For your “Bug Love” page…(blue damselflies from Illinois)
February 7, 2010
Hello. I took this picture early this past July on Lake Shabbona in Illinois, near Chicago while on a fishing trip. There were mating pairs of these blue damselflies everywhere, and these two landed right in front of me. They didn’t flinch when I put the camera right up to them. I thought I’d submit it to see if you guys would like to post it on your Bug Love page. Thanks for your time.
Justin M. Fabre
Illinois
Mating Bluets
Hi Justin,
Thanks for sending us your wonderful photo of mating Bluets in the genus Enallagma. BugGuide has numerous possible species, and we would defer an exact species identification to an expert. This mating position is called a Wheel or Heart formation. Are you by chance related to Jean Henri Fabre, the French entomologist who lived from 1823 to 1915 and who wrote one of the first popular culture books on insects?
French’s Longicorns
January 21, 2010
I just discovered your site today – being a keen bug fiend, I cant believe that I had not come across it before!
I searched through your site to find more information on French’s Longicorn beetle (Batocera frenchi) – but couldnt find any!
We came across these beautiful, large longicorns on a hike through the Wooroonooran National Park in North Queensland in November – They were in a recently broken hollowed tree (probably had something to do with it breaking!!) and appear to be in the midst of a courtship. This is the first time I have seen these amazing beetles – even though they are described as having a geographical area from Mid New South Wales to North Queensland.
Hopefully someone will be able to let me know if they are rare? In which case, I am completely and utterly chuffed to have met them personally 
The Dreaded Bug Queen
Wooroonooran NP -Palmerston, North Queensland, Australia
Mating French's Longicorns
Dear Dreaded Bug Queen,
Though we are based in Los Angeles, we here at What’s That Bug? have had a long history of posting letters of Australian insects, most notably during your summer because our readership does not submit as many identification requests during our winter months. We have posted several letters from locations including India and Israel containing images of the related Mango Stem Borer, Batocera rufomaculata, and once we even posted a letter of a Chinese species we believe to be Batocera rubus, but your wonderful image of mating French’s Longicorns is a first for Batocerus frenchi for us. An image of a French’s Longicorn is posted on the Csiro website, but there is not much information. We have been unable to find out much information on your beetle, though a specimen of French’s Longicorn is listed as rare and is currently for sale on the Insects & More website is listed at 52 Euros, which is approximately $75 US, a hefty price indeed. A female on the same website is selling for 65 Euros. Another website lists it as very rare. We believe your sighting is significant and we are thankful you sent us your marvelous image. Just prior to posting, we decided to search by the common name French’s Longicorn rather than the scientific name. We found a wonderful website of Shell Picture Card series on Cerambycidae that contains this information: “Card no. 339 – French’s Longicorn Beetle, Batocera frenchi (Van de Poll) [as Batocera frenchi Blkb.] Card data: ‘This is one of the finest Longicorn Beetles in Australia. It is found in the rain forests from northern New South Wales to north Queensland. It measures 2” or more in length and is found in certain native fig trees, in the branches and trunks of which its grubs feed. This beetle is a common species of the family Cerambycidae.’ Comments: The biology and host plants of Batocera boisduvali (Hope)(often regarded by entomologists as the same species as B. frenchi) have been reviewed by Hawkeswood (1987a) & Hawkeswood & Dauber (1990, 1993).“
what’s that bug? is it benefitial?
January 19, 2010
I was sawing a bush that is called here (in Hawaii) Holy Coa. suddenly these bugs apeared out of nowhere. Here are 2 photos of them.
v.
Kauai Hawaii USA
Kiawe Round Headed Borer
Dear v.,
We thought your beetle bore an uncanny resemblance to the Mesquite Borer, Placosternus difficilis, a species BugGuide reports from Texas and the “Southern tier of U.S. states, south to Honduras; Cuba, Bahamas.“ We then did a web search to see if the Mesquite Borer was introduced to Hawaii, and we were immediately led to another BugGuide page of an insect found in Hawaii and placed in the same genus, but with the disclaimer: “Placosternus crinicornis (Chevrolat) has been recorded from Hawaii but not P. difficilis.“ We followed that thread and were led to the Insects of Hawaii page on Placosternus crinicornis, the Kiawe or Prosopis Round Headed Borer which is listed as non-native. It may also be found on an Invasive Species website. According to Wikipedia, Kiawe or Prosopis limensis is a species of mesquite native to South America. Since neither the insect nor its host are native to Hawaii, it is fair to say that neither are beneficial to helping to maintain the indigenous biodiversity of Kauai.
