What’s that bug, lol?
Unknown Fly
Subject: What’s that bug, lol?
Location: Northeast Ms.
May 21, 2011 10:42 am
What a neat site! I am fascinated by insects, so I will be here often, lol! I found this bug in my house last night. I live in NE Ms.
After moving him/her outside, I took these photos. I thought it was a lightening bug, my husband thinks Wasp, and I have friends on FB that think it’s a Cicada. I don’t think it’s any of these. I figure this is a pretty basic insect that I should know, and feel rather dumb that I don’t, lol! I have been all over the internet looking at images and have had no luck identifying it so far.
Thank you for your time! 
Signature: PHolland
Unknown Fly
Dear P Holland,
We are having a terrible time trying to identify this insect. Here is what we are certain of: It is a Fly. Beyond that, we suspect it is a Flower Fly in the family Syrphidae. The closest match we are able to locate on BugGuide is Monoceromyia floridensis, but sadly, the details of the antennae are not clearly visible in your photos. BugGuide indicates that species if found in Florida, but Mississippi isn’t that far from Florida. Perhaps it is a close relative. The positioning of the wings has allowed us to eliminate any of the Thick Headed Flies found on BugGuide which also have some similar looking species. It is evident that this fly is a wasp mimic because of the narrow waist and coloration. Many Flower Flies mimic bees. We hope one of our readers will write in to confirm or refute this identification.
Unknown Fly
Thank you for the quick reply!!! I had 2 more folks insist earlier today that it’s a wasp. Ha… they were wrong!!!!
What Is This Fly?
Location: Toronto, Canada
May 18, 2011 8:14 pm
I work in a medical office on the second floor and we have large windows. There are a few houseplants at the window. I noticed these small flies every day. They keep coming from somewhere, but our windows don’t open so they may live inside the building. They are very sluggish, I can pick them up with my fingers or hands. They don’t fly away like normal flies. I find many of them sitting by the window, usually dead and drying up. I can’t seem to figure out what they are, and where they are coming from. Can you please help?
Signature: Eddie
Bathroom Fly
Hi Eddie,
This is an amazingly detailed image of a Bathroom Fly. Bathroom Flies breed in the sludge that accumulates in drain pipes. They are also called Drain Flies or Moth Flies.
Is this a horse Fly?
Location: Roxboro, NC
May 16, 2011 2:09 pm
This bug was flittering with some northern cloudywing butterflys. they were chasing it away from the flowers. I thought it was a small butterfly but looking at the pictures later I decided it might be a Hoarse Fly but can’t find one with the bright yellow eyes. I live in Northern North Carolina. It was sighted on May 16 in the morning in my rural flower garden near a stream, woods and a meadow.
Signature: Thanks, J Armacost
Golden Backed Snipe Fly
Dear J,
This is a Golden Backed Snipe Fly, Chrysopilus thoracicus, and each spring, we receive several new images for our archive. According to BugGuide: “Adults are alleged to be predatory on other insects, but they may feed little (observations by BugGuide members).” Additionally, bugGuide indicates that the details of the life cycle are unknown.
Weird water caterpillers with tails?
Location: Ypsilanti, Michigan 49198
May 15, 2011 9:05 pm
So my friend has a ”backyard pond” that gets cleaned at the begining of spring every year and that’s really about it. Its more like a cement hole with water. There is no fish or plants just water. Anyway, his 15 year old sun was cleaning the ”pond” out today and found these things that look like worm/caterpillars with a long thin tail. They wriggle in the water and swim slowly about. The smaller ones were close to the top of the 3 foot deep pond but the bigger ones started to come up when he had removed half the water. Can you help us identify them?
Signature: Shellin and Damon
Rattailed Maggots
Dear Shellin and Damon,
These are Rat-Tailed Maggots, the larva of the Drone Fly. They are often found in stagnant water and the “tail” is actually a breathing tube.
Green bug!!!
Location: Central Florida
May 14, 2011 9:49 am
Have any idea what kind of bug this is? I live in Central Florida and they are only around this time of year. They are too smart…if they get into the house they fly into the walls repeatedly. Ugh! They buzz very loudly for a bug their size. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Hopefully someone can ID this bug and tell me how to send them away!!
