Orlando/Central Florida
November 18, 2010 4:27 pm
My backyard is all sand with a single tree in the center. Underneath the tree there are tons of little divots and I can never catch a glimpse of the bug. If I’m quiet for awhile, I’ll eventually see a little leg start kicking more sand out but the bug never emerges. Any ideas of what sort of bugs do this?
Thanks a bunch!
Signature: Sean
Doodlebug Pits
Hi Sean,
We are guessing you have not lived at this location for a very long time. It appears that you have a thriving community of immature Antlions, commonly called Doodlebugs. Doodlebugs are predators that dig pits in sandy soil and then lie buried at the bottom, sometimes with only their jaws exposed. When an ant or other hapless insects walks close to the edge of the pit, the sandy soil crumbles away and the insect falls into the bottom of the pit and right into the waiting jaws of the Doodlebug. Young children who grow up in areas where there are Doodlebugs often “fish” for them with a blade of grass. Here is a link to a nice image of a Doodlebug from our archives. Adult Antlions look nothing like the subterranean larvae. Read this posting from our archives for a tip on how to catch an elusive Doodlebug.
Doodlebug Pits
3
¶ Posted 19 November 2010 § ‡ ° whats this one?
November 7, 2010
Found this lovely damselfly look-alike fluttering around our porch light one late summer evening, quite late actually around 11pm. we’re in Powell river on the lower coast of bc. i ‘ve never seen a bug like this before ,ever..
curiouser and curiouser…
noni stremming
Antlion
Hi Noni,
This is an Antlion and they are frequently mistaken for Damselflies. The larvae are called Doodlebugs and you can read more about Antlions on BugGuide.
Antlion
¶ Posted 09 November 2010 § ‡ ° Owlfly?
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
October 28, 2010 2:28 pm
Found this on the kitchen cupboard
I think I’ve narrowed it down to Ascalaphidae (but please tell me if I’m way off the mark!).
It was about 8pm
Signature: Zarek
Owlfly
Dear Zarek,
We agree that this is an Owlfly in the family Ascalaphidae, and it does have an unusually shaped abdomen.
Owlfly
¶ Posted 29 October 2010 § ‡ ° This bug
Location: Eastern, North Carolina
October 19, 2010 6:46 pm
High bugman, believe it or not I got bitten by this little fellow, or at least one of his brethren a couple of times. I saw this one about a week later and took this picture with my phone, I have no idea what it is, I hope this picture is clear enough.
Signature: Once Bitten
Lacewing Larva
Dear Once Bitten,
Though you have been bitten by a Lacewing Larva, you did not indicate if it was painful or if there was any sort of reaction, which we cannot imagine. The larvae of Lacewings are predatory insects sometimes called Aphid Wolves and they are very beneficial in the garden. Yours is not the first report we have received of a person getting bitten, but we should stress that this creature is perfectly harmless to humans and pets.
¶ Posted 20 October 2010 § ‡ ° Unknown Bug
Location: Sonoma, CA
September 29, 2010 3:00 am
I found this bug in my bathtub tonight 09/28/10. I live in northern California and have never seen anything like this before.
Signature: Michael
Snakefly Larva
Hi Michael,
This is a Beetle Larva, but we are not certain what family it belongs to. We often have trouble with the identification of larval stages. We will contact Eric Eaton for assistance.
Correction thanks to Eric Eaton
Daniel:
I can appreciate your hectic life. I have much the same situation here, and not liking it much…..
Congrats on the book! Let me know how I can help crank up those sales…..
Well, it is not a beetle larva for one thing. At least, I’m pretty sure this is the larva of a snakefly, order Raphidioptera:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/233370
Easy mistake to make, and it took repeated encounters before I learned the difference, too.
Eric
3
¶ Posted 29 September 2010 § ‡ ° Bug with fork head
Location: Southwest Florida
September 25, 2010 4:04 pm
I live in Southwest Florida. I found this bug on my porch, but I can’t seem to find anything on the internet about it. It is long like a dragonfly with clear wings and its head looks like it has a dinner fork attached to it. I’m just curious what it is.
Signature: Gaston
Antlion
Hi Gaston,
This sure looks like the silhouette of an Antlion to us.
¶ Posted 25 September 2010 § ‡ ° What’s this freaky thing?
Location: Queensland, Australia
September 13, 2010 10:16 pm
Hi guys,
Can you give me any idea on what this little critter is? Not the big dark bit that appears to be the remains of an ant head but the little shrimp like creature underneath that has attached it to its back like some sort of hermit crab. It also appears to have pincers similar to an ant lion. Is it possibly something along the lines of a lacewing nymph? It is minute, hardly visible under its load.
Help!
Signature: aussietrev
Lacewing Larva
Hi Trevor,
We haven’t begun to try to research your species on the Australian insect websites, but we are certain that this is the larva of a Lacewing, many of which carry about shelters constructed from the carcasses of their victims. Here is a link to some North American debris carrying Lacewing Larvae on BugGuide. The Brisbane Insect website has a page on Green Lacewings in the family Chrysopidae that includes a photo of a debris carrying Lacewing Larva. In North America, these larvae are sometimes called Aphid Wolves.
Lacewing Larva
Green Lacewing
Location: Macon GA
September 7, 2010 8:26 am
Most the pics I’ve seen don’t show the brown spots. Found her on my bathroom wall this morning.
Signature: Roofus Goofus
Green Lacewing
Hi Roofus Goofus,
Normally we would not even attempt to identify a Green Lacewing to the species level or even genus level, but the markings on your specimen seemed distinctive enough to warrant a try. We were rewarded with a match on BugGuide to Leucochrysa insularis, a species reported to be widespread in the eastern United States and Caribbean. BugGuide also indicates: “The adult of this large, handsome species is easily separated from all other green lacewings found on citrus in Florida by the presence of two dusky spots on each forewing and the unusual mesothoracic markings.“
¶ Posted 07 September 2010 § ‡ ° 
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