My Assassin Bug is growing up
Thanks for identifying my assassin bug for me a week ago. Because of the identification, I decided to keep it and see what would happen. I’ve been feeding it mealworms I bought at a local pet store, and this morning I was surprised to see it had shed its skin and had a completely new “color scheme”, plus it got bigger. My camera decided to work (although my bug doesn’t like the camera’s flash too much), so I took some more pics. In the pictures I sent you can see 4 pictures of its new form, and in the lower left hand side is a mealworm, which is still alive. The last picture is of its discarded shedded skin on the right, and on the left is a mealworm which had the life sucked out of it! It was really quite amazing to see; the assassin bug climbed on top of it, inserted its probiscis, and after the worm struggled it was all over. In about 3 hours it was completely drained. I’ll keep you posted! Thanks again!
Rudy
Hi Rudy,
Now that your Assassin Bug has matured, it looks to us like a Leaf Hopper Assassin, Zelus renardii, a species found in California.
found this bug.
Dear bug man,
I found this bug on a lamp shade in my living room. I moved it over to a table and got these great pictures of it before i put it in a bag and let it go, outside. I would like to know what kind of bug it is. Is it a type of beetle? A type of boxelder bug? please help!! Sincerely,
bug lover in Missouri
Dear Bug Lover,
This is an Eastern Blood Sucking ConeNose Bug, Triatoma sanguisuga. Their normal food consists of the blood of small mammals, like wood rats, but they will bite humans. As in your case, they will invade homes. According to BugGuide: “Bite causes severe allergic reaction in many humans. Bite and defecation into bite can transmit Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi , a protozoan. The most notorious vector is T. infestans, found in South America. The North American species are not normally thought to transmit the disease, though they can carry the parasite. (The North American species do not normally defecate at the site of the bite, which is what actually transmits the parasite.” Chagas Disease is a serious problem in the tropics. Though the liklihood of catching the disease from a North American species appears unlikely, you should nonetheless use extreme caution when handling one of the ConeNose Bugs.
Tiny Bug in Camo
Dear Bugman,
This bug is not large or ferocious-looking, but rather, its a tiny brown fleck of a thing that I first thought was a piece of leaf matter or tree bark. I’m sorry that this photo isn’t more detailed, but the critter was only 3 mm’s in length and all I had at the time was a camera phone. The head of the bug is pointing "northeast." Interestingly, if you look at the space between the middle and the last segment, you can barely make out thin brown membranes, which at first I thought were wings. But the bug never flew, and the "wings" looked useless. Maybe its some incomplete evolutionary appendage. At any rate, I hope the photo is clear enough to make-out; studying this insect provided me with a welcome respite from studying for the bar. I’m trying to keep my karma as clean as possible, so I made sure that the bug now happily munching on a leaf somewhere. Any help with identification would be appreciated.
Jason
Memphis, Tennesse
After spending time searching the net, I do believe the critter is a Hawthorn Lace Bug.
Hi Jason,
You letter is one of the numerous letters we just did not have enough time to answer, despite our good intentions. We hare happy you identified this Lace Bug on your own. As there are numerous species of Lace Bugs in the family Tingidae, we do not feel comfortable taking this to the species level, but we are nonetheless quite impressed with your research skills and predict you will make a very competant lawyer.
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Posted 11 July 2007
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I’ve been invaded
Hello, I live in Yucca Valley Ca and over the past week or so these bugs are all over my house. They are everywere. What are they? I haven’t found any information on them. They aren’t on my plants per sey… They are on everything. Any Ideas? Great Websight hope you can help.
Jaymee Elder
Hi Jaymee,
This is an immature Stink Bug, and immature specimens are often much more difficult to positively identify than the winged adults. We did find a close match on BugGuide from Corpus Christi, Texas, but it is not identified to the species level either. We will continue to research this, especially as the numbers are so plentiful. More searching has led us to believe this is a Conchuela Bug, Chlorochroa ligata, which is pictured on BugGuide as an adult. On the Death Valley.net site the adult is described as: “The conchuela is a large black stink bug with a reddish marginal border and a reddish spot in the middle of the back.” If you get a photo of a winged adult, please send it our way. You might also want to try taking it to the nature center in Joshua Tree National Park to see if a ranger has any ideas. Nice French Tips.
Could you please identify this bug for me. A friend of mine was bitten or stung by it and it caused his finger to blister and swell. I would also appreciate any info you could provide also. We live in north central Tennessee. Thank you,
Sue
Hi Sue,
This is the first photo of an adult Wheel Bug we have received this year, though each summer we get numerous excellent submissions. Those can be located on our Assassin Bug pages. We have received immature nymph photos this year, including one report, that we were too busy to post, that lists the Wheel Bug as predatory on Japanese Beetles. Like all Assassin Bugs, Wheel Bugs can deliver a painful bite if mishandled. The Wheel Bug is an important beneficial predatory species.
giant mesquite bug
Hi, I just have to say I love your website!!! I sent in 2 photos of a colorful ‘beetle’ a few days ago, and have been eagerly awaiting your response. Someone told me the bug I found was a ‘Walapai Tiger’ -which freaked me out because I read it can make you really sick. (and we let it crawl all over our hands!) However, as I only looked on your pages from 2007, I was not able to correctly ID my ‘beetle’. I looked through some of your older pages and found out that my ‘beetle’ was actually a giant mesquite bug. I am much relieved to find out its not dangerous. The pictures I sent had my dog, Layne’s, nose in them and I was more concerned for him than myself. I would like to urge readers to look in your archives as some of these insects emerge seasonally (like the Palo Verde Beetle) and there may be info from years past. Thanks for such a wealth of knowledge and a bunch of nice photos! Kudos!!!