Mating Kiawe Round Headed Borers
Saw this (possible) mating ritual…
November 24, 2009
Although I saw the two bugs interacting for some time, I have no idea what they are after having looked here and there for an answer.
Stingrey
Big Bend National Park
Robber Flies
Hi Stingrey,
These courting Robber Flies are gorgeous. The male is flying. We believe they are in the genus Laphria, but we cannot find an exact match on Bugguide. The closest is Laphria trux but it has black legs, not red ones like the individuals in your photo. Last week we got assistance from an expert in Robber Flies, Dr. Robert A. Cannings, Curator of Entomology from the Royal British Columbia Museum. We are writing to him again for assistance.
Hi Daniel: I’m sure this is a Heteropogon. There are a number of
species in Texas (and I’m not familiar with them) but this may be H.
patruelis, which is relatively big and has a red abdomen. I’ve sent the
photo to Eric Fisher to see if he can help.
Rob
Update from Robert A. Cannings and Eric Fisher
November 30, 2009
Hi Daniel: Here is Eric Fisher’s reply about the Heteropogon. There’s no one better at identifying most NA asilids, so I doubt if you’ll get a better answer.
Cheers,
Rob
Hi Rob,
Yes, this courting pair do look like Heteropogon patruelis — especially in overall coloration. Only puzzling thing is I can’t really see signs of the patches of erect black & white hairs on the midlegs of the male (I assume the extended legs are the fore pair, and the dangling ones are the midlegs; hard to tell because the leg-base area is so dark).
… Cheers,
Eric
Id help needed – pretty bugs!
November 21, 2009
I photographed these bugs on butterfly holiday in the USA in Nov 2006. There were seen at the Westlaco Valley Nature reserve in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas. As I live in England I don’t have any suitable field guides and wondered if someone can Id these for me.
Maris UK
LRGV Texas
Pale Red Bugs Mating
Hi Maris,
This is a new species for our website, but we quickly identified your mating Pale Red Bugs or Turk’s Cap Bugs, Dysdercus concinnus, on BugGuide. The Rio Grande Valley in Texas is the northernmost reach of the range of the species which is found in Central America south to Columbia.
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Posted 21 November 2009
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Red Bugs
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Also tagged:
i am wondering what this bug is i have never seen it before
November 16, 2009
I’ve seen grasshoppers this big, but this seemingly isn’t one of those (no wings). They were mating when photographed; I assume that the male is the smaller of the pair. I couldn’t get the female to pose on the ruler, as I desired, but I estimate she’s about 3.5 inches long. November 15, 2009. Homosassa, Florida Insects are mating: the larger (female?) is about 3.5″
Julie
Homosassa, Florida
Mating Muskmares
Hi Julie,
These are Two Striped Walkingsticks, also called Muskmares. The female is larger.
Jumping spider mating display
October 31, 2009
Hi,
I was working in my backyard today when I noticed these two beautiful little jumping spiders. The male was trying to convince the female that he would make a good mate. He would approach the female with his arms raised and vibrate his pedipalps. When he would get close, the female would chase after him like she was going to eat him. Eventually the male decided that it wasn’t worth the risk and ran away. The male was about 1/4 of an inch long, and the female was about 1/2 an inch long. They had gray bodies and brilliant gold hairs covering their legs. Any help you can provide in identifying these little beauties will be very appreciated. Keep up the great work.
Josh Kouri
Jumping Spiders: Mating of Vying for Dominance???
Hi Josh,
We believe your spiders are Phidippus mystaceus based on images posted to BugGuide, but we also suspect this might be two male spiders vying for dominance. The male spider is a perfect match to an image on BugGuide. The coloration and pattern of the females posted to BugGuide are significantly different than in your photos. The images are quite amazing.
