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Tetrio Sphinx Caterpillar from Dominican Republic

caterpillar identification
Location: Dominica
February 2, 2011 3:36 pm
Dear Bugman,
I took these photos on the island of Dominica in the Caribbean in December of 2010. The caterpillar was very large, about 7 inches long. It had a very thin black tail and orange-red head. I hope you are able to identify it. Thank you.
Signature: Deb Beyer

tetrio sphinx cat dominica deb 300x177 Tetrio Sphinx Caterpillar from Dominican Republic

Tetrio Sphinx Caterpillar

Hi Deb,
We instantly recognized your caterpillar to be that of the Tetrio Sphinx,
Pseudosphinx tetrio. The Tetrio Sphinx Caterpillar feeds upon the leaves of Plumeria or Frangipani, Allamandra, and other members of the Dogbane family.  You can see photos of the adult moth and get additional information on the Sphingidae of the Americas website.

What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Unnecessary Carnage Comment

Unecessary Carnage responses
January 22, 2011 4:47 pm
I love your witty and informative Unecessary Carnage responses.
Signature: Mary Sue Rubin

Hi Mary Sue,
It is refreshing to hear that.  Few things incite more vitriol on our website than Unnecessary Carnage comments.  The only possible exception is the Nasty Reader Award section.

Carpet Beetle Larva and Mystery Bug

Mite identification
Location: Asheville, NC
December 28, 2010 11:41 am
My house is infested with a small bug, possibly a mite. And my boyfriend now has them at his house and I’ve carried them to my office as well.
I’ve seen something tiny on numerous occasions, but I have only been able to catch one of these bugs, in some oil. These things are tiny (like the period at the end of this sentence and are very quick to hide. They get into everything in the house and are crawling on my body as well.
Can you help me identify this bug? I have bumps and soars on my skin, which may be bites or just a reaction to the bugs.
My photos are at 40x magnification.
Signature: Dee

bug dee 300x285 Carpet Beetle Larva and Mystery Bug

Mystery Bug

Dear Dee,
It appears that you have two very different creatures represented in your photographs.  One of them is a mystery to us, but it does not look like a mite.  The other, which you have labeled Dees Bug, appears to be a Carpet Beetle Larva which is a common household pest, but we do not believe it is responsible for your skin condition, nor do they move quickly.  Perhaps one of our readers will be able to identify your other creature.  In addition to the two images you have sent, you may also have a problem with Mites which are frequently associated with abandoned bird’s nests in the attic areas of the home.

carpet beetle larva 300x213 Carpet Beetle Larva and Mystery Bug

Carpet Beetle Larva

What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Noon Fly from UK

gold fly
Location: la12 8ht, UK
December 14, 2010 5:05 pm
i found this fly several months ago, i have searched thorugh several books and the internet but cannon find the name of the species and wondered if you could help, if it is an unidentified species how to i go about registering it? i found this fly in the summer
Signature: James Gill

fly uk james 300x206 Noon Fly from UK

Noon Fly

Dear James,
This is not the ideal vantage for identification purposes, but we decided to give it a try.  Upon browsing through the images of living specimens on the Dipterists Forum we found an image of
Mesembrina meridiana that closely resembles your fly.  Searching that name led us to the Natural England website that identified it as the Noon Fly in the family Muscidae and provided this information:  “This is a large, shiny black fly with conspicuous yellow bases to its wings. Noonflies can be found sunning themselves on logs, fences, tree trunks, walls or sunny paths where their colourful wing-bases may make them conspicuous.  The larvae develop in cattle dung. Although widespread and common, these flies are normally only to be found in fairly rural gardens or others which are near places where cattle are reared.“  The Ecology of Commanster website has some marvelous images of this species.  The family Muscidae contains the House Fly and kin.

Fanmail

General Comment(aka “Fan Mail”)
December 5, 2010 6:56 pm
Hey what’s WTB? I just love the site. I’m on it for hours and hours and a time. Also love the new book. I got it a few weeks ago, and I read it when i was on bed rest from a surgery. Finally someone talks about feeding habits of fiery searcher ground beetles and bee robber flies. Hopefully I get into the UW of Madison entomology class next year(knock on wood). But I am only 15 years old so a UW class will kick me around a bit. Anyway I’ll wrap this up. I know you are busy so no need to response. Unless you would like to. Keep up the Great Work! ~ Alex G.
Signature: Alex G.

Hi Alex,
Thanks so much for your kind letter and Good luck getting into the UW Madison class.

Bugman on Martha Stewart

Bugman on Martha Stewart
November 9, 2010 11:22 am
Hi there!  I had some trouble logging in, my computer is goofed up at the momeht so i’m borrowing my daughter’s computer and email address.   I wanted to say I would MOST DEFINITELY watch Bugman on Martha, and I am a homemaker too!  I would really like those oven mitts as well!  Will you be marketing some?  I think you should, they are adorable!!  Have loved your site for years.  Take care, Michelle Nash, formerly of St. Charles, IL – now in Rolla, Missouri icon smile Bugman on Martha Stewart
Signature: Michelle

Hi Michelle,
Daniel does not currently have plans to market the oven mitts, but there is always that possibility.  There will probably only be two pairs, one for Martha and a backup pair.  There has been no additional work done on the oven mitts since the image was posted because it seems there is not enough time in the day to do everything that needs to get done, but since there is not currently a deadline to complete the oven mitts, they are not yet late.

