Heteroptera
rss unknown bug
Location: Oklahoma City
October 30, 2010 2:56 pm
I’ve heard it’s a Japanese Suicide Bug & a Wheel Bug. I’d love to know what it is.
Thanks
Signature: @ScottMo
Wheel Bug
Dear ScottMo,
Wheel Bug is the approved common name for North America’s largest Assassin Bug, but we are quite intrigued with the name Japanese Suicide Bug. The Wheel Bug will be our featured Bug of the Month for November.
Is this related to your October 2010 Bug of the Month?
Location: Wilmington, MA
October 30, 2010 8:56 pm
Hi!
I have seen about dozen of these bugs around my home in the past couple months. I live in Wilmington, MA. I’ve never seen anything like this before. There was a good lull between the last one I saw and the one today. I was losing hope because I would love to have this identified. This bug doesn’t stink, that I’m aware of, though we do have a dog and two cats, so I may just be blaming a stink in the house on them! This bug is slow crawling, almost like it thinks I won’t see it if it doesn’t move/moves slowly. But once I caught it, it moved much quicker. Also, one of the bugs about a month ago did fly, which scared the bejesus out of me because I wasn’t expecting it! I hope I’m not rambling too much and provided enough information! Thanks for your help!!
Signature: Christine L
Western Conifer Seed Bug
Dear Christine,
You have provided a photo of a Western Conifer Seed Bug, one of the Leaf Footed Bugs in the family Coreidae. The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug is in the family Pentatomidae, but both families are considered True Bugs in the suborder Heteroptera. Like Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs, the Western Conifer Seed Bugs will enter homes to hibernate as the cooler weather arrives. They will not harm you, your pets or your home. They just want to come in out of the cold. The Western Conifer Seed Bug is native to the Pacific Northwest, but beginning in the 1960s, there was a significant range expansion that now includes much of Eastern North America. It is unclear if this was a natural range expansion, or if there was human intervention, or if it can be attributed to global warming. In the early twenty first century, reports began to arrive that the species was becoming established in Northern Europe.
The Armored Assassin
Jagged Ambush Bug
The Armored Assassin
Location: Mid-Missouri
October 29, 2010 9:34 pm
While I love all bugs, I think one of my favorite has to be the Ambush Bug. It is just a armored shell of terror. He sits hidden inside or behind a flower bloom waiting for his prey to land for their last sip of nectar. He emits a type of authority and force like I rarely see in the insect world. Sure, all Assassin Bugs are made up of terror to other insects, but to me, none give that incredible look of strength in the same way as the Ambush Bug. For me, this is as good as it gets and I feel fortunate to have had about half a dozen sightings of them this year..many times with prey in hand.
Here are 3 of my favorite pictures from the past couple months of my favorite assassin bug….if not my favorite bug, period.
My ID: Jagged Ambush Bug – Phymata fasciata (I’m certain on Phymata, fairly certain on Phymata fasciata).
Signature: Nathanael Siders
Ambush Bug feeds on Skipper
Hi Nathanael,
Thanks again for submitting some wonderful images as well as your first hand observations. Ambush Bugs were originally classified in their own family, but recent years have seen a change in the taxonomy, and they are now a subfamily of the Assassin Bugs. We agree that this is a Jagged Ambush Bug in the genus Phymata, though we do not feel qualified enough to determine the exact species as the members of the genus are all quite similar. Can you recall the identity of the prey in your one photo? It appears to be a Skipper butterfly.
Jagged Ambush Bug
You are correct, it was a skipper that became his meal. I have also seen them eating syrphids a good bit around my house.
Wheel bug casualty of midwestern storm- detailed pic
Location: Southwestern Ohio
October 27, 2010 7:10 pm
I found this wheel bug (?) quite dead in some leaf debris on my parents’ deck. From what I’ve heard, this was a smallish one. I thought this photo showed the distinctive wheel and the proboscis pretty well.
Signature: Kitsa
Wheel Bug
Hi Kitsa,
Thank you for sending this photo of a Wheel Bug that did not survive the storm. We have already decided that we are receiving so many Wheel Bug identification requests this month that we are making it the Bug of the Month for November even though it held the exact same honor in November of 2008.
Close Encounter of the bug kind!
