Wasp-like insect
Location: Portland, Oregon
September 20, 2011 9:16 pm
We have have dozens of this kind of bug come into our house this past summer because we have been leaving our door open. We think they might have a nest nearby but we can’t figure out what they are. I looked at many different wasp- like bugs but didn’t find anything that looks like it. It makes a loud buzzing sound and is about 1 inch long.
Signature: James
Black Soldier Fly
Hi James,
Do you or does a neighbor have a nearby compost pile? This is a Black Soldier Fly and the larvae live in compost and similar habitats where they are considered beneficial since they compete with the maggots of House Flies for food. Though they look like wasps, they do not sting or bite and they are perfectly harmless. Because of the clear areas on the abdomen, the Black Soldier Fly is sometimes called a Window Fly. See BugGuide for additional information. If you do have a compost pile in the yard, you may be interested in the Black Soldier Fly Blog.
¶ Posted 22 September 2011 § ‡ ° Slow and dumb
Location: South Central VA
August 27, 2011 5:23 pm
We LOTS of these fly’s, bee’s or whatever they are. They don’t have stingers and fly really slow and are really easy to swat once they have landed…. I call them the B-52’s of flies (fly slow and low)…What are they? We have a small goat herd with a couple of cows and pigs and these are in the barn. Once they get inside they gravitate to the windows, or up into the lights.
Signature: Fed up with swatting bugs
Black Soldier Fly
Dear Fed up with swatting bugs,
If you are truly “Fed up with swatting bugs”, then just stop. This is a harmless Black Soldier Fly. They are often associated with compost piles and similar habitats because that is where the larvae live. Black Soldier Fly Larvae are a positive contribution to a healthy compost pile. As you letter indicates, they do not sting, nor to they bite. We would urge you to learn to tolerate these harmless creatures.
1
larval stage of what bug?
Location: Temecula, CA
August 23, 2011 9:19 am
This morning I found many of these dead under a hanging petunia basket, many dead in the family pool, and one crawling and almost ready to drop in the pool. They’re all about 3/4 inch long. I don’t know if they dropped from the basket because I had sprayed ant insecticide onto the slab(boy, we have been overrun with ants!)so they may have wandered into the dead zone from somewhere else.
They crawl like maggots but these don’t look like the housefly white larva.
Signature: Gene
Black Soldier Fly Pupa
Hi Gene,
We have categorized this as a Maggot on our website. It is a Black Soldier Fly Pupa. The Larvae of the Black Soldier Fly are very common in healthy compost piles, and they often wander away from the compost when it is time to pupate.
Jumping spider with black soldier fly
Location: Tennessee, suburb east of Nashville
August 13, 2011 9:03 am
Hello!
I recently used your site to identify the large harmless insects and their grubs that we’ve been seeing in the house the last few years (ever since I unsuccessfully tried to start composting) as Black Soldier Flies (who, of course, think the compost box is quite nice!) I thought you might enjoy this picture I took last summer of a jumping spider carrying a Black Soldier Fly. If a spider could look proud, then this one certainly would…
Signature: Andrea
Jumping Spider eats Soldier Fly
Hi Andrea,
Thanks for sending us your photo of a Jumping Spider eating a Black Soldier Fly. You have got to be our last identification this morning, and if we post anything else in the next few hours, we are obviously procrastinating something else that we need to get done.
Green Fly?
Location: Arkansas US
July 22, 2011 9:29 pm
We found this bug in our pool skimmer and was unable to identify it online
Signature: Ashley
Soldier Fly
Hi Ashley,
After first browsing through countless Hover Fly images from the family Syrphidae, we eventually learned this stunning green fly’s identity to be the Soldier Fly, Odontomyia cincta, while continuing to search BugGuide. Though there is no information on the BugGuide species page, the genus page on BugGuide provides this information: “Adults take nectar, also sometimes found on dung” and “Eggs are laid on the edge of body of water. Larvae are aquatic, feed on algae. They stick tip of abdomen up through water surface to obtain air.“
¶ Posted 24 July 2011 § ‡ ° This is a bit gross
Location: Malapascua, Visayas, Philippines
December 28, 2010 11:23 pm
So, I admit this is a gross way to discover a new bug, but here goes.
So I’m currently vacationing on Malapascua, a small island in the Philippines.
I was in the toilet, doing my thing, and when I finished I stood up to flush and this thing was in there wriggling around.
At first I was terrified that it was some parasite or something that had come out, as it were. But now I’m thinking that’s impossible, it’s just too big. Still, I was completely freaking out, hence the fishing and photographing.
What is this thing? The white debris on it is…err… toilet paper.
Signature: Sorry…
Fly Maggot
Dear Sorry,
This appears to be a Fly Maggot, but we have no theories as to why it was found in the toilet. Though certain flies are parasites, Maggots are not known to be internal parasites within the human gastrointestinal tract.
Karl believes this is a Soldier Fly Larva
Hi Daniel and Sorry…
This is just a thought, but it looks a lot like a Soldier Fly (Stratiomyidae) larva, perhaps even a Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens), also known as the Window Fly. The species is native to southeastern USA but it is also widespread in the tropics, including the Philippines. There are quite a few pictures of larvae, pupae and adults on the WTB? site if you do a search. Black Soldier Fly maggots have become quite popular with people interested in composting and manure management (with some interest developing in the Philippines), and in parts of the world they are also raised as feed for fish or domestic fowl. I found this site that promotes the culture of the maggots for Swiftlet farming in Malaysia (as in harvesting bird nests for soup). It could be some other species but I think this is getting close. They apparently crawl around quite a bit when they are looking for a place to pupate so perhaps that is how this one blundered into the toilet. By the way, I believe this individual has its rear end facing the camera so the toilet paper would be appropriate. Regards. Karl
¶ Posted 29 December 2010 § Maggots ‡ ° What is this?
Location: Missouri
October 11, 2010 6:13 pm
I found this inching across the floor of our shop. I work on a golf course at Lake Ozark ,MO. DO you know what it is?
Signature: Tina
Black Soldier Fly Larva
Hi Tina,
This appears to be a Black Soldier Fly Larva, Hermetia illucens, which you may compare to this photo on BugGuide. According to BugGuide, the: “Larvae live in compost, dung, rotting vegetation” so if there is some manure in the vicinity for keeping the greens well fertilized, the larvae may be reproducing there. This is a beneficial insect.
¶ Posted 11 October 2010 § ‡ ° Large ant/wasplike bug with transparent section of abdomen
Location: Cambridge, MA
September 12, 2010 4:50 pm
We found this bug in our apartment in Cambridge, MA, a couple of days ago. Behaviorally, it was very attracted to light, much like a fly, but is shaped very strangely for a fly. The body is about 3/4 inch long. Once we got a good look, we also noticed that the top section of the insects’ abdomen is completely transparent! Very strange!
Any idea what this could be?
Best,
Signature: Adena
Black Soldier Fly, AKA Window Fly
Hi Adena,
Though BugGuide refers the common name Window Fly for members of the family Scenopinidae, Charles Hogue in his book Insects of the Los Angeles Basin calls the Black Soldier Fly, Hermetia illucens, a Window Fly because of the clear areas in the abdomen. According to BugGuide it is a: “Large soldier fly, all black with bright white tarsi. Underneath, first abdominal segment has clear areas. Wings have purplish sheen. Likely a wasp mimic, it buzzes loudly. In particular, it appears to mimic the Pipe-organ mud dauber…“.
rss
I like This
