Entomythology
Hi Daniel
I sent you a copy of the book ‘Greek Entomythology’ which you should be getting about now and I just wanted to let you know that I’ve made arrangements to have the book go on an iPhone or iPad App, at a cost of $1.99 each. It seemed sensible, as the books are so expensive that I don’t think anyone will buy one, and in addition the colours are brighter on the screen. The App will also have a voice-over which you can apply or not, so that makes it much easier to read as the poetry can be a bit tricky. (this isn’t ready yet - I’m told 8 weeks but of course I’m hoping it might be in time for Christmas)
I hope you like the book, and that if you do, you will recommend it to your friends, either as hard copy or in the App version.
Kind regards
Diana
Heracles and the Nemean Lion
Hi Diana,
Thank you for sending What’s That Bug? a complimentary copy of Greek Entomythology by Artemis Ippotis. When you asked permission to use one of our Toe-Biter images to represent Heracles so long ago, we couldn’t really visualize your project. Since you did not provide an image to include with this posting, we took the liberty of scanning an image from the book to use as an illustration. We chose the Toe-Biter battling the Tarantula (Heracles and the Nemean Lion). We appreciate all the hard work and research that went into the making of Greek Entomythology and we wish you luck with bringing this project to the attention of the public. Please feel free to comment to this posting when there is additional information that our readership may need should they want to order Greek Entomythology by Artemis Ippotis (ISBN 978-1-4269-0050-1 90000 9 781426 900501).
¶ Posted 06 November 2010 § ‡ ° Water scorpion
Location: Delaware
October 13, 2010 1:52 pm
Hey Bugman,
My son and I just found a water scorpion… in the street of our culdesac! We have never seen one of these bugs before. We live in Delaware.
Do you know if they are native to this part of the country? We also would like to bring it into his class since, as luck would have it, they are studying insects.
Do you know if we need water in the jar we’re keeping him in?
Should we have him in one of those plastic aquarium type bug cages? Should we feed him insects?
I sure hope you can help, I don’t want to kill the little guy!
Thanks,
Vera
Signature: Vera
Water Scorpion
Dear Vera,
Water Scorpions are such magnificent insects and they are local for you. Though they are capable of flying quite well, they are much more comfortable in an aquatic environment. A five gallon aquarium half full with some sticks would be perfect, but a smaller scale “aquarium” will do. Just remember to keep a good lid, preferable with ventilation, on the top. Any small aquatic creatures will satisfy your pets appetite, but we are not certain if non-aquatic insects dropped onto the surface will be eaten.
¶ Posted 16 October 2010 § ‡ ° Yucky wake up
Location: Dominican Republic
October 5, 2010 9:58 am
I was just in the Dominican Republic on vacation. We stayed at a beautiful resort. I woke up early one morning to use the restroom and found this on the floor of the bathroom. The people at the resort didn’t even know what it was….
Signature: Please help
Toe-Biter
We just love posting images of Toe-Biters or Giant Water Bugs from all around the world.
¶ Posted 05 October 2010 § ‡ ° What kind of BEETLE is this???
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
September 30, 2010 7:26 am
This BEETLE was found behind a Military Building at BASE GAGETOWN in New Brunswick, Canada. No one could indentify this fellow, except to say that it may be a Beetle from the STAG Family?? Can you help us identify our ”little” Friend?? He only stayed long enough for me to get his picture, then he was off to the races…
Signature: Terry
toe-Biter
Hi Terry,
Identification requests for Toe-Biters or Giant Water Bugs are pouring in from Canada. Conditions must be right for flight as these aquatic insects spend most of their time under water hunting for prey. Because they are attracted to lights, they are also known as Electric Light Bugs.
2
¶ Posted 30 September 2010 § ‡ ° Beetle with big pinchers?
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
September 29, 2010 5:10 pm
Hi! Found this beetle in a parking lot in Winnipeg, Manitoba around midnight around Sept. 19th. It was about 10oC or 50oF, and there were about 50 of the same bugs all over the lot. Wondering if you could identify it for me? Thanks!
Signature: Emily F.
