Brilliant Blue Bugger
Location: North San Francisco Bay Area, Inland
January 27, 2012 9:48 pm
I’ve searched your site, and the net in general, but haven’t found a good match for the subject of my attached image, recorded May 7, 2011 in mid-afternoon. Taken in macro mode, when viewing ”actual pixels” the effective magnification is about 4.5X. Body length, excluding legs, is 13/32” ±1/32, or about O.40”.
Our photogenic friend’s carapace has an irridescent metallic sheen that can range from royal blue to teal to green. Here it appears to be royal blue with light blue speckles on the top, while it’s lower hemisphere is teal. At other angles the body appeared green and the tail blue.
Might this be a wasp of some sort?
Signature: zzwerzy
Cuckoo Wasp
Dear zzwerzy,
While it is an easy enough matter for us to identify your lovely insect as a Cuckoo Wasp in the family Chrysididae, it is quite another matter for us to be able to provide you with a species identification. According to BugGuide: “they are most diverse in the west: 166 spp. are found in CA alone (10% of all our spp. are CA endemics)” and we haven’t the necessary skills to differentiate between the species. BugGuide also states: “The name ‘cuckoo wasp’ refers to the fact that these wasps lay eggs in the nests of unsuspecting hosts” and clarifies that with this information: “Parasitoids feed on the larva of the host and cleptoparasites ‘steal’ the host’s food. The food-stealing behavior of cleptoparasite species resembles that of the cuckoo bird and gave rise to the cuckoo wasp’s name. Hosts of parasitoid species include bees, sphecid wasps, potter wasps, sawflies, silk moths, and the eggs of stick insects. Cleptoparasitic species feed on provisions of sphecid wasp nests, which may include dead spiders, true bugs, aphids, or thrips.” BugGuide describes Cuckoo Wasps as having a “Body metallic blue or green, usually with coarse sculpturing (many pits in surface).”
What’s this bug ?
Location: Vancouver BC
January 29, 2012 7:21 pm
Hello. At Christmas time I bought a Douglas fir and found a cocoon on it, which I housed in a jar. The cocoon opened today with this not-a-butterfly bug. 4 wings. 2 larger ones and 2 sort of smaller fairy wings on top. About an inch long. I was hoping that you could please help me identify it. I don’t know where the trees were grown. I tried to take some photos but he won’t sit still. He likes honey. The cocoon is in the photo. Thank you a lot !
Signature: Rhonda
Sawfly emerges from Cocoon
Dear Rhonda,
We are able to identify your insect as a Sawfly. Sawflies are nonstinging relatives of bees and wasps that often have larvae that are mistaken for caterpillars. Your individual most closely resembles the Cimbicid Sawflies (see BugGuide), possibly even the Elm Sawfly, though it looks more to us like a member of the genus Trichiosoma which we also found on BugGuide. The Cimbicid Sawflies are the largest North American Sawflies and they have clubbed antennae like your individual, but the information we have found does not list Douglas Fir as a host plant for the larvae. They feed on deciduous plants including elm, honeysuckle and cherry according to BugGuide. We did do a search for Sawflies that feed on Douglas Fir and we found an Oregon State webpage devoted to members of the genus Neodiprion, called the Douglas Fir Sawflies or Balsam Fir Sawflies, however the images posted to BugGuide do not resemble your individual. It is entirely possible that your Sawfly was feeding on another plant and somehow the cocoon was spun on the Douglas Fir. The Forestry Images Website indicates of the genus Cimbex (and so possibly also other members of the family Cimbicidae) that “The larvae spin tough, papery cocoons in the litter or just below the surface of the soil.” There is also a photo of the cocoon of a Cimbex Sawfly on the Forestry Images website that looks like your cocoon.
Sawfly emerges from Cocoon
We are hoping that one of our readers will eventually be able to assist us in a more definitive identification.
Cimbex Sawfly
Dear Daniel
Thank you so much for your help. I will do my best to keep him alive until the weather warms up. Too bad he doesn’t like roses or lettuce or anything else that’s lurking about in my fridge. He is quite an inquisitive little bug and checks out everything I give him.
Thanks again,
Rhonda
Thread-waisted Wasp in Portugal
Location: Portugal (37º31’55.23”N 8º26’33.53”W)
November 18, 2011 1:28 pm
Hi,
Please can you help me identify the attached picture of a Thread-waisted Wasp. The picture was taken on 10th September in southern Portugal while it was building its brood chamber which you can see in the picture. The brood chamber was made on a south-facing stone wall 150 mts above sea level and at the end of a few days the wasp sealed the opening.
Thanks and regards,
Frank
Signature: Frank
Potter Wasp constructs nest
Hi Frank,
This is actually a Potter Wasp in the subfamily Eumeninae. They construct a mud nest that is provisioned with food for the developing larva. Moth Caterpillars are a common larval food. This posting is postdated to go live in early January.
Dear Daniel,
Thanks a ton.
