Stumped!
Location: South Central TX
July 19, 2010 11:01 pm
I found these two critters outside on a cherry tomato in my garden last week (around July 15th). I mistook them for giant ants at first, but a couple of days after I captured them, the one on the right shed its skin. I suspect they are some type of seed bug, but I can’t find anything that looks just like them online. They each have a single piercing mouthpart. Each insect is approximately 1/2” long.
Elisabeth
Texas Bow-Legged Bugs (nymph and imago)
Hi Elisabeth,
We anticipated a potentially lengthy identification search for your True Bugs, but we quickly stumbled upon the Texas Bow-Legged Bug, Hyalymenus tarsatus, one of the Broad-Headed Bugs in the family Alydidae on BugGuide. BugGuide indicates “Immature stages are ant mimics.“ The specimen on the left in your photograph is an immature nymph. Of the family, Alydidae, BugGuide indicates: “All phytophagous” and “Many stink worse than stink bugs, Pentatomidae.”
¶ Posted 20 July 2010 § ‡ ° Black & Red Beetle-ish Thing
July 14, 2010
Photographed this guy in my friend Ellen’s garden, off Rt. 53 just south of Charlottesville, VA, last month (June). Wondering if you can tell me what it is… Thanks!
Kathy
Charlottesville, VA
Bee Assassin
Hi Kathy,
True Bugs like your Bee Assassin, Apiomerus crassipes, can be distinguished from beetles by their piercing and sucking mouthparts as opposed to the chewing mouthparts of beetles. Bee Assassins get their common name from their habit of waiting on flowers for bees and other pollinating insects to arrive, only to quickly become a meal.
Wow, Daniel! Thanks for the quick reply! I appreciate it…
–Kathy
Aquatic transformer bug…?
July 10, 2010
I found a bug very similar to Jason’s (of Folsom) bug. Only, mine was a bit fatter. It was the exact same circumstances too. I had just shocked my pool.
I found it coming out of one of the filters. I swam about with two long legs, almost like how a frog swims. I thought to myself, “how the heck is this thing living?” Like Jason said, it must have had a serious chlorine tolerance. I scooped it out of the pool promptly. It started to kinda writhe around and then began to try to walk with its two long legs. Then it stopped, like it gave up. I thought it had died, but to my amazement, it tucked its two long legs into itself, and its back sprouted wings, like how a lady bug does! It didn’t fly very fast. It actually looked drunk. I guess it sniffed out the pool, because I watched it fly right back into it. As soon as it was underwater again, it tucked its wings back in, and shot out its two long “frog” legs, and swam away.
I swear to you that this is completely true. At first I almost thought it was an alien. This was 3 days ago, and I’ve been searching the pool since to try to get a photo or video, but I can’t find it again. Please let me know if you have any idea. I want to know if I can let my kids swim in the pool again.
Baffled…
Santa Cruz, CA
Backswimmer
Dear Baffled,
The insect in your photo is a Backswimmer in the family Notonectidae. Backswimmers are aquatic insects that can fly from one body of water to another. Since there are probably not many other insects to prey upon in your pool, we suspect that the hungry Backswimmer has probably relocated to more fruitful hunting grounds. Backswimmers, because they are capable of delivering a painful bite, are sometimes called Water Bees or Water Wasps according to BugGuide.
Huge Roach-like bug; Large eyes
July 8, 2010
Hello. I found this very large bug slowly working it’s way down the hallway of our building, in Tampa FL.
It seems to be slowly dying, or maybe just really sleepy, as it is not moving very much, and only slowly when startled.
It looks like a roach in shape, but it has large eyes, and a pointed nose(?) that goes down it’s underside, and no antennea. Unless they broke off before I saw them. It also has very large front legs. The back legs are wide and flat. It is brown/green in color, with stripes on it’s underside. It’s so big I can actually see when it takes a breath. It measures 2.5″ in length.
Please let me know what you think this bug is.
Thank you for your time!
Steve
Tampa, FL
Toe-Biter
Just posted bug for ID, but found it in UC
July 8, 2010
Hello again,
I just sent you some pic’s of a large roach like bug with large eyes. In fact, I think the subject line was very close to that…
Anyway, after submitting my bug, I happened to look at your Unnecessary Carnage page, and happened upon the same bug I found. It turned out to be a Giant Water Bug (Belostomatidae).
The reason I am writing you back is to inform you that after I found out what he was, I proceded to take him outside to the run-off ditch, and put him in the water. He definitely perked up after that! I also noticed the over-abundance of tadpoles that were swimming around in the ditch, and have no doubt he’ll be feasting on some of them in due time.
No unnecessary carnage here today!
Keep up the great work!
Steve
Toe-Biter
Hi Steve,
Were it not for your wonderful followup report, we probably would have just provided you with an answer and not posted your letter. Thanks for taking the time to research your Giant Water Bug. They are quite clumsy on land, but in the air or in water they are quite streamlined.
