what just bit me?
Location: south florida
March 27, 2011 8:46 pm
i just put on a shirt and right after i felt something bite me on my shoulder, a few seconds later i felt it again so i took off my shirt and inside i found this little guy. i’ve never seen a bug like this- what is it.
Signature: joe
Lacewing Larva
Hi Joe,
This is the Larva of a Lacewing that looks exactly like this image on BugGuide. Both adult and larval Lacewings are important predators, consuming vast quantities of Aphids. Perhaps you picked up this Lacewing Larva in the garden. We have gotten several reports over the years of people being bitten by Lacewing Larvae, but they are perfectly harmless.
¶ Posted 28 March 2011 § ‡ ° Strange bug
Location: Coronado National Memorial, Hereford, AZ
March 23, 2011 9:54 am
Hello,
I spotted this bug yesterday while eating lunch. I am more of a plant guy so I am clueless.
Oak Woodland/desert grassland habitat. Decomposed granite soils.
Signature: Dean
Doodlebug
Hi Dean,
This is sure a marvelous photograph of an Antlion Larva, commonly called a Doodlebug. They remain buried in the sand at the bottom of a pit with only the mandibles exposed. They prey upon any hapless insects that fall down the pit and into the waiting jaws.
2
¶ Posted 23 March 2011 § ‡ ° Little sucker, immature bug?
Location: Melbourne, Victoria. Australia
March 20, 2011 12:22 am
G’day bugman.
I felt something biting my ankle earlier today, so I had a look at found this little fella having a nibble. I thought it may be a springtail at first, but honestly I’m stumped.
He has interesting orange, yellow and black markings. I would say he’s about 4-5mm long, he has 6 legs that I can see, and pincers up the front.
He uses his rear end to help inch himself forward as well as stick to objects. He also appears to have some grey dust/lint attached to his back.
Unfortunately my camera isn’t suited for taking macro images but these are the best two I could get from above/below, and one included for scale.
Cheers, Erin.
Signature: EW
Lacewing Larva
Hi Erin,
You were bitten by a harmless Lacewing Larva. Larval Lacewings are important predators that help keep down the population of other insects, especially Aphids and related plant feeders that can do major damage in the garden. Some Lacewing Larvae adhere debris, including the remains of their prey, to their bodies as a form of camouflage, and that might explain the dust you mentioned. Thankfully, there is a significant scale difference between humans and Lacewing Larvae because otherwise we wouldn’t stand a chance against this fierce predator.
Lacewing Larva
Thanks for that, we actually have a pretty severe aphid problem in the garden right now, so I made sure to release him back outside where he can be of some benefit. I had heard lacewings were beneficial but had never seen one before, now I know what to look out for and I can make sure they don’t get squashed along with any nearby aphids. 
What is this strange creature
Location: Nowra NSW, Australia
March 17, 2011 7:16 am
This funny looking bug was found on the wall of our dining room. It’s only about 1cm in leangth & curled up like a slater as soon as it was touched. not a great photo but I can tell you that the fragmented looking parts on it back fall away quite easily. 6 legs hide underneath the body.
Signature: Ricky
Neuropteran Larva
Hi Ricky,
If there was no letter attached to this image, we would identify this as the larva of an Antlion, often called a Doodlebug, which buries itself in the sand at the bottom of a pit with just the jaws exposed. It eats ants and other creatures that fall into the pit. Some Antlions may have larvae that are more mobile. Your letter indicates it was crawling on a wall, which inclines us to speculate that it might be a Lacewing Larva as many Lacewing Larvae camouflage themselves with bits of debris. At any rate, both Antlions and Lacewings are in the insect order Neuroptera. The Brisbane Insect website has a great photo of an Antlion Larva.
Hi,
Location: Lomas de Zamora, Buenos Aires, Argentina
March 2, 2011 11:02 am
Hi, im from Argentina. I’ve found this insect, and i want to know what is it. thank you and i hope you can help me.
It’s green, has 4 wings, 2 antennas of the same size as the body which is about 1 centimeter. and it has 2 small black eyes on the sides of its head.
Signature: Luli
Lacewing
Hi Luli,
This lovely little beauty is an important predatory species known as a Lacewing. They help control Aphid populations. Some species have gold eyes and they are known as Goldeneyes.
¶ Posted 02 March 2011 § ‡ ° What might this be?
Location: North East Pennsylvania
January 10, 2011 7:24 pm
Came home today and our cats where playing with it. It you would think where the pinchers are at was the head…. but it walks in the opposite direction.
Signature: ~M
Doodlebug
Dear M,
This is a Doodlebug, the larva of an Antlion. The reason it walks backwards is because the Doodlebug spends its larval life buried in sandy soil. It waits at the bottom of a conical pit with only its mandibles exposed. Any insect that falls into the pit is quickly devoured. The big mystery for us is where your cats found this Doodlebug in the middle of the winter. Do you perhaps have a dirt floor in the basement?
¶ Posted 11 January 2011 § ‡ ° Unknown Insect
Blue Eyes Lacewing Hatchling Larva
Unknown Insect
Location: North Coast NSW Australia
January 1, 2011 12:33 am
Hi. I usually can identity most insects in my region but these babies are a complete mystery. These pictures were taken on the ceiling of an exposed patio on the mid north coast of New South Wales Australia. The insects hatched in January which is mid summer. They are very tiny and I used a macro setting on the camera to take a large image, then cropped it to bring the zoom in. (if that makes sense)
Thanks for your time.
Signature: Niall
Blue Eyes Lacewing Eggs Hatching
Dear Niall,
These are eggs from the order Neuroptera, and the most likely candidate is that they are the eggs of the Blue Eyes Lacewing, Nymphes myrmeleonides, based on images that are posted to the Brisbane Insect Website. The website indicates “They lay white eggs arranged in ‘U’ shape near houses and fences” and “The larvae are litter dwellers, they cover themselves with debris. They are predators for other small insects. They hunt under logs or debris.”
Blue Eyes Lacewing Eggs
STRANGE little bug
Location: Big South Fork, Tennessee….on a rock overlook
November 27, 2010 1:07 am
I’ve a couple local bug experts try to identify this little guy and they are stumped. I took this picture of this bug crawling along on a sunny morning after a cool night around freezing temps in the month of October in Tennessee in the Big South Fork. If you zoom up on it, you’ll just see a mix of organic, strange looking shapes that don’t seems to show anything recognizable. Belive me, it was a bug crawling along. It was very small at a quarter inch or less in size.
Signature: maxpatch67
Lacewing Larva
Hi maxpatch67,
This is the larva of a Lacewing, sometimes called an Aphid Wolf. Many predatory Lacewing Larvae cover themselves with debris, including the carcasses of prey, to help protect and camouflage themselves. If you look closely on the left side of the the creature, you can make out its mandibles protruding from beneath the cover of debris.
¶ Posted 27 November 2010 § ‡ ° 
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