Ciao,
Frank
PS You can see what others have said about us by visiting this page on Tripadvisor.
www.paradiseinportugal.com
www.birdinginportugal.com
Paradise in Portugal
Quinta do Barranco da Estrada
7665 – 880 Santa Clara a Velha
Portugal
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Wasp?
Location: Perth, Western Australia
December 21, 2011 2:30 am
I was wondering if you can identify this wasp or fly for me. It was on my clothes line on a peg at 7am on 20/12/11. It was quite big – 3cm not including the antenna, and was photographed in Perth, Western Australia.
Signature: Jennifer O
Sawfly, possibly
Dear Jennifer O,
In our opinion, this appears to be a Sawfly. Sawflies are in the same order, Hymenoptera, as Wasps, Bees and Ants, but Sawflies do not sting. We cannot find a match on the Brisbane Insect website, nor did we find a convincing match on the Lifeunseen website. The Australian Museum website indicates there are 176 species in Australia. Larvae of Sawflies are sometimes mistaken for caterpillars and they are communal feeders that may defoliate plants if they are especially numerous. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to either correct our identification or provide a matching online image that may identify the species.
Unknown Sawfly, we believe
wasp
Location: melbourne, australia
December 18, 2011 6:42 am
This huge ie 4-5 cm wasp was dragging huntsman spider up the window. Spider still seemed alive
I live in Melbourne, Australia and it is December-beginning of Summer.
Wasp not aggressive to me, BUT NOT HAPPY when I hit it with a broom. It dropped twitching spider & flew off!
Signature: Dom
Spider Wasp and Huntsman Spider Prey
Dear Dom,
We have several excellent images of Australian Spider Wasps with Huntsman Spider prey in our archives. The female Spider Wasp stings and paralyzes the Spider and then drags it back to her burrow to act as food for her brood. The adult wasps feed on nectar. We can imagine that it is a difficult task for the female Spider Wasp to locate her prey, sting it and then begin the long haul back to her burrow, and it is quite unfortunate that your broom hitting incident interrupted her task. We hope that now that you are better informed, you will allow these food chain dramas to play out without unnecessary interventions in the future.
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another scary bug in my cottage in India
Location: Andhra Pradesh, India
December 11, 2011 10:19 am
Hi – thanks for identifying the Assassin Bug for me last month, and now I’ve found another, even more bizarre thing in my house. Any ideas, please?
Signature: Steve Sargent
Potter Wasp, we believe
Dear Steve,
WE are relatively certain, based on the body shape, which is described on BugGuide as: “First two abdominal segments forming a tapered petiole linking abdomen and thorax.” Potter Wasps are in the subfamily Eumeninae and your individual might be in the genus Eumenes. We found a match for body shape on the Krishna Mohan Photography website, and then we found what really resembles your species on the India Nature Watch website. Potter Wasps often build nests that resemble small ceramic pots.
Potter Wasp, we believe
Dear Daniel,
Many thanks for identifying my Potter Wasp – and so quickly! The photos which you pointed me to are amazing, and the information is very interesting indeed.
All the best,
Steve
Nasty Wasp
Location: Hawkesbury, Sydney, Australia
December 4, 2011 5:19 pm
Hello again,
Wondering if you can identify this wasp. Sorry the picture is not too clear, but these are aggressive wasps and they’re deep in a fairly dense garden. I didn’t want to get any closer or move the bushes around in case I provoked an attack. The nest is in a geranium bush, but quite low to the ground and is around 8-10cm across. The wasps themselves are about 2.5-3cm long. My boyfriend was gardening there and was stung on the knee when he accidentally disturbed them. The sting was extremely painful and shortly afterwards he came over very hot for a while. The sting area was painful for about 2 weeks.
We are in the Hawkesbury region, a rural area about an hour out of Sydney.
Signature: Tracy
Paper Wasps
Hi Tracy,
These are Paper Wasps in the genus Polistes. They are not normally aggressive, but they will defend their nest. We just finished posting another submission of Paper Wasps from Australia.
Wasp Nest.
Location: Nsw, Australia, Near the coast.
December 2, 2011 3:02 am
Hi. I thought you might like some pictures of what we’ve always called a paper wasp nest, although I don’t know if thats what they actually are. I was very frightened that they would fly at me and start stinging me every time the flash whent off. I hope you like the pictures.
Thanks.
Signature: Emma
Paper Wasps and Nest
Hi Emma,
Thank you for braving danger to take photographs of these Paper Wasps in the genus Polistes working on constructing their nest. Paper Wasps are not normally aggressive, however, they will defend the nest. We believe, based on photos posted to the Brisbane Insect website, that your wasps might be the Common Paper Wasp or Australian Paper Wasp, Polistes humilis. There is a page dedicated to the species on the Brisbane Insect website.
Paper Wasps and Nest
Hi! I think the reason they didn’t attack me is because it was a rainy day. They seemed to be sleeping, they weren’t moving much. Thanks for letting me know what they are! I’ve found three nests around the farm already, without even looking very hard.
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