Spider? Stink Bug?
Location: South Florida. Pompano/Margate area
March 12, 2011 6:37 pm
This little critter kept coming to visit a photography class we were having. It looked like a spider, except for the rear end, which was held up like a scorpion holds it’s stinger. One of the staff at the park told us this was a stink bug, but I don’t really see a shield shape.
Thanks for any help you can give me in identifying it.
This one was located in Pompano Florida at Fern Forrest Nature Center.
Signature: Anne
Wheel Bug Nymph
Hi Anne,
This is an immature Wheel Bug, Arilus cristatus, and when it is fully grown, it is North America’s largest Assassin Bug. When fully grown, it is easily distinguished from any other Assassin Bug by a coglike projection on the thorax. You can find numerous images of adult Wheel Bugs on our website, including this example dating back to October 2009. Wheel Bugs and Stink Bugs are both True Bugs in the suborder Heteroptera, so your observation has merit. Additionally, Wheel Bug hatchlings, like this grouping sent this past January, are frequently mistaken for Spiders. Wheel Bugs are one of our Top 10 identification requests, though upon viewing that tag, we realize that we have not added any new images of Wheel Bugs in years.
Violet Blue Bug with Broad Front Legs
Location: Boon Lay, Singapore
March 13, 2011 9:55 am
Hi there, I got another bug during our macro photography session here in Singapore (see picture). This little critter looks unusual with broad, leaf-like dark front legs and it simply clings to a leaf and flower without fear of us bothering its privacy. It looks like a beetle, but maybe you would know which specific beetle is this. Thanks again.
Signature: Giovanni
Unknown True Bug Nymph
Hi Giovanni,
This is an immature True Bug, but we need to research the family and species. The front legs are quite curious. They are the opposite of the Leaf Footed Bugs in the family Coreidae which have the tibia of the hind legs modified similarly. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to assist us in this identification.
Hawaiian salt water gerride
Location: Maui west side
March 7, 2011 10:49 pm
These striders are out in the waves of the Lahaina area. I only see them in smooth water, they go somewhere else when the wind comes up. Those back fins are used for speed, I have not been able to get a photo of a live one. It looks like they can dive under water, but I’m not positive since they are so fast they seem to disappear. Is there an ID for ocean striders?
Signature: w
Pelagic Water Strider
Dear w,
Thanks for sending these photos of Pelagic Water Striders found in the open ocean. Your observations are quite informative. We have located an online pdf originally published in 1937 entitled “Biological Notes on the Pelagic Water Striders (Halobates) of the Hawaiian Islands, with Description of a New Species from Waikiki (Gerridae, Hemiptera).” The article identifies the pelagic species Halobates sericeus and indicates another species Halobates hawaiiensis, which is found closer to shore, apparently in calmer waters. Here is an excerpt from this published paper by ROBERT I. USINGER : “The reputed diving ability of these bugs is a subject of considerable controversy. Thus Murray,3 Walker,4 and Henry5 state positively that these bugs dive beneath the surface, while Hay6 and Delsman7 were unable, under any circumstances, to induce them to dive. My own observations are as follows. Neither in captivity nor under natural conditions was I ever able to force Halobates nymphs or adults to dive beneath the surface. In Micronesia I have stood in shallow water amidst many thousands of these bugs and have tried in every way to frighten them or force them to dive. They jump frequently and may move in this way so quickly that they seem to disappear. On the other hand I took a glass plate and forced a number of individuals a foot or two below the surface, holding them there to observe their actions. They were able to swim with very jerky, awkward movements first downward, thence out beyond the edge of the glass and up toward the surface where they quickly broke through the surface film to freedom.“ BugGuide indicates that the genus Halobates contains: “The only true marine insects. Can be found in the open ocean“, but BugGuide does not have any images.
Pelagic Water Strider
Couple of Brown Bugs
Location: Singapore
March 8, 2011 9:27 am
Hi there,
I remember asking this a couple of days here, maybe my question did not push through this site. Anyways, I found a couple of brown colored bugs, one in a park, another during our macro photo session with some friends here in Singapore. Nobody could rightly identify them. Maybe you would know them, guys. Thanks a lot.
Signature: Giovanni
Broad-Headed Bug
Hi Giovanni,
In our opinion, both of your insects look like Broad-Headed Bugs in the family Alydidae. You may compare your images to photos of North American species posted to BugGuide.
Broad-Headed Bug
Crazy bugs
Location: Spring, TX
March 7, 2011 12:52 pm
What are these? Help!
Signature: Mary
Wheel Bug Hatchlings
Hi Mary,
These are newly hatched Wheel Bugs. They are beneficial predators.
Thanks! Someone said they eat caterpillars. We raise butterflies. I’m not sure I’ll view them as beneficial. : )
bug
Location: Long Island NY
March 5, 2011 11:52 am
These bugs are under our vinyl siding and now that it’s winter, they are getting into the house some how. I just want to make sure they are not wood eaters of some kind. We have had problems with termites in the past.
Signature: Katherine R
Boxelder Bug
Dear Katherine,
This is a Boxelder Bug and it is a benign insect, though since they are in the habit of entering homes to hibernate, often in great numbers, they are considered a nuisance. We find your photo of this intruder on the home security control pad quite amusing.
Funny KNP Bug
Location: Kruger National Park, Southern area
February 27, 2011 4:35 am
Good Day,
We were in KNP on 19/02/2011, driving on the Pabeni road towards skukuza when this fellow appeared in the car. I only had a few seconds and manage to get two makro shot before it rushed off. THus far no one can tell me what it is.
Please help.
Signature: Marius Smit
Immature True Bug
Hi Marius,
We needed to first research the location of Kruger National Park, which we now know is in South Africa. This is an immature True Bug in the suborder Heteroptera, but beyond that, we haven’t a clue. Often the immature stages of an insect’s life cycle are not well documented, and many times, especially with regards to insects in remote locations, the immature stages are completely unknown to science. Hopefully we or our readership will have some luck trying to research what species this immature nymph belongs to.
Immature True Bug
What kind of bug???
Location: Northeast
February 26, 2011 11:03 pm
Please help identify this occasional bug. We live in Long Island,N.Y.
Signature: Paul Allocca
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
Hi Paul,
This is a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys, an invasive species native to Asia that is expanding its introduced range in Eastern North America. We shudder to think that the USPS is behind this range expansion.
Thanks for the help…..I looked it up some more and look pretty harmless as far as being in the house goes.Thanks again.
Thank you,
Paul Allocca
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