Signature: Help!!!
Horse Fly
Dear Help!!!,
According to BugGuide, this is Chlorotabanus crepuscularis, the only green Horse Fly in North America. BugGuide also indicates: “Females feed on mammalian blood” as well as providing this remark: “As with all the blood-feeding tabanids, the females are responsive to Carbon Dioxide. I caught over 500 females in one night with a trap baited with dry ice in coastal South Carolina. Will also come to lights at night. Regarded as a pest species in Florida.” Though we don’t normally provide extermination advice, we thought we would pass on the information about trapping them with dry ice, a fascinating method. Also, the specimen in the photo is a blood sucking female who can be distinguished from the male by her eyes. The eyes of a male Horse Fly meet at the center of the head while those of the female have a small space between them.
Thank you!! They are a MILLION of them where I live (pretty rural). I have never been bit by one though…luckily. They seem to be attracted to light, too!! I’ll try the dry ice though!! Thanks!
2
Strange fly from Texas
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
May 13, 2011 8:19 pm
I have recently noticed a few of these flies on my apartment patio that I have never seen before. They started appearing the last week in April. I haven’t seen more than 3 at any one time, usually only one is hanging around. They are not scared easily and I was able to get VERY close to take pictures without any problem. Seems like they appeared after some recent heavy rain, but I’m not certain there is a connection. Please help me identify this insect, I have more pictures if needed. Thank you for your time.
Signature: Robert E.
Big Headed Fly
Dear Robert,
Though we were unable to locate an exact visual match, your fly has the necessary characteristics for us to deduce that it must be a Big Headed Fly in the family Pipunculidae which is profiled on BugGuide. The identification description is: “Hemispheric head almost completely made up of the huge compound eyes. Body usually black. Wings tend to be elongated and to be narrowed at the base. Antennae are aristate and the (usually long) arista arises on the dorsal side of the antenna. Dissection of genitalia normally required for identification of species.” We eagerly welcome our readership to either confirm or make a correction to our identification.
Big Headed Fly
wasp,hornet or bee?
Location: hope mills, north carolina
May 10, 2011 7:52 pm
I was watering my flowers in Hope Mills,North Carolina and this bug flew out and tried to sting me in the face, It was very agressive. I looked in flowers for a nest but none. So I was wondering what kind it is?
Thanks Lisa
Signature: however
Waved Light Fly
Dear Lisa,
It took us a bit, but we finally identified your mystery creature as a Waved Light Fly, Pyrgota undata, after browsing through images posted to BugGuide. This is a new species for our website and it doesn’t fit into any of our existing subcategories of Flies, so we will either archive it generally or create a new subcategory. We wish you had submitted a photo of a living specimen. The impression it gave that it was trying to sting you was a misunderstanding as the Waved Light Fly cannot sting nor does it bite, hence it was killed needlessly. According to BugGuide: “Life history: Female lights on a feeding May beetle, causing it to take flight. Pyrgotid then oviposits into beetle’s back while soft parts are exposed in flight. Flies usually attack female beetles only and may pursue them under lights. Larvae is about 1 cm long, takes about 14 days to kill host beetle and then consumes entire interior. Fly pupates inside host remains and pupates there, emerges following spring.”
What’s his name?
Location: San Ramon, CA
May 10, 2011 9:10 am
May 7, 2011
San Francisco Bay Area (San Ramon, CA)
Thank you very much for your wonderful work and this amazing website. Inspiring!
There is a cheery tree in the backyard that is severely infested with black aphids, thousands and thousands of them. To stop the ants from making things worse, I wrapped the trunk with Tangelfoot. With ants gone, there is a beneficial insects lovefest on that tree. There are hundreds and hundreds of lady and soldier beetles all over the tree, eating aphids, mating and laying eggs.
Yesterday we had 25mph winds and the bugs were keeping a low profile, except for this long legged fellow. He had spread out on a leaf and was content going for a roller-coaster ride on a shaky branch. What’s his name?
Signature: Max
Crane Fly
Hi Max,
We are happy to hear that with a little assistance, nature is taking care of your Aphid problem organically. This is a Crane Fly, and despite looking like a very large Mosquito, it is perfectly harmless.
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