Jen
Thank you so much Jen,
First, we must appologize for not answering you sooner, but people don’t realize how long it takes to do a single posting to our site. You original letter and image was on our back burner, but it seems there has been a backlog on the front burners as well due to summertime being peak insect season. We want to thank you for your praise and suggestions as well as for using our archives since that is the reason they are there. Your point about seasonal occurrances is totally accurate. Many casual visitors to our site do not get past the “Ask WTB?” link when the object of their desire is a scroll down the homepage. We have answered countless requests this month for Cicada Killer identifications despite it being the featured Bug of the Month. In this world of instant gratification, many people have gotten lazy. They also don’t realize that here at What’s That Bug? we are artists, not trained entomologists. We derive all of our responses by doing internet research. We are not getting paid and we do not have the time nor energy to research every blurry photo or vague description that is sent our way. Many a letter just goes directly to the trash icon. Again, we had plans to post your lovely image of an adult Giant Mesquite Bug because most of the images of the species Thasus acutangulus are of immature nymphs with their bold coloration. The wings of the adult hide the colorful patterns on the abdomen.
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Posted 08 July 2007
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Bug passion in Costa Rica
Hi Bugman,
I saw this pair while traveling in Costa Rica, and thought it very fitting that they were doing their thing on a passion-flower. Should make a nice addition to your bug-love page, and I’d also love to know what kind of bugs these are. Thanks!
Peter
Hi Peter,
What a gorgeous image of mating Flag Footed Bugs, Anisocelis favolineata or another closely related species in the genus.
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Posted 03 July 2007
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assassin but
Hi.
I live in Cleveland Georgia. My apple tree is being eaten by Japanese Beetles. I read quite a bit about them on the web and mostly learned there are no nature enemies of them. BUT a couple of days ago when I was picking them off my tree, I ran across this threesome. Only 2 of the bugs are clear – the dead/dying J/B and the bug on the bug eating the J/B. I’ve been told it is an assassin bug and after searching the web, I’m figuring it is the blood sucking conenose. Is it? Since this pic, I have found another one in a flowering bush that also is infested with J/B’s. They have not acted aggressive, even when I have almost touched them. Because they like the beetles, I don’t want to run them off!!! Thanks,
Beth
Hi Beth,
We are guessing that you meant Assassin Bug and not “Assassin But” in your subject line. This is not a Blood Sucking Conenose. It is a Bee Assassin, Apiomerus crassipes and BugGuide has a detailed photo for comparison. We doubt that there are enough predators out there to significantly curb the Japanese Beetle emergence each year, but it is nice to see the Assassin Bugs are trying.
Mating Water beetles?
Been a while, but here is one I just couldn’t pass up! We have these little guys in our pool all the time in NW Indiana, yet this was the first time I saw some amourous activities happening….. These little beetles can fly if they are out of the water long, and were coupled for many minutes and not really interested in my closeups.. Hope you enjoy!
Michael Kovacs
Hi Michael,
These are Backswimmers and they are not beetles. They are True Bugs with piercing mouthparts in the family Notonectidae. Thanks for sending us your wonderful image.
What the….
My neighbor "captured" these THINGS which were crawling around by the hundreds on one of her bushes! I can’t find a picture that even vaguely resembles these THINGS. Sorry about the tape. I didn’t want them to get away.
Lindy A
Hi Lindy,
These are Lace Bugs in the family Tingidae. They most resemble a species on BugGuide, Corythucha associata.
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Posted 26 June 2007
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Hello, Mr Bugman!
My name is Antonio. I am from Sao Paulo, Brazil. I took this picture on my backyard. It seems that these colored fellows are enjoying the passionfruits a lot. There are many of these bugs feeding on the fruits. Sometimes they fight against each other for a better place. I would appreciate if you can provide me any information about these insects. Thanks a lot!
Antonio
Hi Antonio,
This is an immature Leaf Footed Bug or Big Legged Bug in the family Coreidae. Sorry we do not know the species. They have sucking mouthparts that they use to feed. In your case, they are feeding on the juice of the Passionfruit. They release an enzyme that is leaving the brown marks evident on the fruit in one of your images.
Hi Daniel,
Thank you for the information. Based on what you said, it was easy to identify the insect in question. This bug is one of the chief plagues of the passionfruit culture in Brazil. It is the Diactor bilineatus. Although they are considered a plague, I think they are funny and so I keep them as pets on my backyard. Best wishes,
Antonio
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Posted 25 June 2007
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Wheel Bug Nymph
I bought my girlfriend a Nikon D40x for her birthday, and we decided to try it out on Wednesday. We went for a nature walk in a wetlands park in southwestern ohio, and came upon this little bug sitting on a wooden post. I would have gotten a shot with it so for size, but crawly things give me the willies! I searched and searched for what it could be, and came upon your website. I believe it’s a Wheel bug Nymph, but I could be wrong! Thanks,
Drew
Hi Drew,
Yes, your are correct. This is a Wheel Bug Nymph. We hope your lucky girlfriend gets to take many more wonderful photos with her fabulous birthday gift.
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