Bugs in Papua New Guinea
Hi there,
I was wondering if you new what these bug are? Last year I lived in a small village on the northern side of PNG for 5 months, and took these photos while out and about. Thanks
Tom Honeyman
Hi Tom,
First we have to apologize for the lengthy delay. Your letter was lost in the archive until our new email system revealed your gorgeous photos. Daniel, our generous web host, devised a new email system that would be more efficient. This new system allows us to see images before reading emails, so we can choose the most gorgeous and interesting images. Your photos are stunning, and it took us some time to match them with the email from long ago since the system is effective with new letters, but there was a problem with the archive. The blue beetle is a Weevil in the genus Eupholus. There are quite a few members of this genus in New Guinea, but your photo matches a specimen called Eupholus geoffroyi that we located online on the Papua Insects Foundation. Your other insect is most definitely a Phasmid or Walkingstick. New Guinea has one species, Eurycantha calcarata, known as the Spiny Devil, but it is much more robust than your photo. We found a much closer match on the Papua Insects Foundation phasmid page, but sadly, it was not identified. Perhaps someone will be able to identify this amazing spiny Walkingstick.
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Posted 24 July 2007
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Megaphasma dentricus
found on Schlefflera trunk San Diego May 25 2007 – image has ruler. (Also have extreme macro showing camo details if you want it.) (ever notice how stickbug images tend to be vertical?) There are suddenly a lot of species (common stickbug, others) of these guys around the area – drought stress? Incidentally, we propagate bamboo here but couldn’t spin it into cloth so bought a shirt from Shirts of Bamboo – soft supple hand to the cloth – feels smoother and denser than cotton. Good service, nice people.
Mark Robertson – Ocean Beach CA
Hi Mark,
We post all of our Walkingstick images as verticals since they fit nicely into our site’s format. We do not believe this is the Giant Walkingstick, Megaphasma dentricus. We aren’t entirely convinced it is native since in Los Angeles, many exotic, like the progeny of pets, can exist in our mild climate. As for the population explosion you note, perhaps there was a great escape from the insectarium of one of your neighbors. Perhaps one of our readers will properly identify your species. Glad you enjoyed the shirt you got from our generous bandwidth sponsors, Lisa and Daniel, who coincidentally share names with the staff of What’s That Bug? Here is Eric’s response: “Daniel: Saw the walkingstick already identified, so I figured I was off the hook! Ha! I would not venture a guess. Females (which that specimen is) are much harder to identify than males. I’d definitely contact someone at UC Riverside, or the ARS of the USDA, to make sure this is not something exotic. Does the person still have the specimen? Eric”
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Posted 04 June 2007
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Hi
I am an American living in Japan. I recently spent some time in Queensland, Australia and took this photo of a spiny leaf insect. This was the most spectacular insect I’ve ever seen.
Melody McFarland
Hi Melody,
Thanks for sending us your great image of a Spiny Leaf Insect, Extatasoma tiaratum. This is a type of Walking Stick.
ok this is the first time i ever seen a spider looking thing poised like this. i found this on our swingset a few days ago. it didnt budge when i touched it. i expected for it to scurry away cause it looked like a spider to me. just a thing a spider would do when u try to touch em. thanks!
dogafin, from FL
Hi Dogafin,
This is a Two-Striped Walkingstick, Anisomorpha buprestoides, also known as a Muskmare. The Muskmare is capable of spraying a noxious substance with incredible accuracy, and we get numerous reports of people and their pets being sprayed in the eye.
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Posted 02 March 2007
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Walkingstick ID question
What a great website! I’m no entomologist by any means, but as a birder, I find myself curious about just about anything else that crosses my path. I photographed this walkingstick in late spring 2005 on the grounds of Hiroshima Shudo University, Hiroshima, Japan. Sorry for the lack of size reference, it was about four inches or so in length. I’ve got a few more unidentified insects in my photos from that trip, but I figured I’d pace myself and send these in singly over time. Cheers!
Carlos Ross
college student / freelance pop culture journalist / birder
Arizona State University
Tempe, Arizona, USA
Hi Carlos,
Sorry we cannot identify what species this Walkingstick is, but we will post it in the hopes on of our readers can assist. Thank you very much for pacing your images. It makes it very difficult for us to post letters when there are photos that must be archived on multiple pages.
Bug Pictures. Seeking ID.
