Bettle??
March 3, 2010
Hello, my name Reuben and i am 8. I found this insect on a wattle tree. We live in Queensland Australia. Can you tell us about it??? Me and my brothers love your website.
From Reuben Wells
Woodbury, Queensland Australia

Acacia Leaf Beetle Larva

Hi Reuben,
Thanks for your kind words.  This is the larva of a Leaf Beetle in the family Chrysomelidae.  Though your example is definitely not the Silver Wattle Leaf Beetle pictured on the Brisbane Insect website, it does have some similarities.  We eventually located the Acacia Leaf Beetle, Dicranosterna picea, also on the Brisbane Insect Website, and the larva appears to be a good match.

Acacia Leaf Beetle Larva

venomous
February 26, 2010
things that are VENOMOUS are more then once referred to on this site as poisonous there is a big difference between the two.
G. Davisson

Dear G. Davisson
Merriam-Webster.com defines Poisonous as “1 : destructive, harmful  2 : having the properties or effects of poison : venomous  3 : spiteful, malicious.” Merriam=Webster.com defines Venomous as  “1 : full of venom: as a : poisonous, envenomed b : noxious, pernicious <expose a venomous dope ring — Don Porter> c : spiteful, malevolent <venomous criticism> 2 : having a venom-producing gland and able to inflict a poisoned wound <venomous snakes>.”  Since that  bastion for defining the English language uses the two words to define one another and indicates that they are interchangeable, we don’t feel we are entirely incorrect in our usage, though there might be a subtle difference that we should consider.  The bite of a Brown Recluse Spider would be venomous, while poisoning would occur following the ingestion of a Toxic Milkweed Grasshopper. Rather than just providing a blanket statement chastising our language usage, can you please cite some concrete examples of the adjective usage that you find offensive?   That way we can consider them more closely.  Even better, can you provide the source for the definition that creates a solid distinction for the proper and incorrect usages of the two terms?

Hello!
I just wanted to extend a thanks to all you who make “What’s That Bug” possible. It’s really an excellent site and I often find myself perusing it just to feed my amateur entomolgist’s appetite! I noticed the Nasty Reader’s Section you have and was both amazed by the breath-taking idiocy of some of the readers featured there and amused by your responses.
So thanks again, for all you hard work on an excellent site!
Nate McInnis

Hi Nate,
Thanks for your words of encouragement.

Kids science book
February 15, 2010
Hello, I’m writing a couple of science books for children but the publishers want them to be international. One of the experiments is about garden science and looking at what bugs you can find in your soil, through a funnel shining a light on top. I need to come up with a list of international bugs and wondered if you could help? Many thanks indeed,
Lisa
International!

Hi Lisa,
Please describe the experiment more thoroughly as it doesn’t make sense to us how the funnel and light are used.  One international subterranean dweller is a Mole Cricket, but we are uncertain how your trap would work in finding the mole cricket.  It would be much easier if we just provided you with a list of potential soil dwellers.
Daniel

Thanks so much for getting back to me!  It’s like a Berlese funnel experiment.  A list of potential soil dwellers would be absolutely perfect!  And if you happened to know which were most widespread, all the better, but I realise that is very hard to ascertain sometimes,
All my very best wishes,
Lisa

Comment from Australia
Hi guys,
Congratulations on being near the end with the book project. … As an aside, I noticed the letter about the light and the funnel. One method of trapping insects is to bury a bottle with a funnel so that the lip of the funnel is at ground level. A light is suspended above it and ground dwellers walk to the light and fall into the funnel. Hope that sheds some light on it
aussietrev

Dangerous , deadly or painful bugs.
February 11, 2010
I was looking for a way to identify a few bugs in my home. It would be helpful if the search included criteria such as how many legs , wings etc.
Also , I can’t understand why you would include an unnecessary carnage page and not have a page dedicated to which insects known to man actually are dangerous , deadly or have a painful sting or bite even if they are not venomous.
It renders the UC page pointless if you don’t list all the bugs which aren’t unnecessarily killed.
Sure I love living things , but not if they bite or crawl into my ear when I’m sleeping.
So please include a list of those bugs . It’s very hard to find the information elsewhere .
TM

Hi TM,
We just might take you up on this suggestion.  We can call the page Justifiable Homicide.  We would definitely put Argentine Ants and Aphids at the top of the list.  Some creatures like Black Widows might be dangerous, but we could never include them on a Justifiable Insecticide, though they might be sub-categorized on that page.

six legged worm thing?
February 2, 2010
Im not sure what this thing is it was found in my back yard and its a little over 2 inches long and fairly thick it has fuzz on it and it must burrow because when i put it in the grass again it starting moving down. when its flipped right side up it roles onto its back and begins to wiggle normally. it has a dark colored head not sure if its dark red but it does have pincers and there’s something inside its tail maybe a sack its black and white. I’m not to fond of insects but i;d like to know what this is because Ive never seen one before.
Luis Martinez
Los Angeles California

Crawly-Back

Hi Luis,
This is the larva of a Green Fruit Beetle, Cotinus mutabilis.  They are often found in compost piles and they are known as Crawly-Backs.  The beautiful green adults fly in August, and because they feed on fruit, they are sometimes called Figeaters.

Crawly-Back