Imports, and we noticed they had several red crayfish that resembled boiled lobsters in color.

Crayfish

I’ve been studying/collecting crayfish for about 3 years now. I’ve learned to identify the species from NJ and a few others. It’s a fun hobby and ties in well with my other hobbies of fishing and exploring the outdoors. I always find myself turning over rocks and logs in and along the water so I tend to come across a lot of wildlife. That’s where Whatsthatbug comes in so handy. Between your website, various forums and state wildlife sites I’ve done a pretty good job of educating myself (hurray internet lol).
So thank you again for having such a great site and such friendly staff. The red crayfish you saw at the pet store are most likely Procambarus clarkii commonly called the Red Swamp crayfish. They are the ones you see at crayfish boils in Louisiana and are very common down south. I have the dubious distinction of being one of the few people to know that they are found in NJ now as an invasive species.

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Spider Egg Case

Cockroach Crayfish

Freshwater Isopod

Woodlice found in home brewery

Lawn Shrimp

Rollie-Pollies or Woodlice

Crayfish from Australia

Red Admiral Supplants Crayfish as photo subject

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