Fanmail

Nasty reader award
Location: Maryland
October 26, 2010 12:34 am
Love, love, love your site. I find it very informative and am pleased to say that I now think before I squish. (I admit, though, that cockroaches are squished without a second thought. Fortunately I haven’t had roaches to squish since I lived in that one questionable apartment…) anyway, I wanted to say kudos to you for having the ”Nasty Reader Award” links. Too often the people who write nasty letters get no comeuppance (sp?) and it gives me great satisfaction to see that at least a few of these horrible people face some kind of recourse. Keep up the great work, both with the bugs and the karma. (PS- I included the pic of me because for some reason the site wouldn’t let me send this w/out a pic. Please don’t post it! Thanks!)
Signature: Faithful reader in Maryland

Dear Faithful reader in Maryland,
Thank you for your nice letter.  We are pleased to hear that our website has contributed toward your appreciation of and tolerance for the lower beasts.  We admit that we ourselves have very little tolerance for certain creatures, like the Argentine Ants that have colonized Southern California.  While we will tolerate them in the garden, they are dispatched without mercy should they happen to invade the kitchen.  We are happy to honor your request not to publish the beguiling image of you dancing at what looks like a fun party because What’s That Bug? does not run a dating service and we imagine that we would be getting countless comments and requests from the eligible gentlemen among our readership if we were to run your photo.

4

Assistance Requested from our Readership: What are the Mysterious Droppings???

Ed Note: It is impossible for our tiny staff to respond to every email, but if a person writes back indicating that a previous email was unanswered, we will attempt to provide a response.  In this particular situation, when a new email was sent two weeks later, there were no images, so rather than to sort through hundreds of emails, we responded accordingly, and then we received additional written information, but no photos.  Now our curiosity was truly piqued, so we tracked down the original letter which contained the images on this posting.

mysterious droppings 300x225 Assistance Requested from our Readership:  What are the Mysterious Droppings???

Mysterious Droppings

On Sun, Oct 17, 2010 at 7:02 AM
I haven’t heard anything from you,did you get my e-mail?

There are no photos attached.

I sent three but its hard to them they look like coffee grinds they are ale=ways in the same to places in the house. they accumulate on a white wooden box that covers our water heater, the other is on a glass and wood coffee table.  My boyfriend and i will clean theses ares and in a day or two the tiny brown specs will come back. they are smaller then coffee grinds. I video monitored it one night and nothing happened for two days i stopped and they appeared again.  I soaked wood over water heater with a very strong bug killer and in a day they cam back.  There are no holes in the ceiling so its not dropping, it not falling from ceiling fan because it would be spread out more.  We are losing our minds because we don’t know what it is so we don’t get rid of it. the house was built in the 1940′s we do see termite fras brown or black on the wood floors here and there.  Could something be picking up the fras and dropping it in the same two places.   I sold pest control in the 90′s so I know a little about it.  But this is mind boggling , we joke and say a ghost is doing it,lol  but we are really getting upset with it.  the economy does not allow me to hire someone right now.  I just heard my company is going to lay people off, so i have to watch every dime.  Please if you could just tell me what to do or a website that could help me i would so appreciate it.  Thank you for the time in reading this short novel.

Ed. Note:  Original Letter located
mysterious bug droppings
Location:  St .Augustine fl
October 3, 2010 11:46 am
We are losing our minds over this and so is all our friends. we have a wooden box covering a short hot water heater. On the top we wake up to find tiny brown spots in the same circle we look up no holes in the ceiling we inspect box no holes we clean it off and it always comes back. And get this on our glass coffee table in one corner always the same. So I said I know i will put down glue sticky traps and you won’t beleive this but brown dots smaller then coffee grinds on the glue traps an no sign of whats putting them there. Please help us we rent here and we are finally happy where we live but this is so annoying. we live in st.augustine ,fl
Signature:  jersigypci

mysterious droppings 2 300x225 Assistance Requested from our Readership:  What are the Mysterious Droppings???

Mysterious Droppings

Dear jersigypci,
We can see from the time stamp of February 1, 2006 that this unimaginably disturbing phenomenon has been plaguing you for more than four years and we cannot fathom how you have managed to endure it, but tragedies are all relative.  We cannot identify anything in your photographs and we are unable to provide you with any explanation for this horrific occurrence.  We would recommend professional help or perhaps just rent Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and be thankful that your situation isn’t worse.  We actually can suggest one additional alternative that may provide closure.  Since we are posting your emails along with all of your photos, which we were able to locate, our readership may be able to help solve your mystery before your minds are totally lost.  Gentle Readers, please post a comment if you have any suggestions.

mysterious droppings 3 300x225 Assistance Requested from our Readership:  What are the Mysterious Droppings???

Mysterious Droppings

oh well thanks any way i thought if anyone could help us it would be you, since i heard how awesome you all were. i guess we’ll just have to live with iy.

Had you checked back, you would have seen that our readers have been posting comments.


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