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What kind of bug is it
August 9, 2009
I live in northwest arizona and have seen this bug occassionaly.
Debra D Hand
NE Arizona Golden Valley
Velvet Ant
Hi Debra,
This is a Velvet Ant, a flightless female wasp. We believe it is Dasymutilla magnifica based on images posted to BugGuide and the range in Arizona and California.
Velvet Ant
Cicada Killer Wasp
August 9, 2009
Thank you for your very informative website. I recently moved to the country in North Texas and am in awe of the wide variety of insects here. Since I never kill any living thing that is not a threat I have been watching these interesting insects flying around my deck for the past month. However, one of my dogs is a very curious girl and thinks that anything that flies or that she can sniff out and dig up underground is fair game for play and sometimes a meal, I would like to know if these wasps are poisonous? Unfortunately, I can’t always get to her in time to stop her destruction.
Christie
North Texas
Cicada Killer
Hi Christie,
Thank you for your inquiry. Male Cicada Killers are quite territorial, but they are all bluff since they do not possess stingers. Female Cicada Killers are not aggressive, but they do have stingers and they might sting, though we have never received a substantiated report of a sting. Female Cicada Killers sting Cicadas, and they cannot be bothered intimidating humans. Can your dog be stung? It is possible, but not likely.
Black Thin Waisted Insect
August 7, 2009
Like to know what kind of I think wasp this is. It is jet black and thin waisted.
Doesn’t matter
Long Island, New York
Thread Waisted Wasp
Hi again Doesn’t Matter,
The significant identifying feature of your Thread Waisted Wasp, according to BugGuide is: “The blue-black body and silve[r] (sic)/gold patches are distinctive. The patches may wear off in older individuals (Troy Bartlett).” BugGuide also indicates: “Female digs burrow and provisions with a single large lepidopteran larvae. These are reported to include various moths from the families Noctuidae, Notodontidae (especially), and Sphingidae, and also skippers (Hesperidae). The wasp is commonly found on wildflowers with large clusters of blossoms, such as Queen Anne’s Lace, from summer into fall. One frequently observes mating pairs on the flowers.” We suspect this is a female prowling among the foliage for caterpillars to feed her brood. Your wonderful photos represent the first time this species is represented on our site, to our best recollection.
Thread Waisted Wasp
Is this a ground hornet?
August 7, 2009
Hi Bugman -
I found these guys living in the ground outside my apartment. I thought they might be some type of hornet but I didn’t think hornets lived in the ground. They’re very large. I hope you can help me identify them.
Tom Houston
Allentown, PA USA
Tom H.
NE Pennsylvania USA
Great Golden Digger Wasp
Hi Tom,
This is a Great Golden Digger Wasp and we have posted numerous photos of them in the past few weeks, including some photos from our own garden. They are not an aggressive species. It is nice that your photo shows the burrow.
Thank you for the quick response. It’s good to know that they are not aggressive. I guess that’s why I was able to get so close.
Thanks again. Great website!
Tom
Cicada Killer Wasp?
August 6, 2009
These wasps like to rest on the walking trail and just fly a few feet away when a walker passes. There are only a few.
KaeruSr
East Windsor, CT
Cicada Killer
Dear KaeruSr,
You are correct. This is a Cicada Killer
Cicada Killer
August 5, 2009
Hello 
I recently found this interesting wasp looking bug hanging from my balcony holding a cicada. Normally, I would not have known what the heck was going on here (some kind of inter-species fling??) But just that morning, I had read an article in the local newsletter about these interesting bugs, and decided to take a few pics. The article was lettiong members of the community know to not kill them or try to exterminate them, that they are a “good bug” (as most are, but still we have to squish or swat them out of fear)
After perusing your site for the identification of a house centipede (a very scary million-legged beast that was crawling around with our son on the floor. Unfortunately, after reading about it, I would have tried to put it outside to battle our spider problem…) I thought about the pictures I had taken of the cool Cicada Killer in action. I thought that they would be a great addition to your site and some good education for paeple that may not know about them. Sadly, the Cicada Killer could not keep holding on to the balcony with one leg, and dropped his prey, so I got a pic of that too (quite a pretty cicada actually).
Enjoy and keep doin what youre doin, and thanks for my newfound interest in bugs
Cool Bug Lover
Washington, DC
Cicada Killer and Annual Cicada
Dear Cool Bug Lover,
Thanks for sending us your great food chain images of a Cicada Killer and an Annual Cicada. Female Cicada Killers are used to struggling with their large ungainly prey and we suspect she eventually arrived at her burrow with her catch. The Cicada Killer takes advantage of gravity by climbing trees and other tall structures and gliding toward the nest with the prey in tow. We are also gladdened to hear your local newsletter is promoting tolerance of Cicada Killers which terrify many of our readers.
Cicada Killer and Annual Cicada Prey
Big, Beautiful Bald Faced Hornet Hive
August 4, 2009
Spotted this hive near our neighborhood swimming pool. It’s up fairly high as you can see in the first image. Hopefully no one will disturb it. My kids and I enjoyed watching all their activity from across the street. Through my last photo I believe I’ve identified these wasps as Bald faced hornets. I’m curious if they will leave the hive in winter? If so, will they return or would it be okay to take the hive down?