Orange Spiky Bug
July 7, 2010
Hi, here’s an interesting one! This spiny, orange bug was attached to our dogs coat when she came in from the yard-lot’s of woods here in middle GA (Mid July-summer). It looked half dead when we plucked it off her fur and put it on the table for closer inspection. The small strands of dog hair seemed to be tripping him up quite a bit, he was moving sooo slowly. When he finally managed to untangle himself he bolted, ran clear to the edge of the table and jumped! It was incredible! We would like to know what this magnificent little specimen is called so we can learn more about him. Thanks so much!
Courtney
Middle Georgia
Sycamore Assassin Bug nymph
Hi Courtney,
This is an immature Assassin Bug in the genus Pselliopus, called a Sycamore Assassin Bug, and you may compare your image to photographs posted to BugGuide. Assassin Bugs are predators with piercing/sucking mouthparts that should be handled with caution as they might bite.
Is this bug dangerous?
July 6, 2010
We found this bug on a sunflower this summer. We have other bugs shaped like it but they are black with a small amount of reddish orange on the tips of their wings or backs (they seem to be flightless). Since this one was colored in this very unusual way we were concerned it could possibly be dangerous, as many insects with these types of color schemes are.
Thanks for your help! Heather in Mesa
Mesa, Arizona (the Sonoran Desert)
Yellow Bellied Bee Assassin
Hi Heather,
The coloration of this Yellow Bellied Bee Assassin, Apiomerus flaviventris, could well be warning coloration as it will bite, and the bite can be painful. Usually, such warning coloration is used to ward off predators, and it is a topic to ponder when that warning coloration is sported by a predatory species, like the Yellow Bellied Bee Assassin, since it might also warn prospective prey. According the the genus information page on BugGuide: “It pounces on Honey Bees and other pollinating insects. It holds the captive in its powerful legs, thrusts its cutting beak into the victim’s back, injects an immobilizing digestive agent, then sucks out the body juices.“
1
Beetles Covering All My Junipers!
July 3, 2010
These bugs/beetles showed up a couple of days ago. They are covering almost all of the bush and they are on all of the junipers, but on the Pinon Pine trees. At first glance from a distance we thought they were bees,. They sometimes fly up a ways and hover around the juniper bush and then land again. I can’t see them actually eating on the leaves or berries. We seem to have two types of native junipers on the property. One has blueish berries, and the other doesn’t have berries and is more scraggly, I think they are both California Junipers.
Randy & Leilani
California High Desert Mountains
Western Leaf-Footed Bugs
Hi Randy and Leilani,
Your insect is one of the Leaf-Footed Bugs in the genus Leptoglossus. We believe it is Leptoglossus clypealis based on information posted to BugGuide, which indicates: “A spine extending forwards from the tip of the nose (technically known as the tylus) distinguishes this species” though it is somewhat difficult to make out this physical feature in your photograph. BugGuide does not provide a common name for the species, and the remarks include: “Can be a pest in pistacio and almond orchards because it feeds on the nuts.“ If we turn to our print sources for information, there is a species called the Western Leaf-Footed Bug, Leptoglossus clypealus, mentioned by Charles Hogue in his wonderful book, Insects of the Los Angeles Basin. We suspect that the two species are the same, but BugGuide does not list the Hogue spelling as an alternative. Hogue writes: “It is usually found on junipers in the more arid eastern portions of the basin.” There is no indication in either Hogue or BugGuide as to what the insects feeds upon on the juniper. It is our own experience that the Western Leaf-Footed Bug feeds on the fruit of pomegranates and tomatoes, causing unsightly bruising of the fruit because of the digestive enzymes that are injected into the fruit when the insect feeds with its piercing and sucking mouthparts. According to the Illinois Natural History Survey website: “Although it may occur in large numbers, this species is normally not a serious pest. It can, however, damage pistachio and almond seeds when populations are large.“ More information can be found on the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program website.
Western Leaf-Footed Bug
¶ Posted 05 July 2010 § ‡ ° High quality grapevine beetle photos, and eastern bloodsucking conenose (I think)
July 2, 2010
Hey bugman,
the other night I was outside taking photos of the Conenose (I believe courtesy of bugguide, thats what it is), which was sitting beside the outside light, when I suddenly heard loud buzzing. I turned around and saw what I thought to be a large june beetle and after a few rather pathetic attempts to grab it as it was flying I finally made a good attempt and caught what turned out to be a grapevine beetle instead. I was so happy as I had never found a grapevine beetle and had always wanted to. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoy your website.
Michael Davis
Seymour (just south of Knoxville), Tennessee zip code 37865
Eastern Blood-Sucking Conenose Bug
Hi Michael,
Thanks for sending us your high quality photos. We will be uploading your photos in separate postings to simplify our archives. Our readership will benefit from your excellent image of an Eastern Blood-Sucking Conenose Bug, Triatoma sanguisuga, which is profiled on BugGuide.
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