I have a couple walkingstick pictures I wanted to share with you and others. One is a Northern Walkingstick found while camping in the Monongahela National Forest, WV (Oct 2006). The other is an unknown walking stick acquired at a reptile show in PA. This one is a baby. The parents were present at the show, a single specimen reaching nearly end to end of the 10-gal tank show container. I’d love to know the species and region of origin for this walkingstick. Thanks for your time! Best,
Shell
Hi Shell,
Our grandmother grew up on the Monongahela River in Pennsylvania coal country. Thanks for sending in your photos. We don’t know what your exotic Walkingstick specimen is or its country of origin. Perhaps one of our readers can supply an answer. Keep checking back with the site to see if we post an ID.
Update: (12/17/2006)
Hi Bugman,
I did some research and thought that your mysterious exotic walking stick (picture sent in 12/16) may possibly be the Eurycantha calcarata, also known as the New Guinea spiny stick insect. They are from Papau New Guinea. Hope this helps!! Keep up the good work – I am addicted to your wonderful site!!
Stephanie
Identification of insect , grasshopper/cricket, and butterfly
To whom it may concern:
1) I saw an insect on my screen door in Portal, ARIZONA, U.S.A., near Cave Creek Canyon, which is high desert. It stayed on the screen for about 4 hours, hardly moving. It was about 4-5 inches in length ("wood bug on screen"). I THINK IT MIGHT BE IN THE PHASMID FAMILY? Do you have any idea what this insect is called? and any other information about it would be greatly appreciated (photos attached). Thank you very much for your help!
Irene Kitzman MD
Portal, AZ and Hamden, CT
Hi Irene,
To better conform to our [lack of] organization, we will be posting your various queries sepatately. This is indeed a Phasmid. It is a Gray Walkingstick, Pseudosermyle straminea, a desert species. Seems your specimen is missing a front leg.
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Posted 02 December 2006
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Flesh Fly, Phasmid and moth
Hello there… I sent a photo of a Flesh Fly from Sydney to you yesterday – although at that time I didn’t know what kind of fly it was. I don’t think I saw any spiny leaf insects on your website, so here’s a link to an article I’ve written which shows my daughter’s classroom pets (phasmids), the flesh fly again, and an unknown small moth.. (please help on that last count 
Cheers,
Chris.
Hi Chris,
Sorry, we are really able to only post a fraction of the letters we receive. Your letter requires downloading and posting photos to three different pages on our site as well as the homepage, a taks that will take nearly a half an hour, right now the allotted time we have for the entire website. We are posting your Spiny Leaf Insect, Extatosoma tiaratum, and linking to your site.
pine needle looking insect
Okay, I’m stumped. Can you identify this most awesome example of evolution? This was on my screen one morning in southern New Hampshire. It is the exact size and shape of a couple of pine needles crossed. Cheers,
Dan
Hi Dan,
This master of mimicry is a Northern Walkingstick, Diapheromera femorata.
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Posted 29 September 2006
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Mating Walking Sticks – Insex
Found these two spending a few hours on the outside wall of my house in the Ozarks of Arkansas. I take it these are not the “muskmares” that spray noxious fumes.
Ken
Hi Ken,
You are correct. These are not Muskmares. We believe them to be Northern Walkingsticks, Diapheromera femorata, which range as far south as Northern Florida. There is more information on BugGuide.
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Posted 20 September 2006
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Tagged: bug love
insect from 12300 feet in Andes – Tambopaxi near Cotopaxi volcano
The insects on your web pages have such fascinating morphology and many are so beautiful. Thank you for a wonderful web site. I contacted you earlier about Dutch bugs – I thought you might like to see a beautiful insect (although only adequately photographed) from Tambopaxi which is at 12,300 feet in the Ecuadorian Andes – this is close to the 19,300 foot Cotopaxi volcano. These insects were found under a rock by my son in April 2006. From memory the largest was about 4 cm long. If you know what they are I would love to know. Best Wishes,
Yours sincerely,
Richard
Hi Richard,
Our best guess here is probably some species of Phasmid or Walkingstick. They are rather awesome looking creatures. Eric Eaton wrote to confirm our identification, but sadly, we have lost his exact words. He added that this is probably a toxic species based on the coloration.
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Posted 15 September 2006
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Walking Stick
I took this photo of a young walking stick the other day. It is the first time I ever saw one actually molting. It was on a rose bush in our garden here in Northwest Arkansas. I suppose it had to hang there exposed until its new exoskeleton hardened. It is obviously a good deal larger than its old skin that is attached to the rose leaf.
Larry
Hi Larry,
Thank you for sending us your contribution. Like other arthropods, Walkingsticks cannot grow until their hard exoskeleton is shed, which allows room for expansion.
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Posted 05 September 2006
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