Two mystery bugs
September 21, 2009
Bug #1 – Brown, six legged with wings and looks to be a stinger. About 2 inches long. Found dead on our driveway.
Bug #2 – Brown and white spotted bugs with orange spots almost like a lady bug. Found on our althea red heart hibiscus buds.
Heather Korn
West Tennessee
Mole Cricket
Dear Heather,
We frown on unrelated insects in the same posting as it compromises our archiving process, so we will address Bug #2 separately. We have gotten numerous requests worldwide recently for Mole Cricket identifications. We have responded to some without posting the images and your photo is quite nice, so we have decided it is time to post a new image of a Mole Cricket on our site. Mole Crickets are found underground and some species are capable of flight.
Hi and thanks for the information. I apologize for posting unrelated insects in the same posting and will remember not to do so in the future. Your answers are very helpful and informative, I appreciate it.
Thanks again for your time and have a great day.
¶ Posted 22 September 2009 § ‡ ° What is this parasite on the cricket?
September 1, 2009
We found a wild cricket with the lump on its side. We were not sure if it was a growth or a parasite. Later I found another one and removed the lump. It appears to have legs and was attatched at only one point. The pictures show one with the parasite attatched. The other shows the underside of the parasite.
David and Deanna Brown
Clark County Indiana, in a garden.
Cricket with Parasite
Hi David and Deanna,
About a year ago, we posted a similar image and surmised that it might be a Tachinid Fly that had parasitized the cricket in question and linked to an online article on Tachinids parasitizing Crickets. Eric Eaton then provided us with this information: “Hi, Daniel: The object protruding from the deceased cricket is indeed a fly puparium (the rigid last larval ’skin’ enclosing a fly pupa). It could certainly be a tachinid fly, but there are also other flies that are parasitic on crickets, especially some members of the flesh fly family (Sarcophagidae). I’d personally be hard-pressed to identify even the adult fly once it emerges, though a dipterist (fly expert) could. Eric“ We will contact Eric Eaton to see if he agrees. The most common cricket parasite written about online is a Horsehair Worm.
Parasite taken from Cricket
Eric Eaton offers a suggestion: Rhopalosomatid Wasps
Daniel:
The cricket parasite is probably not a tachinid. See this:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/71173
Wish I had more time to expand on this, but I don’t at the moment.
Eric
Two-Spotted Tree Cricket
August 13, 2009
i too live in Ohio, near Dayton. just last night, i found a male two-spotted tree cricket on my kitchen blinds. i searched the internet in hopes to identify it, and found my answer here. my cricket had the same body, but was different in color – light all over with red eyes! i don’t see where I can upload a pic to show you, but thanks for the help!
betsy
Tree Cricket
Hi Betsy,
We cannot be certain that this is a Two Spotted Tree Cricket, but it is definitely some species of Tree Cricket.
¶ Posted 13 August 2009 § ‡ ° Red-headed insect
August 11, 2009
I found this creature on my screen door this morning. It did not move all day. I could not make out wings, but they could be held flat to the body. I was thinking some kind of grasshopper relative? The striking red head was very distinctive. We live in central ohio and it is mid-August. Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you, Jennifer N.
Central Ohio
Two Spotted Tree Cricket
Hi Jennifer,
We are confident that we have identified your Tree Cricket as a Two-Spotted Tree Cricket, Neoxabea bipunctata, based on images posted to BugGuide. Additionally, we believe this is a female based on the description: “Reddish-brown head and foreparts, usually fading to pale yellowish toward rear. Female has two elongated blackish spots on tegmen (forewings). Hind tibiae do not have spines. Basal segment of antennae has a blunt tooth on the outer side.”
¶ Posted 12 August 2009 § ‡ ° Did we stump you
August 8, 2009
Haven’t heard back..Did I stump you?
