Heteroptera
rss
Banasa Stink Bug
August 11, 2009
I found this stink bug on my porch in upstate NY (near Albany) in late June. I identified it through bugguide.net as Banasa Dimiata, a species of stink bug. I hadn’t seen this species on your site in a few years, so I thought you might like the picture!
Naomi
Albany, NY
Stink Bug: Banasa dimiata
Hi Naomi,
Thanks for sending us your excellent photo of Banasa dimiata, a Stink Bug represented on BugGuide.
Western Conifer Seed Bug Hatchlings?
August 9, 2009
We removed a bush in the front yard a few months ago and it was crawling with thousands of what we later identified as some sort of Western Conifer Seed Bug – using your site to identify them of course! A few days ago one was crawling on our wall and left a trail – my son called it a poop trail. A couple of days later there was a spot on the wall by the trail and looking closer revealed that it was hatchlings. We got a decent shot of the little guys and they have since moved on. Hope you can use this photo.
Holly S.
San Fernando, CA
Leaf Footed Bug Hatchlings
Hi Holly,
There is a matching photo on BugGuide, but it is only identified to the genus level of Leptoglossus, and not to the species level. Though we did not see your adult insect, we are going to go out on a limb and say we believe this to be a close relative of Leptoglossus occidentalis, the Western Conifer Seed Bug. We believe it is Leptoglossus zonatus which is quite in Southern California. Unlike the Western Conifer Seed Bug, it has a jagged white line across the wings. You can see images on BugGuide which also seem to match the unidentified adult image associated with the photo of the hatchlings.
Big red Bug.
August 8, 2009
Can you tell me what this is?
Patrick Robinson
Statesville, NC
Wheel Bug Metamorphosis
Hi Patrick
Your newly metamorphosed Wheel Bug will turn black or dark gray when its exoskeleton hardens. The colors of your photograph are quite striking.
Green Water Beetle?
August 9, 2009
Every year at my cottage me and my friends put together a small aquarium of insects and other animals that we find in our lake. This year we were surprised to catch something none of us had ever seen before. We thought at first that it was a baby Giant Water Beetle, but later on in the trip we caught another one identical to the first in an entirely different part of the lake. This lead us to believe that it was probably something different. I took some pretty good pictures of them before they were released and I was hoping you might be able to help us figure out what they were.
Max
Southern Ontario
Immature Giant Water Bug with Mite
Dear Max,
This is a Giant Water Bug in the genus Belostoma, and it is an immature specimen. Mature specimens have wings and can fly. Most Giant Water Bug images we receive are the much larger members of the genus Lethocerus. Your one image shows an orange speck on the right hind leg that appears to be a mite.
Immature Giant Water Bug
Found in the Everglades
August 8, 2009
Can you identify this bug? This photo was taken in July in the Florida Everglades. We see them occasionally on the plants but have not been able to identify it.
Everglades adventurer
Florida Everglades
Cotton Stainer Nymph
Dear Everglades adventurer,
This is an immature Cotton Stainer in the genus Dysdercus, most probably Dysdercus suturellus. You can see additional images on BugGuide.
Litte red bugs, on a cicada shell?
August 7, 2009
I found these little red bugs which look like ants with tiny antennas all over a cicada shell. I have no idea what they are!
Shannon
Oklahoma
Hemipteran Nymphs on Cicada Exoskeleton
Dear Shannon,
All we are able to determine from your photo is that these are immature Hemipterans, but why they are on the Cicada exoskeleton is the curious question. We believe the Hemipterans might be immature Milkweed Assassin Bugs, but your photo lacks the detail necessary to be certain. It is possible there were fluids left after the Cicada metamorphosis, and the Assassin Nymphs are feeding on the fluids.
Kind of insect species
August 7, 2009
Black and orange in color
Doesn’t matter
Long Island, New York
Large Milkweed Bug
Dear Doesn’t Matter,
No one would ever accuse you of verbosity. This is a Large Milkweed Bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus. Both adults and immature wingless nymphs feed the seeds of milkweed by sucking on the juices. According to BugGuide: “Eggs are laid in milkweed seed pods or in crevices between pods. About 30 eggs are laid a day, and about 2,000 over a female’s lifespan, which lasts about a month during the summer. One or more generations per year. Adults overwinter.”
This just stung/bit my baby! What is it??
August 7, 2009
This bug was in the pool and could swim, it was hiding on the tile and bit/stung my son. His hand is swelling up but I dont know what it is to even start treating it. Please help!
Nicole
Orlando Florida
Toe-Biter
I just identified this same insect that bit/stung my baby son this morning. We were in the pool and he started shreaking. I have googled for hours to find out how to treat this wound.
I need to know if its poisonous and if I should do something medically for my son. Any information would be helpful
Thanks
Nicole
Toe-Biter: Dead after biting Child in Pool
Dear Nicole,
We should begin this answer by stating that we are not scientists and any information that we provide, though we do research our replies as thoroughly as possible, is an amateur opinion. Secondly, we are not trained in the medical profession and do not give medical advice for bites and stings. Third, we do not normally provide parenting advice, but we feel you should have sought professional medical attention for your son immediately rather than to try to self diagnose on the internet. Any information you receive on the internet, and that includes What’s That Bug?, should be considered questionable at best.
