Errant flyer
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
May 7, 2012 10:07 am
This little bug flew into me at Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport @ 3:30 pm on Monday, April 23. The day was partly cloudy & windy in the low 80s. The bug was about 1.25 inches long. It was curious, not aggressive but sensitive to ground vibration (I dropped a screw on the concrete nearby & it reacted). After regaining its bearings, it walked off. I haven’t encountered another one since.
Signature: Jennifer McMullan
Bee Assassin
Dear Jennifer,
Should you ever again encounter a Bee Assassin, you should avoid handling it. Though they are not aggressive towards humans, they are a predatory species with piercing mouthparts that suck fluids from their prey. We have gotten reports of people being bitten by Bee Assassins if they are carelessly handled. We believe your species might be Apiomerus floridensis based on the images posted to BugGuide.
Black insects on green bean plants
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
May 7, 2012 7:45 pm
Hello! I’m wondering if you could tell me what these little black beetle-like insects are that are sucking the juices from my bean leaves.
Thanks!
Signature: Just Dave
Garden Fleahopper (female we presume)
Hi Dave,
Our first impression was that you might have Flea Beetles, but the antennae are wrong for a beetle. After a bit of searching through the True Bugs, insects with piercing and sucking mouthparts, we found the Garden Fleahopper, Halticus bractatus, by browsing through BugGuide where it is described as: “Minute, black; antennomere 1 and often the middle of the second and the base of the third pale; patches of silvery scale-like hairs on the front wing. Sexes strongly dimorphic, females having the wings entirely thickened and ovoid so that they resemble small flea beetles, while the males have long normally constructed wings.” Garden Fleahoppers are classified as Plant Bugs in the family Miridae.
Garden Fleahopper (male we presume)
What are they?
Location: Central North Carolina
May 7, 2012 4:37 pm
I saw these on my porch today. It is May 7th in Central North Carolina.
Signature: Curious
Florida Predatory Stink Bug Nymphs
Dear Curious,
These are immature Florida Predatory Stink Bugs and they are considered beneficial.
BIG BUG!
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
May 6, 2012 11:17 pm
What is this?! I was found in a baseball field in early May…so late spring although we are having summer weather lately. There were four or five of them in the area. This is a smaller one. It’s not the best picture but I would describe it as a beetle/moth sort of mix. Maybe a large water bug? Any ideas?
Signature: SCARED!
Giant Water Bug
Dear SCARED!,
We really love your offbeat photograph of a Giant Water Bug, an aquatic insect that also flies quite well and is attracted to strong lights at night, like around a baseball field, and that has earned them another common name: Electric Light Bug. Giant Water Bugs are also called Toe-Biters, allegedly because of the number of people, probably mainly young boys, who step on them on the bottoms of ponds and swimming areas while barefoot.
Real World Silt Stridder?
Location: Pavement parking lot, Rochester NY
May 6, 2012 12:27 am
Hello,
I am a bug lover and this one certainly intrigued me! I found it just chilling in a parking lot at 3:00 in the morning. It was 4 inches long, and though it looks like a hard shell, I touched it and it seemed very soft. Its eyes were huge and it had what looked like fake claws. It did not move until I went to pick it up and it moved quite quickly for its awkward body structure; almost as it should be an underwater creature. The closest representation I can find is a Silt Strider, a mythical creature in a video game, haha! So your help would be greatly appreciated in identifying it for me, I would love to find out!
Thank you!
Signature: Jessica Carley
Toe-Biter
Hi Jessica,
This is a Giant Water Bug, also known as a Toe-Biter or Electric Light Bug. You were astute to recognize it as an aquatic species, and it is quite graceful when swimming. It can also fly quite well. We suspect you found it in the parking lot because it was attracted to the lights. We are linking to an image of a Silt Strider on DeviantART.
Daniel,
Wow! That is awesome, thank you so much for identifying this for me! Your website is going to be my new favorite!
Thanks,
Jessica
cool red beetle
Location: Hong Kong
May 6, 2012 1:27 am
Hi,
Could not find anything on the net, but found your site! This beetle lives in Hong Kong. A handsome specimin, but what is it?
Signature: Zine
Red Bug from Hong Kong
Dear Zine,
This is not a beetle, but rather a True Bug. More specifically it is a Red Bug in the family Pyrrhocoridae. We located a matching photo on FlickR that was identified as the genus Cenaeus and then following that genus name, we found the BioDiversity Explorer post on the genus which identified the family. We also found a common name Fire Bug, but that name is used for many other species. We also found a posting in our archive from South Africa that we also believe is the genus Cenaeus.
Rainforest Bug – Glossy Orange Black
Location: Loreto, Peru
May 4, 2012 9:54 am
This interesting bug was photographed from canoe on a treetrunk about 2ft above flooded forest water level on Apr 3, 2012 in early evening. In flooded jungle surrounding Tahuayo River (a few hours upstream from Iquitos). Any help identifying would be appreciated.
Signature: Wayne Godbehere
Assassin Bug
Hi Wayne,
This is an Assassin Bug in the family Reduviidae, and its bright aposomatic (warning) coloration is so distinctive, we figured it would not be too difficult to identify. Within minutes, we matched it to photos of Calliclopius negripes, commonly called Bee Killers. Your individual is a nymph based on its undeveloped wings. The black front legs and red hind legs as well as the white antennae are very distinctive features. The first matching image we found was on FlickR, and it showed a black winged adult, but it was identified as the genus Calliclopius. Additional searching produced an image of nymphs on Michael Lustbader Photography where the species name was indicated.
Thank-you so much… I was having no luck searching for this one… I have been able to identify many of my other insect shots from the trip, but still searching for some (and still sorting through 3000 photos)….
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