What species of Wasp (?) is this?
July 25, 2009
I found this huge wasp-looking insect in my car, it is over an inch long and has a pure black body, and yellow bands on its legs. It has a huge thick stinger, I have never seen this insect before and would like to know what it is.
Lauren B.
Canada, British Columbia
Wood Wasp
Hi Lauren,
This is a Wood Wasp in the genus Urocerus, probably Urocerus albicornis based on images posted to BugGuide. Your Wood Wasp may look fierce, but she cannot sting, not only because she is dead, but because what looks like a stinger is actually the ovipositor for laying eggs within wood.
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Posted 25 July 2009
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elm sawfly and grapevine beetle
July 14, 2009
Hi Bugman!
Just used your site to identify this Elm Sawfly I saw while hiking in the mountains of North Carolina. Thought you might like the photo.
I also was able to identify the cute little Grapevine Beetle that was sadly squished on the grill of my car. Sorry little guy!
Carrie
North Carolina
Elm Sawfly
Hi Carrie,
We are happy that our site was helpful. We are posting your two images separately since combining postings with unrelated subjects tends to compromise our already questionable archive organization. The Elm Sawfly, Cimbex americana, is an impressive creature.
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Posted 15 July 2009
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Glacier Bee/wasp?
July 13, 2009
Hi there, I’m Shannon from Alaska. I took my friend hiking on Byron Glacier today and found a bee like creature… on the ice! I wasn’t sure at first if he melted out of there or was taking a rest but I’ve never seen anything like him around here. I was hoping you could help?
Shannon from Alaska
Byron Glacier/Portage Alaska
- Sawfly
Hi Shannon,
Mistaking this Sawfly for a Bee or Wasp is understandable since Bees, Wasps and Sawflies are all in the same order of insects, Hymenoptera. Sawflies do not sting. We cannot say for sure what species or even what genus your specimen belongs to, but we are confident it is one of the Cimbicid Sawflies in the family Cimbicidae. According to BugGuide: “Adults robust, resemble bumble bees. Base of abdomen broadly joined to thorax (no wasp waist). Antennae have seven or fewer segments, slightly clubbed.“ Your specimen is robust and has clubbed antennae. The larvae of Cimbicid Sawflies are often confused with caterpillars because of their appearance and because they feed on foliage. BugGuide lists three genera in the family, and all are represented in the western portion of Canada. At first we thought this might be an Elm Sawfly which is reported from Canada, but now, because all the examples of Elm Sawflies on BugGuide show yellow antennae, we believe this might be a Honeysuckle Sawfly, Trichiosoma triangulum, and BugGuide has an image posted from Montana that looks very similar.
Update from Eric Eaton
Daniel:
The sawfly with the cigarette lighter is, besides causing trouble (ha!), probably Cimbex pacifica.
Eric
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Posted 13 July 2009
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No idea what this is.
July 12, 2009
Found this while walking down a walking path in Calgary in July. Can u tell me what it is?
Lynne
Calgary, Ab
Sawfly
Hi Lynne,
It is a Sawfly in the genus Cimbex. We found one unidentified species from California that resembles your rusty colored individual, but the angle of the photo does not allow us to view anatomical details that would make a more definite ID possible. Sawflies are non-stinging relatives of wasps.
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Posted 12 July 2009
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Mallow/Hibiscus Sawfly Larva
Fri, May 29, 2009 at 6:47 AM
I found these larvae devouring our rose mallows and a few on our Malvaviscus. It’s the first year I’ve seen them. I didn’t see this type of sawfly larva on your site, so I’m sending photos of them and a photo of the damage they do to the leaf. Thanks again for all the hard work that goes into keeping up such a great site.
Tim
Memphis, TN
Hibiscus Sawfly Larva
Hi Tim,
Thanks for sending us your photos of a Hibiscus Sawfly Larva, Atomacera decepta. We are linking to the BugGuide information page on the species.
Hibiscus Sawfly Larva
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Posted 30 May 2009
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Caterpillar (6 legs?), Brown, Spikey, Gum forest, Australia
Sun, May 3, 2009 at 5:07 AM
Hi There, we found this squad of unknown bugs when walking in a Gum (Eucalyptus) forest (Dandenong Ranges National Park) at Fern Tree Gully in Victoria, Australia. They were moving uphill as a unit, flicking their tails up when approached. They were on a gravel path and are about 60mm long. We’d love to know what they were. Thanks!
Nick and Kathryn
Fern Tree Gully, Victoria , Australia
Sawfly Larvae
Hi Nick and Kathryn,
Though they look like caterpillars, these are actually the larvae of Sawflies. Sawflies are Hymenopterans, the order that includes ants, bees and wasps. Often Sawfly Larvae feed in groups. We are uncertain of your exact species, and perhaps a reader will provide that answer. We are linking to the Brisbane Insect Sawfly page as well.
Sawfly Larvae
Hi Daniel,
Thanks so much for your prompt reply. We’ll keep checking back in case someone can identify their exact species so we could find what the adult would look like. In the mean time, once we knew they were sawflies we were able to find other references, and the alternative name of ’spitfires’. This site has what looks to be the same/similar species: http://australian-insects.com/lepidoptera/none/sawfly.html
Thanks again for running the site,
Nick and Kathryn
caterpillars in coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis) in Carpinteria, CA
Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 9:38 PM
I’m not sure what these green caterpillars are. There were hundreds of them in the Coyote Brush (Baccharis pilularis) at the Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park this past weekend.
John Callender
Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park, Carpinteria, CA
Unknown Sawfly on Baccharis
Hi John,
We will check with Eric Eaton, but we believe these are Sawflies and not Caterpillars. Sawflies are the larval form of a non-stinging member of the order of insects that includes ant, bees and wasps, Hymenoptera.