Jumping Spider: Male or Female???
Hi,
After I saw that you identified my spiders I decided to look for more pictures of Phidippus mystaceus/. /I found several sites that showed females with gold on their legs. These all lacked the red markings on top of their heads that the males have. The larger of the spiders I found also lacked these red markings, but the smaller one had them. Could there be another variation or subspecies of P. mystaceus/ /where the females have gold legs too? Thanks for the help with the I.D.
Josh Kouri
Hi,
Here are the links. http://bugguide.net/node/view/231102/bgimage
http://www.canadianarachnology.org/data/spiders/35475
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phidippus_mystaceus
Hope they help.
Josh Kouri
What Spider is this
October 27, 2009
This spider eated his mate.
mr
Costa Mesa, CA
Orbweavers Mating
Dear mr,
We are uncertain what species of Orbweaver you have sent our way. We couldn’t even say for sure if this is an Araneus. Perhaps one of our readers can tell. Your photos are amazing. It isn’t unusual for female spiders to eat their mates.
Orbweaver eats her Mate
Mountain Bug love
October 16, 2009
Found these two love-bugs while hiking a mountain in the Hudson Valley region of New York state during late spring. I’m not sure what they are, but I think they’re in love 
.
Tori
Hudson Valley, New York
Mating Purple Tiger Beetles
Hi Tori,
These are mating Tiger Beetles in the genus Cicindela. There are numerous species illustrated on BugGuide. We believe they may be Purple Tiger Beetles, Cicindela purpurea, though we would prefer to have an actual expert confirm the species ID. You can check out the photos and description of the Purple Tiger Beetle on BugGuide.
Dave Gracer’s comment
What’s cool about this pic is that the female has got some food, most likely supplied by the male as a token. In other words, sex for food. Other kinds of animals do this — I don’t know how many, but I know that roadrunners to it. Pretty fascinating, when you consider the possibility that there are some vague analogies in our species.
Mating dragonflies
September 10, 2009
I saw these dragonflies in my garden a few days ago (in September). I thought it was interesting that they were able to fly while coupled together. Fortunately they landed on a lovely pink dahlia and allowed me to take some close-ups of them.
I thought these would be a good addition for your bug love category, but identification would be great too!
Thanks
Brandon A
San Jose, CA
Mating Variegated Meadowhawks
Dear Brandon,
We haven’t the time to properly identify you beautiful mating Dragonflies at the moment, though we believe they are Skimmers in the family Libellulidae. Hopefully, we can do a proper ID later, or perhaps a reader will provide us with an answer.
Update:
Thanks so much to Karl who sent in a comment identifying these Variegated Meadowhawks, Sympetrum corruptum. There are numerous images on BugGuide.
Wheel Bugs mating
September 10, 2009
Just found these and searched for over an hour to find out what they are! I’m happy to say they’re beneficial in my yard, and thankfully I’m not a bug killer in the 1st place unless necessary. Would you like to add the photos to your collection? My 5 year old son is fascinated by them. Thanks for a great web site, its our go to for our bug questions.
Cara Bauer
St. Louis, Missouri
Mating Wheel Bugs
Hi Cara,
We love the interesting angles on your photos of mating Wheel Bugs.
Mating Wheel Bugs
Bug Love
August 31, 2009
I thought you might like a photo of some margined leatherwing beetles in the mating act.
Doug
near Omaha NE
Mating Goldenrod Soldier Beetles
Dear Doug,
Thanks for sending us your Bug Love image, but we don’t believe these are Margined Leatherwings. That species, according to BugGuide, is “Very similar to C. pennsylvanicus, but pronotum has wide dark band, instead of an irregular dark spot. Elytra of C. marginatus often more extensively dark than pennsylvanicus. C. marginatus is also somewhat smaller and is active earlier in summer than C. pennsylvanicus.“ In our opinion, your photo depicts mating Goldenrod Soldier Beetles or Pennsylvania Leatherwings, Chauliognathus pensylvanicus. Compare your image to the images posted on BugGuide.
