Bee Fly

On · Category: Bee Flies · Add Comment

Subject: Please identify…
Location: 44°45’30” North and 76°29’52” West
July 13, 2012 11:22 am
Hello,
Could you please identify the insect in the image. I took the image July 12th 2012 at Farren Lake, Ontario, Canada. The insect which somewhat resembles a mosquito was basking in the sun on the deck umbrella. I’ve showed the image to several people, no one recolonizes what it is…
Thank you for your time.
Signature: Daniel Hills

Bee Fly

Hi Daniel,
This unusual hump-backed creature is a Bee Fly in the genus Lepidophora.  We believe it is Lepidophora lutea because it has a more northerly distribution according to reports on Bugguide.  It is also noted on Bugguide that:  “Larvae develop in solitary wasp nests as either kleptoparasites or parasites.”  The family members are known as bee flies because many members resemble bees and they visit flowers for nectar.  Unlike bees, they do not sting.

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Banded Alder Borer

On · Category: Longhorn Beetles · Add Comment

Subject: need identification
Location: santa rosa, ca
July 13, 2012 12:05 am
Love to know what this bug is..
Signature: marion

Banded Alder Borer

Hi Marion,
While it might not be appropriate for the staff of What’s That Bug? to have favorites, the Banded Alder Borer, Rosalia funebris, in your photograph is probably our favorite North American Beetle.  The Banded Alder Borer is found in the western states from California to Washington, into Canada.  BugGuide also has reports from Idaho and Utah.

Thank you so much for your quick reply.  We are so impressed with this bug. The one you see the photo of is the male.
A few minutes later another larger one appeared, which turned out to be the female.  The smaller one reacted instantly by mating the with larger beetle.  Thank you again.
Marion and Kent

Hi Marion and Kent,
You are such teasers to tell us that information and then not send a photo.  It is also very curious that the female found the male.  It is generally believed that female insects release pheromones and males are attracted to the “scent” of the females by using their more developed antennae.  Sometimes both sexes are attracted to other scents or to food supplies and mating takes place at a jointly attractive location.  Charles Hogue writes in Insects of the Los Angeles Basin:  “Adults may be attracted to the volatilizing esters in fresh paint.”  We hope you took a photo of the mating activity that you can send to us.

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Eastern Tiger Swallowtail: What's In a Name???

On · Category: swallowtails · 2 Comments

Subject: Tiger Swallowtail – Papilio glaucus or Pterourus glaucus?
Location: Naperville, IL
July 10, 2012 10:15 pm
Hi Daniel~
These photos are of a female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, but do you know which genus name is correct? We’ve had some intense heat in Illinois over the past two weeks, which finally broke a few days ago, and I am thinking this might be why I’ve seen so few butterflies about. Is there any basis to this? All the best to you.
Signature: -Dori Eldridge

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Hi Dori,
You have proposed a very interesting theoretical question.  The reason we have scientific names for insects as well as all other known life forms on this planet is so that there is a universal name for the creature regardless of the language spoken by the person who is referring to the creature.  The common names are less widely used and often the same common name might be used for a number of creatures just as the same creature, especially if it has an extensive range, might have numerous common names.  There are also officially recognized common names as well as casually used common names that are not officially registered.  Since your question is regarding the scientific binomial name, we will confine the remainder of our response to that nomenclature.  How is a scientific name determined?  BioDiversity Explorer has a very extensive explanation on the process.  So, how can a species have more than one scientific name?  The first person who describes a species has naming rights, but in the days prior to the instantaneous mass communication we have at our fingertips today, it was possible to have more than one person simultaneously discover a species, or especially in the case of wide ranging species, to have a subsequent person believe that person has discovered a new species when it was previously described.  In that case, even if the second name came into wide use, the first naming trumped.  It is also possible that a species was originally placed in one genus and further scientific investigation caused the genus to be either split or lumped, necessitating a change in the genus name which is the first and capitalized part of the binomial.  Until your letter, we were unaware of any scientific name for the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail except Papilio glaucus.  Your question caused us to do some research.  BugGuide still has the Tiger Swallowtail listed as Papilio glaucus, however, however it is indicated:  “Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Papilio glaucus Linnaeus, 1758. Synonyms and taxonomic notes:
Pterourus glaucus–sometimes this and related species are split out from Papilio.
Large, spring-flying populations in the Appalachians have recently been recognized as a separate species, Papilio appalachiensis (Pterourus appalachiensis).”
The North American Butterfly Association (NABA) still recognizes Papilio glaucus.  The modern use of DNA analysis can have a significant bearing on the naming and renaming of new and known species.  Finally we turned up this online version of The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey from 15 June 2002 that recognizes Pterourus appalachiensis as “a new swallowtail butterfly from the Appalachian region of the United States.”  Perhaps the discovery of that species is responsible for splitting out the Tiger Swallowtails from the genus Papilio.  We must confess Dori, that we are not scientists and you should probably check with a noted expert in the field before trusting anything we have discovered.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Wood Wasp from Czech Republic

On · Category: Horntails, Wood Wasps and Sawflies · Add Comment

Subject: Insect identification
Location: Czech republic, near river Sazava
July 11, 2012 2:43 pm
Dear Bugman,
my friend find this bug in Czech republic near river Sazava. There was a lot of them. The attached picture is from: www.muskari.cz
I want to ask you to identify the type of insect.
Many thanks,
Milos
Signature: M.Nerad

Wood Wasp

Hi Milos,
This is a Wood Wasp, a group of insects with larvae the bore in wood.  We believe we have correctly identified it as Sirex juvencus on the Encyclopedia of Life website.  There is a nice photo that shows the sexual dimorphism since the male and female look very different from one another.

