These were coughed up out of a rainbow trout I recently caught
March 8, 2010
A friend of mine recently caught a rainbow trout that coughed these up when he landed the fish. Any idea what they are. They are it a shot glass for sizing scale.
anonymous
Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Rat Tailed Maggots
Dear anonymous,
These Rat Tailed Maggots are the aquatic larvae of the Drone Fly.
Black and yellow spider
March 7, 2010
Myself and Haylee went spider hunting during an overnight stay in the bush near Cocklebiddy in WA, Australia . We found a few of these spiders and Haylee managed to get some good pictures of one of the few that didn’t dissapear down its burrow when we approached. We can’t seem to identify it despite searching online. Any ideas? Many Thanks.
Charlie and Haylee
Cocklebiddy, WA, Australia
Desert Wolf Spider
Hi Charlie and Haylee,
This is possibly the most gorgeous Wolf Spider in the family Lycosidae we have ever seen. The arrangement of the eyes is an identifying factor, and the explanation “These spider have eight dark eyes of unequal size arranged in three rows, the first having four eyes” and a diagram are available on BugGuide.
Desert Wolf Spider
We have not had any luck with a species identification, which surprises us as this is such a unique spider. Perhaps one of our readers will have better luck and assist us with the identification.
Desert Wolf Spider
Karl finds the answer again
It is a beauty! The closest I could find was Hoggicosa (=Lycosa) bicolor, the Two-coloured or Desert Wolf Spider. There are several photos on the internet which look very similar, except that the colour is not such a vivid yellow. This may be a case of odd light conditions, regional colour variability or sexual dimorphism. It could also be a case of changing appearance with successive moults. In H. bicolor, the males apparently go from a striking two-tone appearance to totally cryptic in their final moult. I couldn’t determine if males and females look different. Here are a few links:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/australian/Spidaus.html
http://www.ozimages.com.au/stock/AustralianSpiders.asp
http://flickriver.com/photos/australianspiders/4100778476/
http://flickriver.com/photos/australianspiders/4100041011/
Karl
Huge black screaming beetle found in road
March 7, 2010
A friend found this beetle in Gezina, Pretoria, South Africa, last night (6 March 2010). It was screaming so loudly that he was able to hear it from inside his shop, so he went out to investigate, thinking that it was a bat that had been injured. It is missing some legs, but can still hobble around. I have looked around on the Internet and from what I have found, it seems to be some kind of dung beetle – the flightless one? Not sure, though, because it seems to me not as smooth as the flightless dung beetle, and its head and “shoulders” seem a bit different. The head is flat, and from when I held it in my hand and it got the head in between my fingers, I know that it must be quite strong, because it was able to push my fingers apart with the head.
Kirsten Eksteen, Pretoria, South Africa
Pretoria, South Africa (in the part of Pretoria called “The Moot”)
Giant Dung Beetle
Hi Kirsten,
We did a bit of research by web searching “largest beetles in Africa” and we found what appeared to be a match on the Beetles of Africa website, a commercial site for collectors. There are several views of Heliocopris faunus that are called Giant Dung Beetles. We double checked that identification, and found similar images for the genus Heliocopris on the Encyclopedia of Life website. The God of Insects website, another commercial site, has images of the Elephant Dung Beetle, Heliocopris dominus, that also look similar to your specimen, which is most likely a female. Many Scarab Beetles, the family that includes the Giant Dung Beetles, are able to make sounds, termed stridulation, but rubbing parts of their bodies together.
Giant Dung Beetle
Dear Daniel
Thanks for your unexpectedly speedy response! (seeing that it is Sunday, I didn’t expect to hear from you until at least tomorrow afternoon).
I appreciate the information and will go and investigate the sites that you have sent me. Thanks, also, for saying that it is probably a female, and for giving me the correct word for the sound that she made.
By the way, I had a good chuckle about the “Just to prove you are a human being” part of your web page: I wrote “White (when it’s clean!)”, to which the system replied, “Please double-check you verification code”. In other words, “Prove that you are human by giving me a one-word answer; I am not interested in whether or not you are witty or can think further than the obvious.” That’s machines for you, eh?
Sincerely
Kirsten.
Unknown Beetle Southern NH
March 6, 2010
I found this beetle outside today. It was just sitting on a rock. It was about 50 F today, the warmest it’s been for many months here in southern NH. I’d like to know what type of beetle it is. Also, I’d like to know what it eats. In the future I’d like a method to identify bugs like this. I looked at a web-site bugguide.net which has a lot of information but it is quite difficult to sort through. Any suggestions? Thank you!