Location: Carroll County, Maryland
October 25, 2010 7:38 pm
Hi there, I had a close encounter with this bug today (He decided to hitch a ride on my jacket!) I screamed at it, I flinged it off my jacket, but I did not resort to creating carnage despite passerby suggestions… any idea what it is? It has to be one of the largest bugs I’ve ever seen – I’d estimate about two inches long or so.
(Sorry about the picture quality, best I could manage with my phone.)
Signature: Angela in Maryland
Wheel Bug
Hi Angela,
We have gotten numerous images of Wheel Bugs in the past week, but we have not posted any of them after supplying a brief answer regarding the bug’s identity. Since there have been so many sightings recently, we have decided to post your letter (with its subject line that caught our attention) and your photo even though your photo does not adequately illustrate the coglike crest on the thorax that gives North America’s largest Assassin Bug its common name.
HornedBug
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
October 22, 2010 7:47 am
I found this guy in my garden on a rose bush. There were two of them close to one another, I moved this one to get a pic and then when I wanted to return it (to it’s mate) it flew away. It was probably just over an inch in length.
Signature: Rudi
Hi,
I just sent in a request earlier, but have found the answer.
The “orange antennae” is how I got to the identification. Should probably add that key to my pic if you’d like to add it.
It is a leaf footed bug,
Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Leaf-footed Bugs (Coreidae) » Acanthocephala
Regards
Rudi
Tip Wilter
Hi Rudi,
True Bugs in the family Coreidae are often called Leaf Footed Bugs or Flag Footed Bugs, though a third common name, Big Legged Bug, seems most appropriate in your case. Those thoracic protuberances are quite impressive. We haven’t the time to research a species name at the moment, but there are some unmistakable similarities to the genus Acanthocephala from North America, including the Acanthocephala confraterna pictured on BugGuide. Just before hitting post, we did a quick search and found images of a Tip Wilter, Anoplocnemis curvipes, on the Biodiversity Explorer website that closely resembles your insect.
P.S. We didn’t notice your second email until we began to research this posting.
Tip Wilter
A cool Korean bug
Location: Korea
October 19, 2010 4:23 pm
Hi!
This interesting specimen was spotted in Korea. I recognized hemipteran features, and after a little research, I thought it was probably pentatomoidean; maybe genus Eurydema.
Am I right? Can we narrow down the species?
Thanks!,
Signature: Brian J Bowers
Clown Stink Bug, we believe
Hi Brian,
This is certainly a Stink Bug in the family Pentatomidae. We opened your letter last night and selected the image as one we wanted to research in the morning, and we got trapped in the horrible software update cycle that required quitting most of what we were doing before we could resume posting. We had begun researching and we followed some leads beginning with a five year old posting on our site of a Clown Stink Bug nymph, Poecilocoris lewisi, but old links we provided were no longer active. Interestingly, the person who submitted that image was led to our site because Randy Cassingham had selected us as the Bonzer Web Site of the Week. We then searched for some new links of pictures of the adult, and though the markings were very similar to your image, the black appears to be green metallic like this Korean post card. We did find one Korean website with images identified as Poecilocoris lewisi that look like your photo. That still seems to be a closer match than the Eurydema images that Google produces.
Little red guys near ant hills
Location: Lake Forest, CA (South Orange County)
October 17, 2010 10:46 pm
We found these tiny guys hanging out around ant hills on a trail on a foggy day. They’re so small that at first I thought they were seeds, and I think the only reason we noticed them was because we were studying the ant hills. They were slow and varied in size. The biggest ones were about 1/3 the size of a lady bug. They seemed to cluster together but the ants did not seem to take any interest.
Signature: Jason and Lizzie
Unknown Hemipteran Nymph
Hi Jason and Lizzie,
The identification of unknown Hemipteran nymphs from blurry photographs is a difficult venture, but the information you provided about the ant hill should prove very helpful. Right now we are confident that your Hemipterans are in the superfamily Pentatomoidea, which is well represented on Bugguide. The likeliest candidates are Ebony Bugs in the family Thyreocoridea (see BugGuide) or Burrowing Bugs in the family Cydnidae (see BugGuide). We have been unable to quickly locate any symbiotic relationships with ants. Perhaps our readership will be able to uncover additional information since we must rush off to work for now.
Unknown Hemipteran Nymphs
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