Caterpillers??
Hello,
We’ve have found a couple of caterpillers and can’t seem to come up with ‘what they are’. Hoping you can help us out. The yellow and black ones were found on a really young birch (two feet… the birch not the caterpillers!) Now That would be amazing!! They seemed to be chomping happily away at the leaves, and would strike a tail up and curve it along their backside when alarmed, and would also exhibit this behaviour toward each other, but with more of a whipping action. This guys were about one inch in length and only a few milliimetres around. They seem to be hairless. … Both species were found Aug. 7th, 2008, in Spruce Grove, Alberta (just outside of Edmonton), and in sunny locations. We are wondering if we can relocate them on another more mature tree, if it is a native species, as they have set up house on newly planted trees and we don’t think the wee trees can support their eating habits! I’ve attached photos, and hopefully have included all important details, if not, just contact us! Happily birding,
Michelle & Curtis

Hi Michelle and Curtis,
The “caterpillars” you found on the birch are the Larvae of the Dusky Birch Sawfly, Croesus latitarsus. It is a common error to mistake Sawflies for Caterpillars. Sawflies are related to wasps.

Mother of all wasps
Hello Bugman,
I took these photo’s earlier, because I’ve never seen anything like this before. According to your answers it appears to be some kind of wood wasp. And – big clue, it’s standing on a piece of wood! It apperared to be injecting the wood (a recently felled tree) with a giant black 1 inch long needle thingy (to use the technical expression). Can you tell me what it is please. And more importantly, do I win a prize? Excellent Website by the way. Kind regards,
Andrew

Hi Andrew,
Probably our biggest peeve with regards to letters we receive is a gorgeous photo of a questionable insect when no location is provided. If the photo is blurry, we can just hit delete without responding rather than to waste our precious posting time, but when the photo is as fine as yours, we feel compelled to post it. You may or may not respond with a location, which will help our readership, but will take additional time from posting additional submissions. We get letters from all over the world, and many species look remarkable similar. We believe this is an Oregon Horntail, Urocerus gigas, but if you are in South Africa, that is probably incorrect. The Oregon Horntail is a Wood Wasp. Perhaps Eric Eaton can verify your identification sans location.

Hello Daniel,
Thanks for your reply. I’m sorry about not giving you my location, but when I sit at my laptop, I assume that the rest of the world is sitting just behind the screen! A silly mistake. My location is North Yorkshire, England, UK. I’ve attached the other photo’s, sorry about the inevitable long download time. I hope they’re worth it. Kind regards,
Andrew

Thanks for the clarification Andrew. We found a website, UK Safari, that indicates the Wood Wasp, Urocerus gigas, is “fairly common throughout the UK.” Now we will need to research if the UK individuals are a different subspecies, if one or the other population was introduced, or if they are in fact native to both continents. At any rate, this is all very interesting.

Update: (07/24/2008)
Hi, Daniel:
Your reply on WTB was quite correct: Urocerus gigas is one of those “holarctic” species found on both continents (North America and Eurasia).
Eric

Bug on my tree
Hello,
I noticed this bug on my Red Leaf Japanese tree. It appeared to have a stinger and also something coming from the abdomen that it was sticking into my tree. The tree appears to be dying and I was wondering if maybe the bug was the culprit.

This is a Pigeon Horntail, a type of Wood Wasp. The larvae bore into wood and if there are significant numbers, they can seriously harm your tree. Chances are better that the tree was already dying, and that attracted the Pigeon Horntail.

Please help us if you can!
I live in a condo association. Today we discovered these insects in several of our small pine cone bushes. There are hundreds and hundreds of them in all the bushes. If you could identify this caterpillar or worm I would VERY much appreciate it. Most of them are totally black and smoth and slimy like a snake and about 1 inch in length. Here is a picture: Looking forward to a reply at your earliest convenience! Thank you so much!
Gail Phillips
Bellingham, Washington

Hi Gail,
We believe you need to contact your local Department of Agriculture Insect Pest Control division. Call 360-902-2070 or email PestProgram@agr.wa.gov because we believe you have the Introduced European Saw Fly, Diprion similis. This introduced species is known in the eastern U.S., but we cannot find any indication that it has become established in Washington. BugGuide reports it as far west as Wisconsin. If you have an isolated outbreak, control might still be possible. The University of Georgia Forest Pests website indicates: “The introduced pine sawfly occurs from Canada to North Carolina, and in the central and lake states. Eastern white pine is its favored host, but it also attacks Scotch, red,jack, and Swiss mountain pines. Infestations of this insect can be very serious in young plantations of white pine grown for timber products or Christmas trees.” Several days ago we received a letter from Michigan regarding this species.

Probable Confirmation: (06/02/2008) Sawfly larvae on Whatcom pines
Hi Gail (and others )
The larvae are likely the European pine sawfly, and yes, the occurrence of the species is the first for Washington State (and Western U.S.). However, the species has been in neighboring British Columbia, Canada, for some time, including areas of the Frasier River delta which is not far from the Bellingham area. Here is a link to information on the B.C. occurrence: http://www.pfc.forestry.ca/entomology/defoliators/conifer_sawflies/european_pine_e.html I appreciate your interest and efforts to bring the situation to our attention. I am in the process of getting some of the larvae (with help from the County Extension office) to get confirmation of the species and would be glad to let you know if/when that happens. Thanks again for the contact.
Eric LaGasa
Chief Entomologist
Pest Program / Plant Protection Division
Washington State Department of Agriculture
lagasa@agr.wa.gov

Eric,
Thanks so much for your Email and information contained therein regarding our occurrence of this recent troubling ‘event’. Yes, we would very much be interested in continuing updates regarding this ‘infestation’. Also, many thanks to whatsthatbug.com for their immediate response to my inquiry in helping to identify this particular species! Sincerely,
Gail Phillips

Ed. Note: The spread of the European Pine Sawfly can be a threat to our Western logging industry as the species is proliferating without natural predators.

Some sort of bee?
Hey guys great site!! I’ve got a picture of some sort of bee, or maybe a fly, that landed on me last summer while I was camping in Maine, around the Katahdin area. It was probably about 3/4" long, all black with three white spots on either side and some white between the head and abdomen. I had fun observing him while he crawled around on my hand; he stayed there for quite a while. I looked on every bee and fly page on the site, but didn’t find anything that looked like my little friend. Can you help me? Thanks!
Mischa

Hi Mischa,
What a nice photo of an Elm Sawfly, Cimbex americana. The Elm Sawfly is related to bees and wasps, but does not sting. Its larva looks somewhat like a caterpillar.

what’s that bug
Hello!
I’m from south central PA. Recently I had my tree cut down in my front yard and gave the wood to my friend. He stored it in his garage and a couple weeks later started seeing these bugs all over his garage. He said they are about 2" long and aggressive. We’ve never seen anything like it. Can you tell us what this bug is? Thank you!
Rachel

Hi Rachel,
We responded to a letter a few days back with these identical images. Perhaps it was from your friend, or perhaps your spam blocker did not allow our message to get through. If a message bounces back to us, we do not pursue trying to respond to the question. This is a Pigeon Horntail, a non-stinging Wood Wasp.