Sophie
Southern NH
Winter Firefly
Hi Sophie,
WE believe we have identified your Winter Firefly, Ellychnia corrusca, on BugGuide. The time of year is one of the strongest pieces of evidence supporting the identification. BugGuide’s Data page has information on sightings at various times of the year.
Winter Firefly
Odd looking insect
March 6, 2010
Greetings, on my summer holiday (July 2009)I found this insect crawling on the ground. It was about an inch long. Here’s hoping you can tell me what this is because it’s been bugging me ever since I took the photo with my mobile phone. Only one picture was reasonable, the rest are all vague but I added one because it shows some more detail on the head.
Thank you for your time.
Henk de Vries, The Netherlands
Carinthia, Austria
Rove Beetle: Staphylinus caesareus
Hi Henk,
This is a Rove Beetle in the family Staphylinidae. We will try to get a species identification when we have more time.
Rove Beetle: Staphylinus caesareus
Comment:
This is Staphylinus caesareus.
mardikavana
Thanks for the comment mardikavana. We found a link on Wild About Britain that pictures and describes Staphylinus caesareus. We also found a matching photo on BioLib. Rove Beetles are important predators that help to control populations of invertebrates.
Update from Molly
February 27, 2010
Mottled umber moth Sorry to bug you again…….
OK I found a male moth yesterday and put it in the freezer. It doesn’t have the exact color patterns I see on the Internet but it has the same fringe on the bottom of the wings and matches the basic shape of an adult mottled umber moth. This particular moth is one of the more drab looking variations. Get back to me on where I should send the specimen.
Molly
Dunsmuir, CA
Hi Molly,
We hope you can send us a photo of the male moth for our website. You can contact the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service or APHIS at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/about_aphis/ . In the past, we have had contact with Stephanie Dubon about invasive species. You can try contacting her via email at npag@aphis.usda.gov . In California, the USDA is kept pretty busy, and there is an Invasive Pest Website at http://www.hungrypests.com/ and they can be emailed at info@hungrypests.com for additional details.
March 6, 2010
Sorry for the delay. Here’s the pic of the male Mottled umber moth I found. It’s patterns are different than usual but it has the same physical shape. I’m not 100% sure on why, but it may be because it’s in a different environment.
Male Mottled Umber Moth
Hi Molly,
Thanks for sending the photo you believe to be a male Mottled Umber Moth, and invasive species that may be gaining a foothold in California.
dark borwn bug small like a lady bug with white dots on and wings.
March 4, 2010
i keep finding them round my room, sometimes on the wall but i have found one in the car. They are really starting to freak me out and was hoping you could tell me what they are.
Help
Bedroom
Blurry Dots or possibly Pantry Beetles
Dear (not terribly) Help(ful),
We believe you may need more help than we are able to provide. A bedroom and a car are not really geographical locations in any way that would provide us with the information we requested in terms of geography, and your photo is pretty much useless for any identification purposes. We can only surmise that you probably have either Pantry Beetles or Carpet Beetles, or perhaps even both.
Yellow caterpillar with long lashes and longer black tufts
February 26, 2010
Hi, WTB,
Again, from last summer (2009), a solitary larva (probably the same individual in these two images taken within an hour at the same spot) in late June. Length (without hair), not quite 2″. Southern Arizona; Santa Rita Mountains, between 5,100′ and 5,400′.
Denny
Tussock Caterpillar
Hi Denny,
Sorry about the delay in responding, but our free time seems to have vanished with several looming deadlines and a great deal of job responsibility. This is some species of Tussock Moth. It greatly resembles the caterpillar of Halysidota tessellaris, the Banded Tussock Moth, but we don’t believe Arizona is part of the range of the species according to BugGuide. BugGuide also mentions a very similar species in the Southwest, Halysidota schausi, but there is no photo. We followed a link to the Butterflies and Moths of North America, but only a photo of a mounted adult is pictured on that site.
Tussock Caterpillar
Hi, WTB,
Thanks for the info. I’m running into the same sorts of non-definitive IDs (and in a couple of other places) that you encountered.
The area where the caterpillar was observed is a “destination” for birders, and it has a fairly constant flow of automobile traffic from all over the country throughout the year. Perhaps a stowaway from out of the region. This was the only example that I observed at that time and during the many days (over several months) that I spent there last summer.
Again, thanks.
