sand puppie photo
bugman, I noticed you have a few letters about sand puppies on your web page, so I took photo’s of a dead one, (it got too close to my 1 year old baby, its slightly destroyed, but if you can identify the species, I’m pretty sure you can find another photo somewhere. it may come in handy when someone wants to ask about this particular solpugid. hope its useful!
D

Hi D,
We have heard the term Sand Puppy applied to Potato Bugs or Jerusalem Crickets as well, and that is what your specimen is. Though we will be posting your letter and photo on our Unnecessary Carnage page, we do not really blame your infant for the slaughter. Children just don’t understand how strong they are when they squash things. Children really don’t realize the importance of respecting life and hopefully your toddler will soon be cognicent enough to learn this important lesson from you.

Ruminations on Cohabitation
(09/03/2006) Unnecessary killing of living things
Dear Bugman,
I totally sympathize with the family who killed bugs they thought might harm someone. Unfortunately, their philosophy is harming their children. Children need to learn how to live with, not how to kill, other living things. I have been in the education field for over 30 years and worked with children and animals in a Science Museum for many years, and I saw, daily, people who grew up with phobias about animals. It wasn’t pretty. We teach children how to look both ways before crossing a street–we don’t teach them to kill cars. Children can be taught how to live with animals, not kill or be afraid of them. I agree that on very rare occasions we must protect and defend our own. 2 weeks ago my husband violated our no-kill policy and shot a copperhead that was about 6 feet from our front door. (I didn’t even know we had a gun!) We live in the woods of the NC piedmont area with skunks, foxes, brown bats, black widow spiders, poisonous centipedes, etc., and this is the only animal I felt truly threatened us. The point is, our education policy worked, because my son was able to identify the snake for his father ( I wasn’t at home) and did not panic. My son has been taught to deal with the animals, including what to do if you or someone else is stung or bitten. We have found out over the years that the best thing to do is learn to live in their environment. We don’t wear heavy scents like perfumes, scented deodorants, etc when outdoors, we don’t swing at and make animals defend themselves by hurting us, We also don’t use pesticides and insecticides unless a wasp or hornet nest is near house entrances. We also use nature to help us. Every time we find a praying mantis egg case, it goes in my herb garden. It’s much healthier to use my mantis army to prey on harmful insects than to poison my family with insecticide laden food. In short, if you don’t want animals around, go back to the city and live in a condo. But in the meantime, stop the lazy parenting ( a cheap blow, I know, but I’m tired of the “kill” policy of these people) and educate yourselves and your families. Use this most excellent website, visit your local science museum, and take a walk through the woods with your child and a nature book. Also, look for natural ways to deal with problems. One great idea I was given by a naturalist was about yellow jacket nests. We have many in this area. Instead of spraying with poisons which stay in the environment and will ultimately prove more harmful to our children than the bugs we are trying to kill, we sprinkle dry cat food near and if possible on top of the nest. Skunks will come out at night, eat the cat food and be led to the nest, where they treat themselves to the larvae “dessert” in the nest , ultimately destroying the nest. If you have bats in your house and want to remove them, make sure you correctly mount bat houses outside before removing them from your current home. Remember, one bat consumes a few thousand insects (including mosquitoes) each night. We need bats. Last comment, and I may as well discuss religion since I’m sure many people at this point would like to burn me at the stake anyway. God also gave us “dominion” over our chidren. That means we love and protect and nurture them. It doesn’t mean we have God’s approval to destroy them. God made everything in nature, and it is beautiful. Every animal God made has a purpose – it has a job to do. All we need to do is leave the animals alone and let them do their job. Please continue to love, protect, and nurture nature. Thanks for letting me vent. Please feel free to contact me, use my name on your web site, but do not release contact info to the public. I don’t need the hate mail. Thanks.
Jan Glenn