Resa in Atlanta
Atlanta, GA
Bald Faced Hornet's Nest
Hi Resa,
Bald Faced Hornets are amazing wasps and we are happy to hear you have decided that you can coexist with them. If the neighborhood pool is a public pool and the nest is on state or city land, we suspect some concerned parent may request that it be removed for safety. We would also be concerned that some children might try to climb the tree to disturb the nest as Bald Faced Hornets can get very aggressive if their nest is disturbed. Throwing rocks at the nest, which children may be inclined to do, could also have dangerous ramifications. The Bald Faced Hornets will not sting unless provoked, but provocation can happen. We are quite happy to hear that your own children are being educated about these majestic creatures, but sadly, all households in an urban environment are not so inclined. Come winter the hive will die off and after mating, the new queens will find a warm place to hibernate so a new nest can be started in the spring. Bald Faced Hornets to not reuse old nests and the nest in your photos will be abandoned. We were just alerted to a recent online story entitled Invasive Yellow Jacket Wasps Altering Haleakala Ecosystem in the Honolulu Advisor about introduced Western Yellowjackets in Hawaii. These are also annual wasps that typically build small nests each year, but the climate in Hawaii has allowed for multi-generational use of the nests which are becoming quite large. When species are introduced to a new environment with a different climate and no predators, the indigenous species often suffer.
Bald Faced Hornets
Orange Digging Bee
August 2, 2009
Hello, In my garden I have multiple bees digging multiple holes almost exactly 8″ apart from eachother. The bees are about 2″ long and their wings flutter constantly. They are not aggressive just very busy digging perfect little holes!
Jody
Central Massachusetts
Great Golden Digger Wasp with Nest
Hi Jody,
This is a Great Golden Digger Wasp, Sphex ichneumoneus, a species found throughout the continental U.S. The Great Golden Digger Wasp is not aggressive toward humans and it will help keep the katydid and cricket population down in your garden because that is what the female wasp provisions her underground nest with so the wasp larvae will have a ready food supply.
Thank You so much for helping me ID this wasp. I really like the little critters and enjoy watching them, they seem to be just as curious about me as well. I appreciate your help!
Jody
Crane Fly with a hefty meal I suspect?
August 1, 2009
I was at a park and I saw a pair (attached) of flying insects buzz by and so I naturally went over to have a look. I was expecting a mating pair but then I saw this. The blurry picture was while what I suspect is a Crane Fly was grappling for better control of the wasp (also a very windy day). I’m curious, is this indeed a Crane Fly?
Jeff
Mount Pleasant, SC (near Charleston)
Hi Jeff,
Your predator is a Robber Fly known as a Hanging Thief in the genus Diogmites which may be viewed on BugGuide, and the prey is a Red Wasp, Polistes carolina, which can also be viewed on BugGuide. Hanging Thieves often catch their prey while flying. Hanging Thieves get their common name from their habit of hanging from one leg while eating.
Wood hornet?
July 31, 2009
This bug was flying around the lights in front of my house in Richmond, Virginia on the night of July 29, 2009. I think it could be a wood hornet and I think the whip-like tail could be an ovipositor (thanks to the information your website provided!) but I am not sure. If this is an ovipositor, why is it so long? It seemed as though the bug had very little control of it as it flew around the lights and banged into the side of the house!
Steph
Richmond, VA
Female Giant Ichneumon
Hi Steph,
Coincidentally, a few minutes ago we posted an image of a male Megarhyssa atrata, and in that response, we described the female. Your photo is a female Giant Ichneumon, Megarhyssa atrata. She does have an ovipositor. Giant Ichneumons prey upon the larvae of Pigeon Horntails and other wood boring insects that infest dead and dying trees. The female uses her long ovipositor to deposit eggs deep inside infested wood, “drilling” until she locates the tunnel of a wood boring grub. That is where she lays the egg. We have several nice images of Giant Ichnuemons ovipositing on our website, including this one from June 2008. We have heard that Giant Ichneumons may be attracted to artificial lights at night.
Crane Fly? Damsel Fly? Really Off-Course Fly?
July 31, 2009
Hey there – Here’s a very interesting looking flying insect found yesterday, July 30th, at Massassauga Point Conservation Area, Prince Edward County, Ontario. Very sunny day, humid, temperatures around 28 Celsius. My wife works for the conservation authority and was in the field when she spotted it. I’ve done as much Internet searching as I can but cannot identify the insect. It was in a brushy, wooded area when the photo was taken, and when in flight its legs dangled much like a mud dobber, and it has orange antennae like a wood wasp, but it’s the tail end that has us stumped. It hovered much like a wasp when in flight.
Any help would be appreciated – thanks!
Glenn May-Anderson, Belleville, Ontario
Massassauga Point, Prince Edward County, Ontario
Ichneumon
Hi Glenn,
We receive many identification requests for female Giant Ichneumons in the genus Megarhyssa, but we receive very few images of the males. This is a male Megarhyssa atrata. The female has a three inch long ovipositor that is often mistaken for a stinger. She uses her ovipositor to deposit eggs into dead and dying wood that is infested with wood boring larvae, the food for the larval Ichneumon.
Correction from Eric Eaton
August 4, 2009
Hi, Daniel:
… A couple other things:
The “Giant ichneumon: male of the species” is incorrect. The ichneumon in the image is not even in the same subfamily, and it is likely a female.
… Keep up the great job, Daniel:-)
Eric
Large Black Fly
July 30, 2009
Hello!
My sister-in-law found this critter as it tried to take a short rest on her shoulder. We didn’t get a very good picture of it, but to be honest everyone was kinda scared of it! He is about 1.5 to 2 inches long, which makes it the largest fly I’ve ever seen in this area. The location is northern New Hampshire, and this was in late July.
I did a bunch of research online, but it doesn’t match anything I can find. The split-wing and yellow stripe are what seems to be throwing me off. He has a head that looks more like a hornet than a fly, but no stinger.
Hope you can help, and thanks for your time!
Tristan
Littleton, NH
Elm Sawfly
Hi Tristan,
The reason this Elm Sawfly has a head that looks like a wasp is that they Sawfly is in the same order of insects as Wasps, Hymenoptera. Flies only have two wings. You may read more about Elm Sawflies on BugGuide.