Update:
Daniel:
Hard to tell from the image, but either sawfly larvae or chrysomelid leaf beetle larvae.
Eric
colorful sawfly larva
Tue, Dec 23, 2008 at 10:49 AM
Hi WTB,
I took these photos more than two decades ago in Rhode Island, near an old lime kiln (I was looking for land snails). I always thought this was a caterpillar, but recently when I couldn’t find it in Caterpillars of Eastern North America, I was perplexed. I e-mailed the author of that book, David Wagner, and sent him these photos. He identified it as the poison-ivy-eating sawfly larva. I search the WTB pages and could not find this sawfly larva pictured, so I thought perhaps you would like it.
Keep up the good bug work!
Jeannie
Rhode Island
Poison Ivy Sawfly
Hi Jeannie,
Long ago we posted an image of an unidentified Sawfly that looked similar. Thanks for sending your photo of a Poison Ivy Sawfly. Out of curiosity, do you have a scientific name? We did a web search of Poison Ivy Sawfly and found Arge humeralis. There is a matching image on BugGuide. We searched our archives for the image we posted in 2007, and sure enough, it was found on Poison Ivy.
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Posted 24 December 2008
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Woolly caterpillar ID?
Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 10:16 PM
Hi, Bugman!
I love your site, and I’ve used it many times to identify creepy and not so creepy crawlers, hoppers and fliers that I’ve found while out photographing the wonders of nature. However, I browsed your caterpillar category all the way back to 2005, and didn’t see one of these. The closest was the ‘Laugher’.
This past September, I noticed something white and fluffy on a tree or bush (sorry! I can’t now remember which). On close inspection, it turned out to be a caterpillar, and there wasn’t just one, but many.
They looked for all the world as though they were covered in cotton wool shag carpeting. I wish I could tell you what sort of bush or tree they were feeding on, but I know as much about horticulture as I do entomology, and that’s not a whole lot. Plus I kinda, sorta forgot to take note.
These pics were taken at ~15:40 on the 7th of September in Southwestern Ontario, in an area with diverse habitats nearby. Lots of woods, open spaces, small marshy spots.
I severely reduced the size of the images to save bandwidth, but they should be large enough to identify the subject. If you do want larger ones, you need only ask!
Thanks in advance!!
Frank
Southwestern Ontario, Canada
Butternut Woolly Worm
Hi Frank,
Though it looks like a caterpillar, the Butternut Woolly Worm, Eriocampa juglandis, is actually a Sawfly Larva. Sawflies are non-stinging relatives of wasps and bees. The Butternut Woolly Worm feeds on the leaves of black walnut, butternut and hickory.
Butternut Woolly Worm
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Posted 20 November 2008
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Black caterpillar with yellow dots on its sides, and blue/white legs. About 4-5cm in length.
Sat, Nov 15, 2008 at 9:32 AM
Hey there!
I was doing some wetland classification earlier this fall (early September), and I happened to stumble upon this little guy in the afternoon. I found him south of Blackwater, in the Beeverton wetland located one and a half hours west of Peterborough Ontario. He was on a tall shrub located along side of an abandoned railway. He’s solid black with yellow spiracles on both of his sides. He also had blue/white abdominal prolegs and solid black thoratic legs. He’s hairless and quite shiny. Hope the picture helps!
Thanks!
Erin G
Thanks!
Beeverton Wetland (Blackwater)
Sawfly Larva
Hi Erin,
We believe this is a Sawfly Larva, and not a caterpillar. We have searched through countless images on Bugguide and could not find an exact match, but we did find one example that was similar. Sawflies are known for striking the pose exhibited in your photograph when they are threatened or otherwise bothered. We will contact Eric Eaton for a second opinion, and also to see if he can give a quick method of distinguishing between caterpillars and sawflies.
Hi Bugman:
This looks like it could be a Willow Sawfly (Nematus ventralis), or a closely related species. More photos at: Link1 and Link2 .
KK
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Posted 16 November 2008
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What kind of larvae is this?
Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 8:58 AM
A group of larvae were found here in Discovery Park, an urban wilderness located within Seattle, Washington. It was raining outside and they were found on the lid to a trash container yesterday, November 1st. We tried to identify them using our insect books, but most don’t have pictures of larvae. Can you help us? We’d like to know what these little guys become. We have taken pictures of them. One picture shows the legs well and the other gives you the relative size to a finger. Note: The images look more yellow than they did in reality. The larvae are very white/cream colored (not yellow) with the black coloring that you notice in the pictures.
Education staff at Discovery Park
Seattle, WA, USA
Sawfly
Dear Education Staff,
The best we can do on this is to tell you it is a Sawfly Larva. Sawflies are a large group in the order Hymenoptera which contains wasps, bees and ants. Sawfly larvae are often confused with caterpillars. BugGuide has numerous submissions of unidentified Sawfly Larvae to browse through, but without a host plant, exact identification of your specimen may be very difficult. Though adult Sawflies resemble bees or wasps, they do not sting.
Big nasty wasp
Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 3:29 PM
Hi Bugman!
This is a giant crazy wasp that I found in a mist net while banding birds. It was in some coastal scrub habitat in Marin County, California on November 5, 2008. I have no idea what kind of wasp it is.
Walker Pett
Marin County, CA
Wood Wasp
Hi Walker,
This is a Wood Wasp or Horntail, and despite its “nasty” appearance, it is perfectly harmless and cannot sting. We believe this is Urocerus californicus based on images posted to BugGuide.
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Posted 08 November 2008
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