Bian
New Jersey
Handsome Trig
Hi Bian,
We did not see your identification request the first time you sent it. We consulted with Eric Eaton on this and his response is: “Daniel: Ok, the cricket is a nymph of a female redheaded bush cricket, Phyllopalpus pulchellus. Nice image. They really are a gaudy insect, especially when they are young:-) Eric“ We are linking to the Bugguide information page on the Red Headed Bush Cricket which is also called the Handsome Trig. We have a vague recollection of that unusual name being in the news recently with regards to the national elections.
¶ Posted 09 August 2009 § ‡ ° Possible grasshopper
July 19, 2009
Dear WTB,
We found this bug inside our kayak yesterday while rinsing it out. We’re not sure if it came from the reservoir we just came from or from our yard. It’s just under 3 inches long and the antennae are twice the size of it’s body. We’ve never seen anything like this before and would appreciate if you could identify it for us. Thanks!
Jackie M.
Flemington, NJ
Cave Cricket
Hi Jackie,
This is a Camel Cricket or Cave Cricket in the family Rhaphidophoridae. According to BugGuide, they live in “Cool damp places – caves, rotten logs, under leaves or rocks. Will not reproduce indoors unless they find continuous dark, moist conditions.“ We believe your individual may be in the genus Diestrammena. Cave Crickets can jump several feet and often startle residents who discover them in the basement.
¶ Posted 19 July 2009 § ‡ ° My girlfriend is scared
Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 9:04 PM
We have been finding these bugs on the carpet in the last week. We moved in to the house about a month ago. The weather has been unseasonably cold here but it is nearing the later part of winter. The house is on a crawl space and we have hard wood flooring in the living room
Concerned
Rochester Hills Mi
Camel Cricket
Dear Concerned,
This is a Camel Cricket in the family Rhaphidophoridae and it was our featured Bug of the Month last month. Though they can be a nuisance in the home, Camel Crickets are harmless. What appears to be a stinger is actually the ovipositor, the organ the female uses for depositing eggs. The Camel Crickets are probably proliferating in the crawl space and somehow finding their way inside.
¶ Posted 05 February 2009 § ‡ ° Flying and crwling bug – Namibia
Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 12:49 PM
Hi bugman. Found this bug in my livingroom, it flyies towards light, like a moth, makes no sounds, shell very hard. What is it?
Claudia
Windhoek City, Namibia, Africa
Mole Cricket
Hi Claudia,
It is interesting that a disproportionate number of recent letters have been from Namibia. This is a Mole Cricket and though we are uncertain about the specifics of your individual, we can tell you that Mole Crickets are found in many places in the world in addition to Namibia. We get numerous identification requests from Iraq and Afghanistan and have also gotten many submissions from the U.S. and Australia. Mole Crickets are subterranean dwellers and many species also fly quite well.
Update: Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 8:18 AM
Hi Daniel:
The ‘Namibian Biodiversity Database’ lists only one mole cricket (family Gryllotalpidae) for Namibia, the African Mole Cricket (Gryllotalpa africana). The taxonomy for this large genus is somewhat confusing and depending on the source G. africana is either limited to Africa or widespread throughout south and east Asia as well. The recent trend has been to limit G. africana to Africa, while assigning other species designations to the Asian varieties on the basis of song differences. It is considered a pest species, causing damage to a wide variety of root and cereal crops. Regards.
Karl
Link: http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/insects/orthoptera/gryllotalpidae
Update: Namibian Insect Website Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 12:19 AM
Link to our site
Hello thought you would like to link to our Bug site in Namibia.
Regards Alan Hendry
http://gallery.me.com/imediadvd#100184
iMedia
Namibia
Dear Alan,
Thanks for your site link, but we are unable to view it as we do not have a modern enough operating system to support the browsers your site require. We had a spate of submissions from Namibia in the recent past, and we are posting your comment with a Mole Cricket letter from early February 2009.
¶ Posted 31 January 2009 § ‡ ° 
rss
I like This