Denny
Found him on campsite near the beach in Summer
March 5, 2010
Hello, i have just came back from a year down under and have some amazing pics of some of the strangest bugs and animals and insects i have ever seen. But there’s one in particular that we have to find out what it is. He found us on our campsite in Broome, Western Australia last Christmas, that’s there summer.
He was attacked by a bird and was shocked and we saved him. He stayed very still for maybe 20mins and then very loudly flew away happy to be breathing I’d imagine.
We traveled all of Australia and only ever came across this guy once. Maybe he’s native to the West Coast. Other than that i can’t say much more about him, I hope you guys can end our confusion, thanks.
Ozbug
Broome, Western Australia
Possibly Golden Drummer Cicada
Hi Ozbug,
This is a Cicada, and there are over 200 different species in Australia. We could not locate an exact match for yours, and the angle of view is not ideal to see the markings, but your Cicada looks similar to the Golden Drummer Cicada, Thopha colorata. We found a nice photo on Flickr. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to verify or correct our identification.
what type of bug is this i found?
March 5, 2010
hi i found this bug 2 nights ago at the oakland airport in california in the building. it is very fast and has 14 legs 7 on each side and 2 feeler things in the front and what look like 2 legs that stick stright out of the back but it looks like both of them have 2 long spikes (forming the shape of a v) on each of th e2 legs it also has 2 big black eyes in the front of it.
it is pictured inside of a soda bottle (i had to get it back out side before some one killed it) .
thanks
Nick
oakland california
Sea Slater
Hi Nick,
This is a Sea Slater or Rock Louse, Ligia occidentalis. There are photos on the UC Irvine natural history website. It is normally found on beaches with rocky shores. It might have stowed away on the belongings of a tourist who spent time at the shore before catching a plane.
Mysterious pupa with shiny silver spikes
March 3, 2010
Hello!
We are in Lusaka, Zambia, living a bit out in the country. Today I noticed this jewel-like pupa latched onto a metal planter.
The pupa is dull pink with really shiny silver spikes along its case (almost like solder). The spikes are tipped with black at the very end. The length of the pupa is approximately 20mm.
We’ve seen a bunch of awesome bugs here in Zambia, but this one is particularly stunning.
Kim and Craig
Lusaka Zambia
Brush Footed Butterfly Chrysalis
Dear Kim and Craig,
We doubt that we will be able to provide you with a species identification for this beautiful Brush Footed Butterfly Chrysalis in the family Nymphalidae, but we are struck by the more than casual resemblance to the Chrysalis of the North American Variegated Fritillary, Euptoieta claudia, which is pictured on BugGuide.
Hi Daniel, Kim and Craig:
I think you are definitely on the right track, Daniel, and I may be able to advance this a little further. I think it belong to a group of Fritillaries known as Leopards or Leopard Fritillaries. The most common one, the Common Leopard (also Green or African Leopard), Phalanta phalantha, occurs throughout sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia and the chrysalis looks very similar to this one. Although all of the images I was able to find showed a chrysalis with a pale green base color, I did find a reference to “whitish-pink” color variant. According to most references the larvae prefer to feed on willows but apparently they will snack on a large variety of plants. Having said all that, there is at least one other species of Phalanta in Zambia, as well as numerous other related species, which could have similar looking chrysalises (hard to identify from the internet alone). Nevertheless, I think Leopard is a good bet. Regards.
Karl
Update on Common Leopard Chrysalis
March 6, 2010
Hello Kim and Craig,
More on your most likely African (Common) Leopard . . .
http://photocamel.com/forum/macro-close-up-photography/77155-some-more-breeding-shots-post725215.html#post725215
. . . and its uncommon pinkish pupal morph (this from Taiwan):
http://nc.kl.edu.tw/bbs/showpost.php?p=385369&postcount=1.
Best wishes,
Keith Wolfe
Pink Spotted Earthworm?
March 4, 2010
I hope you can help us identify this unusual worm my husband discovered today while trying to photograph a mole! I didn’t see the worm, but he took several photos and after a brief internet search we’re stumped (not that we would expect otherwise, being that we’re *not* experts!). Is it just a regular earthworm with some kind of disease?
Meg
North of Houston, Texas, in Montgomery County
Worm
Hi Meg,
The worm in your photo is sure crazy looking. We cannot say if it is diseased or an unusual species without doing research on the matter, and our time at the moment is limited by other obligations. We hope by posting this quickly, someone will be able to provide us with an answer.
Worm