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Sawfly Larvae from Finland: Croesus septentrionalis

On · Category: Horntails, Wood Wasps and Sawflies · 3 Comments

Subject: Posing caterpillars
Location: Åland (western Finland)
July 12, 2012 3:21 pm
Came across these feeding caterpillars today. It is a new species to me and that rather odd pose is also a first as far as I am concerned. Each caterpillar is slightly less than an inch long. Any idea what they are?
Signature: Stefan

Sawfly Larvae: Croesus septentrionalis

Hi Stefan,
Though they resemble caterpillars, these are actually the larvae of a Sawfly.  Sawflies are related to Bees and Wasps, but they do not sting.  Many have larvae that look like Caterpillars.  We tried a websearch for species found in Finland and quickly found this photo on PHotographers Direct that was identified as Croesus septentrionalis.  Searching that name, we found a wonderful blog entry on The Big Buzz.  The blogger thought she had this particular Sawfly, but the species she found in UK was eventually identified as the Berberis Sawfly.  She did provide this information:  “I opened my trusty Collins Complete British Insects and started looking. Aha – easy. There was a picture a gang of larvae identical to mine: Croesus septentrionalis. So, that was that.  Except of course that it wasn’t. When I went to bed that night thre was something niggling at the back of my mind. According to the Collins, Croesus septentrionalis, if disturbed, ‘raise their rear ends in unison’. Our larvae didn’t do this.”  Your photo shows these Sawfly Larvae raising their rear ends in unison, a behavior believe to discourage predators.   

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Black Witch

On · Category: Black Witch · 1 Comment

Subject: large moth
Location: Rio Medina, Texas
July 12, 2012 11:56 am
Good Morning, saw this moth on the back deck this morning. I can’t seem to find it or the name of it.
Thanks from South Central Texas
Signature: Richard

Black Witch

Dear Richard,
This spectacular moth is a male Black Witch (see BugGuide for explanation), a species from Mexico and Central America that has been periodically reported flying north as far as Canada for no apparent reason.  More recently it has been reported to be breeding in the southernmost United States, most likely because its food plants Cassia and Acacia are commonly grown in gardens, though we suspect global warming might also be a factor.  There are many superstitions about the Black Witch and you can read about them on the Texas Entomology website, where this one is mentioned:  “ Similarly in South Texas if a Black Witch lands above your door and stays there for a while you would win the lottery!”  Let us know if you hit it big.  

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African Painted Bug found at Beach

On · Category: Stink Bugs and Shield Bugs Tagged With: · Add Comment

Subject: I need bug help!
Location: Long Beach, California
July 12, 2012 8:16 pm
Hello, I went to the beach a couple of days ago and found this strange bug on my beach towel. It surprised me to find such a bug on the sand and trying to find out what it is has been driving me crazy! It just doesn’t seem like the kind of bug that would be near the ocean water. A little help please..
Thanks :)
Signature: Vivian

African Painted Bug

Hi Vivian,
Thanks for sending such a large digital file for such a small bug.  We originally cropped the image to show it was resting on the knuckle of a finger, but that reduced the size of the insect, so we cropped tighter.  Knowing that it is a knuckle in the photo is important to understand the scale as this African Painted Bug is quite small.  The African Painted Bug, Bagrada hilaris, is an invasive exotic species first reported on What’s That Bug in 2009 from a colony we found on our Collard Greens.  Most recently, we have found them feeding on wild mustard in Elyria Canyon Park.  Though we took photos, we have not had a chance to post them yet.  We don’t know why it was at the beach.

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Swallow-Tailed Moth from Sweden

On · Category: Geometrid Moths · Add Comment

Subject: Creme white orangestriped moth?
Location: Europe Sweden Skolstad http://goo.gl/maps/VzWR
July 12, 2012 8:18 am
Hi there an insect took a rest against the rain and thunder on my windows frame.
I would like to know what it´s called?
Thought it was a bit of masking tape that I´ve forgotten ;)
Signature: David

Swallow-Tailed Moth

Dear David,
This is such a lovely moth that we figured it would be relatively easy to identify, especially since we were quite certain it was classified in the family Geometridae.  We search through numerous images of Swedish and Northern European Moths with no luck, so we turned to the UK Moths website where we learned it is the Swallow-Tailed Moth, Ourapteryx sambucaria.  Here is what UK Moths states:  “A spectacular species and one of our largest Geometrids, this is however reasonably common in Britain, except for northern Scotland where it is local or absent.  Being strictly nocturnal and having quite a short emergence period in July, it is not often encountered by the non-enthusiast.  The larvae feed on a number of trees and shrubs, but prefer ivy (Hedera helix).”  We then found photos on this Finnish website as well as on Lepidoptera.pro.  Global Twitcher lists the Swedish name as Stjertmåler.  At least we believe that is a name.

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