Potato Bug with something that busted out of it.
We found this Potato Bug on the floor in our studios, still moving. At first I thought the long black thing was intestines. When I scooped it up with a paper towel the long black then fell to the ground and moved rapidly. It appears to be a worm of some sort. How it came from this bug and what type of parasite or worm it is is not known. At first I thought someone must have accidentally stepped on the bug, but on closer examination, it appears the worm busted out of the bug. Have you seen anything like this?
Robbie Rush

Hi Robbie,
We have heard several stories about Potato Bugs being parasitized by Horsehair Worms. Dr. Bug substantiates that Horsehair Worms in the genus Gordius are Potato Bug parasites. Here is a quote from his site: “They are sometimes found dead in swimming pools and ponded waters. This is either the result of a simple drowning or a parasite infection. The horsehair worm (Gordius spp. or Paragordius spp.) can inhabit the jerusalem cricket’s gut and feed. The worm can alter the behavior of the cricket and force it to seek water. Once in water, the worm bursts through the insect’s abdomen and seeks a mate. The cricket dies from the wound. I have found them in ponds at O’Neill Regional Park in Trabuco Canyon (1980’s) and at Starr Ranch Audubon Sanctuary (2002).”

Cave Wetas from NZ
Hi there,
These are cave wetas from New Zealand for your records.
Good luck
Daniel

Hi Daniel,
We are somewhat behind in answering our mail, and we love your photo. Thanks for sending it to us.

Parktown Prawn
Dear Bugman
Not really a candidate for worst bug story ever, but definitely the reason I check inside my shoes before I put them on in the morning, don’t swat anything I feel tickling my face at night, don’t put my hand into dark spaces without checking first. They have a horrible black inky substance they spray when scared and jump quite high. A friend has moved house to get away from them. I’ve heard that they are mole crickets or king crickets? They look a lot like the camel crickets on your site? The Parktown prawn (since they used to be very prolific in the Johannesburg suburb Parktown) (Libanasidus vittatus) is a species of large South African cricket in the family Anostostomatidae. Adults are usually around 4 to 5 centimeters in length, with an antennae of 2 cm.(Wikipedia)
Lynn.

Hi Lynn,
Thanks for the great letter and photo. The family Anostostomatidae also contains the Wetas of New Zealand. This family is closely related to the family Stenopelmatidae which contains the Potato Bugs of Jerusalem Crickets of the Western U.S.

Scary Australian bug
Hi,
I saw your site listed as a Bonzer site on This Is True a little while back. When my wife found this terrifying bug last night, I immediately thought of you in trying to identify it. My wife went to the loo last night and saw this thing sitting on the top of the doorframe. She exited as quickly as possible and called me. After about ten minutes of spirited discussion we summoned up the courage (and tools) necessary to approach it. I took the first photo after we’d managed to knock it on to the toilet floor. After that I took it outside, emptied it from the container we’d captured it in and executed it. I took the second photo this afternoon, just so that you could see the bottom of this creature in case it helps with identification. I’ve failed to identify it from anything I could see on your website. I had a look on BugGuide, and I’m *guessing* that it fits in the subclass Apterygota. I live in Lauderdale, Tasmania, Australia. The bug is roughly 4cm from the head to the end of its abdomen, and the terrifying spike thing on the back adds almost another 2cm. I’m not sure whether I want you to tell me that it’s dangerous, and that I’m therefore justified in killing it, or that it’s harmless so I can sleep at night without worrying that more will turn up. We found a dried up husk on our front porch which obviously belonged to one of these, so we know there are more around. Anyway, I hope you like the pictures, and I hope you can tell me what it is!
Yours,
John

Hi John,
We can assure you this gal was perfectly harmless. It looks to us like a Weta, a primitive Orthopteran that is endangered in New Zealand. There are close relatives in South Africa and Australia, and the North American relatives are the Potato Bugs. In New Zealand, the Giant Wetas can grow to 8 inches. Here is the Wikipedia page with more information.