Toe-Biter
Hi Emily,
The Giant Water Bug or Toe-Biter is one of our most common identification requests, and it seems we must have close to 100 images of Toe-Biters posted to our site. People frequently mistake this True Bug for a beetle. We like to post a new image of a Toe-Biter every once in awhile.
¶ Posted 30 September 2010 § ‡ ° Boatman Pic actually Notonecta?
September 28, 2010
Hello, Friends of the Bugs,
While trying to ID a bug that had landed on our deck here in Edmonds,WA, I discovered that you have the same picture on your site under two different headings/labels. It comes up under “Water Boatman are Edible” when “Boatman” is typed into the search box. Your answer to that post was to say it was Corixidae. The picture matches “my” bug exactly, and I had also come to the tentative conclusion after initially looking in Bug Guide, of Corixidae, but wasn’t convinced. However, on BugGuide I happened to see another pic that also matched, was mislabeled as Corixidae, and someone had posted that it was Notonecta. Looking further online, I agree 100%.
If I type Notonecta or Backswimmer into your search box, it comes up with a post titled “Backswimmer” which appears to be the exact picture, this time correctly IDd as Notonecta. I thought you’d like to know so a note can be added (or however you want to deal with it, if at all) to the Boatman one, correcting the ID. It might be confusing to some, such as myself, who might not accidently happen upon the correct ID and be thinking it is a Boatman. I think many folks, like myself, might initially do a search for Boatman upon finding one of these bugs, since I was not familiar with the existence of Backswimmers. But now I know, and I would have really wondered how a waterbug got on my 2nd story deck, except you explained they can fly well. The 7/22/10 pic of a Backswimmer swimming (on its back, of course) highlighting the abdominal hairs is especially nice.
I did not bother to submit all the pics I took because I found the ID, as you already have several pictures, including one from 2005. I only attached one for reference. Later, the Backswimmer had flown away. Thanks again for such a great site.
Cheers, Dee Warnock
Backswimmer
Hi Dee,
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We did not realize that Baffled in Santa Cruz submitted the exact same image as Jason, and that Baffled in Santa Cruz had taken the original photo from our site. We have included your letter as an update on the Backswimmer that was misidentified as a Water Boatman as well as making it a unique posting since we are certain of the authorship of your photograph. Since the postings with the same images came in several months apart, we didn’t realize that Baffled had sent in Jason’s photo. Because we want to maintain some sense of honesty and integrity to our postings, we have recently added this statement to our form: “Also, you swear that you either took the photo(s) yourself or have explicit permission from the photographer or copyright holder to use the image.“ We really like the common name of Water Wasp given to Backswimmers since their stabbing bite is quite painful.
¶ Posted 29 September 2010 § ‡ ° Can you guess?
Location: Queensland, Australia
September 22, 2010 6:23 pm
Hi guys,
I took this shot this morning just outside my back door. There were several of these flying and hopping around. I know what it is but am seeing if you can guess. Only clue is, it’s not where you would expect to see one.
Signature: aussietrev
Backswimmer???
Hi Trevor,
We are guessing that this is a Backswimmer in the family Notonectidae. These aquatic insects can fly and they are attracted to lights. Here is a BugGuide image.
No idea what this is!
Location: Yarmouth, Maine
September 18, 2010 4:01 pm
This bug landed on my neck while kayaking on a quiet river in southern Maine, September 18th. It didn’t appear to have wings, but maybe they’re just folded up close? I don’t know how else it could have landed on me, unless it was blown off a plant by the wind. (It WAS windy.) He was about 2.5-3” long. from tip to tip. Didn’t move around a whole lot, but was clearly alive. I didn’t see it depart, so don’t know if it blew off or flew off…
Signature: Louisa
Water Scorpion
Hi Louisa,
You had an encounter with a Water Scorpion in the genus Ranatra. Water Scorpions are aquatic insects that are also capable of flying. The bite is reported to be quite painful.
Thank you – I just figured it out myself, but glad to have it officially identified. (And glad it didn’t bite me.) Your website is awesome, and so helpful!
¶ Posted 18 September 2010 § ‡ ° 
rss
I like This