The bite of a Toe-Biter or Giant Water Bug is reported to be quite painful, and you son’s reaction to the bite would tend to support that notion. Giant Water Bugs are not considered dangerous or venomous insects, but the swelling of your son’s hand may be cause for concern. We would counsel you to seek medical attention.
We at What’s that Bug would like to use this encounter with the Toe-Biter as a cautionary tale that is instructive and might reduce Unnecessary Carnage of bugs that appear menacing in the future. Toe-Biters are not normally aggressive, but they will bite if threatened or carelessly handled. This is not a reason to kill them when they are encountered as they perform a necessary function in a balanced ecosystem by preying upon other aquatic creatures. It should also be noted that if a person is bitten by a questionable insect, spider, or scorpion, it is often helpful to have the actual specimen handy for experts to diagnose the potential need for venom antibodies. So in this sense, we do not consider this particular dead Toe-Biter to be Unnecessary Carnage.
We wish your son a speedy recovery and hope his trauma is short-lived and that he will learn to appreciate the sometimes scary world of nature that abounds around him.
Unnecessary Carnage Comment
August 9, 2009
RE: unnecessary carnage
I love your site, and visit it several times a day. Many thanks for posting such lovely images and so much information (you helped me ID a one-eyed Sphinx moth here in Seattle)! I also love the fact that you tell folks when they have committed an act of unnecessary carnage, but sadly, you have been very hesitant to do so lately… Please don’t let one or two unhinged people keep you from providing a vital service- letting humans know that insects are innocent until proven guilty!
Leah S.
Southern Arizona
August 5, 2009
My aunt and uncle live in Benson Az. and their trees are full of these beautiful critters
strube1369
Southern Arizona
Giant Mesquite Bug
Dear strube1369,
Your relative’s trees are mesquite trees and this is a Giant Mesquite Bug, Thasus neocalifornicus. The immature nymphs are even more colorful.
Tiny, spiky bug
July 30, 2009
This little guy came inside with some flowers and I almost missed him as he was crawling around on my furniture. He was truly minute; my camera didn’t even pick up on him so the picture quality is bad. As a size reference, he literally had to climb up onto the white placemat in the picture. You’ll be happy to know I took his picture and then carefully carried him back outside on a leaf and put him back on the flowers.
As cute as he was, he probably would have been pretty scary looking if he had been bigger. You can see he is covered in spikes and he had a pretty severe proboscis. I don’t even know where to start looking as far as how to identify him. Thank you for you help.
Lisa
East Central Missouri
Hi Lisa,
This is an immature nymph of one of the spiny Assassin Bugs in the genus Sinea that is well represented on BugGuide. It sounds like you are a gardener, so you will be happy to know that Assassin Bugs are important predators, but they must be handled with caution as they will bite and certain species are reported to have very painful bites.
unknown bug in garden
July 29, 2009
I found this bug clinging to a carrot plant in my garden this afternoon, and I am totally stumped. I’m guessing that it’s molting (but the more I look, the less sure I am), but, even trying to imagine it without the baggage on its back, I have no clue what it is. And really I’m just stoked to finally have a reason to write in!
Ernie
Cripple Creek, VA
Ambush Bug
Hi Ernie,
This is a Jagged Ambush Bug in the genus Phymata. Not long ago, Ambush Bugs had their own family, but recently they have been demoted to a subfamily of the Assassin Bugs, Reduviidae. These small predators are well camouflaged on plants and flowers where they wait for their prey.
Not a Bed Bug
July 29, 2009
Over the past week, I’ve been subjected to a series of mysterious and painfully swollen bites. I never felt the bites when they occurred but after noticing them they would itch and swell up to a size a bit larger than a golfball.
Unable to find any other source I took my bed apart and discovered this lurking between the mattress and springs. I captured it with a tissue intending to transfer it to a jar for identification, but my grandmother asked to see it and then promptly crushed it when it moved.
When I asked her why she said “It had blood in it, it must be what bit you.” I am not quite so ready to assign guilt based on largely circumstantial evidence, so I was hoping you could provide an identification.
David
Missouri, North of Kansas City, My Bed
Eastern Blood-Sucking Conenose Bug
Hi David,
In this case, Grandma was right. This is an Eastern Blood-Sucking Conenose Bug, Triatoma sanguisuga. According to BugGuide: “Blood of mammals, especially Eastern Wood Rat, Neotoma floridana. Also feeds on bed bugs and other insects. Feeds at night” and “Sometimes bites humans, and the bite may be severe, causing an allergic reaction. See guide page for genus.” The genus page on BugGuide indicates: “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–see Kissing bugs (Triatoma) and the skin. The CDC page on Chagas’ Disease says that ‘Rare vectorborne cases of Chagas disease have been noted in the southern United States.’” We have an Unnecessary Carnage section of our site devoted to harmless insects that were killed unnecessarily. This killing was justified and does not warrent posting on our Unnecessary Carnage section.
