Virgin Island’s Bug
Location: Virgin Island
July 26, 2010 9:58 pm
Found these while on a trip to the Virgin Islands. The only name we found from a local was ’love bugs.’ I can only assume given by their orgy like piles. I was wondering what these little guys were. They had such a beautiful color I had to photograph.
In a side note, I live in southern Ohio and get all sorts of bugs inside. I hate the idea of using chemicals to kill them. Do you have any suggestions for deterrents for your common bugs? I once heard crab apples worked on spiders?
Michael
Aggregation of St. Andrew's Cotton Stainers
Hi Michael,
The winged adults and wingless nymphs of many True Bugs, including the St. Andrew’s Cotton Stainers, Dysdercus andreae, in your photo form large aggregations. Though mating does occur in these situations, the aggregations are thought to help the survival of the species because of the safety in numbers syndrome. We have heard that folks in Ohio use ripe Osage Oranges to deter insects, but we cannot confirm that it works.
¶ Posted 27 July 2010 § ‡ ° Can you tell me what kind of beetle this is?
Location: Massachusetts
July 26, 2010 10:10 pm
Hello- I’ve searched your site for this beetle but I don’t think I’ve seen it. We live in Massachusetts. Thank you for any help you can provide.
Maureen
Green Stink Bug Nymph
Hi Maureen,
This is a immature Stink Bug in the family Pentatomidae. We believe it is a Green Stink Bug, Chinavia hilaris, based on images posted to BugGuide. True Bugs in the suborder Heteroptera are often confused with Beetles in the order Coleoptera, but beetles have chewing mouthparts and True Bugs have piercing/sucking mouthparts.
Unidentified Insect
Location: NE Tucson, AZ.
July 26, 2010 11:04 pm
Over the past couple of days, I have witnessed countless millions of the attached bugs migrate from the north and slowly make their way toward the south. I have been trying to identify them but am having trouble. People who have lived here for 30 years or better have never seen anything like this. Therefore, I find it interesting to be able to see this, but would like to know what kind of insect it is.
I can provide whatever information you require, I am just very curious what these things are and why they are moving by the millions through the desert.
Another site told me today that they are some kind of Nymph of a “True Insect”, but he couldn’t tell me anything more about it.
I hope you can help.
Thank You,
T. Cook
Unknown Immature Seed Bugs
Dear T. Cook,
Alas, after a quick search of BugGuide, we are unable to tell you anything new. These are Immature True Bugs in the suborder Heteroptera. We will try to contact Eric Eaton to see if he is able to provide additional information.
Eric Eaton Responds
July 27, 2010
Lygaeidae is my best guess. Maybe Neocoryphus for a genus? Lots of adults seen recently anyway.
Eric
Thanks Eric,
We will link to the BugGuide page on the Whitecrossed Seed Bug, Neacoryphus bicrucis.
¶ Posted 27 July 2010 § ‡ ° Assassinated and Form Problem
July 26, 2010 8:01 PM
Hi Daniel,
Just tried submitting this picture via the form but as per last time got the error message “Failed to send your message. Please try later.”
Anyway, thought you might like this for your foodchain pages. This is an Orange Ground Assassin Bug, Ectomocoris patricius, that has come off second best to an ant colony.
regards,
Trevor
Orange Ground Assassin Bug eaten by Ants
Hi Trevor,
Thanks for taking the trouble to send this image to us via different channels. Please let us know if the form continues to give you problems when submitting photos because we do not want any interruption in our reception of the fabulous images you provide us from Australia.
1
Green thing eating a fly?
Location: Guelph, Ontario, Canada
July 25, 2010 4:21 pm
Saw this bug on a walk today. Looks like it’s eating a fly. It’s summer and I live in Ontario Canada.
Brittany
Ambush Bug eats Flesh Fly
Hi Brittany,
My, this is a beautiful photograph of an Ambush Bug eating a Flesh Fly. Ambush Bugs in the subfamily Phumatinae (See BugGuide) have recently been downgraded from having their own family status to being considered a subfamily of the Assassin Bugs. Ambush Bugs wait on flowers to ambush their prey, often insects that pollinate the flowers. The fly in your photograph looks like a Flesh Fly in the family Sarcophagidae. Our own Mt. Washington, Los Angeles offices have recently been host to Flesh Flies which seem to enter when the doors are open. We find several indoors every week. Flesh Flies maggots feed on rotted meat, be it animal carcasses or putrefied meat from the market. Adults feed on sweet fluids including nectar (hence the ambush on the blossom), sap and fruit juice. See BugGuide for more information.
The eggs hatched!
Location: Charlottesville, VA, US
July 22, 2010 1:42 pm
I’d thought they were butterfly eggs, but obviously not. What are these things, do you know? and will they hurt my basil and pepper plants?
THANKS!!
Kathy
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Hatchlings
Hi Kathy,
These are newly hatched Harlequin Stink Bugs, Murgantia histrionica. We verified their identity by matching them to a photo on BugGuide. According to BugGuide: “Sucks on juices of plants in the mustard/cabbage family (Brassicaceae). Can be a very serious crop pest.” Basil and pepper and not in the family Brassicaceae, but if the eggs were laid on those plants, it is possible that they may also provide a food source. Stink Bugs have piercing/sucking mouthparts, and they feed on the fluids of the plants. If the Harlequin Stink Bugs are particularly plentiful, they may cause irreparable damage to young and sensitive plants.
Cool. Thanks very much for the response.
–Kathy
Correction: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Hatchlings
July 1, 2011
Thanks to Jean who provided a comment with the correction.
Backswimmer abdominal hairs
Location: Santa Cruz Mountains
July 22, 2010 2:45 pm
Hello Bugpeople,
I saw a few letters concerning backswimmers and thought you might like to see this photo I took in my sister’s pool that inadvertantly captured extremely long hair-like structures on the abdomen of the backswimmer. I’d never seen them before until I enlarged the photo. I assumed they would be for breathing (extracting oxygen directly from the water?), but apparently they just help hold the abdomen at the surface of the water.
Incidently, I tried my hand at raising a few chickens a couple of years ago. I learned that everything loves the taste of chickens: raccoons, coopers hawks, coyotes, etc. I did manage to get a couple to egg-laying age, and had a nice run for a while (loved those fresh rich eggs), but eventually a wily coyote found his way into the enclosure and finished them off. While they were here, though, they were the happiest chickens on the planet – a full half-acre to run around on, and I fed them termites and other pests when I encountered them.
Fellow Bug Lover Dave
Backswimmer
Hi Dave,
Thanks for the great letter and wonderful images of a Backswimmer. We will need to do a bit of research on the hair subject, but we didn’t want to wait to post your letter.
Thanks also for the tips on chicken predators. We were very mindful of making the chicken coop very secure. The chicken run is only four foot high chicken wire, but we don’t plan on letting the chickens out of the coop without supervision, at least until they are much larger. We will lock our chickens, we just named the gold one Ginger, into the coop each night which should keep them safe from nocturnal raccoons and owls, and coyotes that pose a greater threat at night. Our biggest fear is the hawks, especially Cooper Hawks which feed on the doves that come to our bird feeder. There are also Red Shouldered Hawks and Red Tail Hawks in the neighborhood, but the smaller Cooper Hawks are the ones we are most nervous about.
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