mating
Location: west central ohio
June 3, 2011 8:07 am
what are these… june 2 west central ohio
Signature: Steve Pierce

Mating Virginia Ctenucha Moths

Hi Steve,
These mating moths are in the genus Ctenucha, most likely Ctenucha virginica, commonly called the Virginia Ctenucha, though it ranges much farther than the state of Virginia.  Interestingly, BugGuide does not even include any individuals from Virginia in its range map since BugGuide has not received any submissions from Virginia.  The more full figured individual with the more slender antennae is the female and the male is the lower individual in your photograph.

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Whats this bug
Location: Cancun Mexico
April 27, 2011 4:01 pm
Took this picture in January in Mexico South ofCancun in 2007
Looks like a fly?, Antennae like a butterfly, and weird fuzzy legs….
Very cool though
Signature: Sean

Clearwing Moth from Mexico

Hi Sean,
What a positively gorgeous Clearwing (we know it seems like a misnomer) Wasp Mimic Moth in the family Sesiidae, an interesting group nicely represented on BugGuide. We will try to correctly identify the species for you.  Perhaps Karl will give it a shot.

Correction Courtesy of Karl
Hi Daniel and Sean:
Wasp Moth is a somewhat generic term used to describe wasp mimicking moths from several families. This one is actually an Arctiid moth (Erebidae: Arctiinae), Horama plumipes, which ranges throughout Central America and as far north as southern Texas. Regards.  Karl

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Permission to use images
Location: Santa Barbara CA
April 8, 2011 4:20 pm
Hi Bugman!
I am with the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. We are writing a kid’s guide to Santa Barbara ”bugs” that will be available from our website as a free pdf. This will never be sold. We are trying to encourage young kids to get outside, explore, and learn about the natural world. Several of our guides are already available at http://www.sbnature.org/exhibitions/556.html. You would be given credit for the images with links to your web site.
Thank you,
Elaine Gibson
Nature Education Specialist
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
Signature: Gratefully yours,

Painted Arachnis

Hi Elaine,
What’s That Bug? will gladly allow you to use images from our archives for your free instructional and educational brochure.  Once you select the images you would like, please include a comment to the posting requesting permission.  We ask this because though we copyright our website content, the copyright to the images themselves belong to the photographers.  We reserve the right to post these submitted images on our website, in other What’s That Bug? publications, and to also authorize their use for educational and nonprofit projects.  As a courtesy, we would like to inform the photographers that their images are being used for these purposes, hence our request that your post the comments.

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Very red wasp
Location: SW Florida
March 29, 2011 9:40 pm
I found this lovely looking wasp buzzing around my room.
I live in SW Florida, he was spotted as I ducked. Discovered March 27, 2011.
Thank you, very much, bug man. I did help him to escape without harm. Hopefully he is a bug that devours garden eating buggies.
Signature: Kate

Scarlet Bodied Wasp Moth

Hi Katy,
This is not a wasp, but rather a moth that mimics a wasp.  It is a Scarlet Bodied Wasp Moth, Cosmosoma myrodora, and it is found if Florida primarily, but also west to Texas and north to North Carolina according to BugGuide.  BugGuide also notes this interesting information:  “These moths display warning coloration, yet the caterpillars host on non-toxic Climbing Hempweed, Mikania scandens, (family Asteraceae), a weedy vine at field margins and roadsides that can completely obscure bushes and small trees. The adult male moth extracts toxins known as ‘pyrrolizidine alkaloids’ from Dogfennel Eupatorium (Eupatorium capillifolium) and showers these toxins over the female prior to mating. This is the only insect known to transfer a chemical defense in this way.”

Thank you, bug man.  How interesting.  I would never have thought that was a moth.  He was beautiful, glad I got his picture.  Thank you for your research.
Katy

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