Subject: Please identify this insect
Location: Southeast Florida – Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge
December 26, 2012 12:36 pm
I photographed these 2 red insects (with black wings) at the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge in Southeast Florida (Palm Beach County).
What are they?
Signature: Robert Goldman

Mating Cotton Stainers

Dear Robert,
These are very nice photos of mating Cotton Stainers, Dysdercus suturellus.  According to BugGuide:  “found on many plants, incl. cotton, hibiscus, oranges, etc” and  it is a “a pest of cotton; ‘Feeding on the cotton bolls stains them an indelible yellow as plant sap seeps out of the puncture wound, and microorganisms and fungus grows at the site. The feeding habit also damages the fibres by cutting them, and affects the growth of the cotton boll.’”

Mating Cotton Stainers

Hey Daniel.  Thank you for the very prompt reply to my request.  Glad you like the photos.  Interesting identification.  We don’t have much of a cotton crop here in South Florida.
If you would like to see more of my work, I invite you to connect with my Blair Photography page at
https://www.facebook.com/RobertBlairPhotography.
Thanks again,
Robert

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Subject: Please identify this insect
Location: Wallan, Victoria. Australia
December 3, 2012 4:39 am
Our gum and bottlebrush trees have been covered with tens of thousands of these green flying insects. Please help with identifying the insect and what are the dangers to our trees.
Thank you in advance.
Signature: Dean and Rose Joyce

Plague Soldier Beetles

Dear Dean and Rose,
We quickly identified your beetles as Plague Soldier Beetles, Chauliognathus lugubris or Chauliognathus pulchellus on the Brisbane Insect website.  The site indicates “Sometimes we found the swarms of Plague Soldier Beetles. The aggregations are believed for the purpose of breeding. Most of them in the aggregation are mating.”  Despite the common name, they are not considered a threat to the plants, though large numbers might be considered a nuisance.  Soldier Beetles, according to the Brisbane Insect family page for Cantharidae:  “are abundant on flowers and foliage where they feed on nectar, pollen, or other small insects.”  Both Gum and Bottlebrush produce pollen, so there is an ample food source on those trees.  Additionally, Soldier Beetles are beneficial as they feed on insects that are injurious to the trees like Aphids and Hoppers.  The Wild World of Pests website states:  “Every spring I marvel at the numbers of insects devoured by soldier beetles.  They’re real troopers in the war on damaging insect in my landscape. … Between the soldier beetles and the ladybugs I don’t have much to worry about, when it comes to aphids.  Soldier beetles, sometimes known as leather backs are voracious feeders.  The larvae are quite efficient at dispatching aphids and other plant pests, including spider mites, grasshopper eggs, gypsy moth caterpillars, eastern tent caterpillars birch leaf miners, elm leaf beetles, oak webworms, lilac leaf miners, cucumber beetle larvae and many more garden pests.  The adults devour large quantities of aphids, but also enjoy nectar and pollen, so it’s a good idea to have lots of flowers around to attract them.” Since the Brisbane Insect website indicates that these large aggregations might be related to mating behavior, we are tagging this posting as Bug Love.

Plague Soldier Beetles

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Subject: Bug Love- Mating Zebra Longwings
Location: Orlando, Florida
December 2, 2012 1:58 am
Hi Daniel and team. My husband got this shot when he was watching one of our zebra longwings (the Florida state butterfly)emerge from it’s chrysalis. He couldn’t believe his eyes when the other one flew up and started mating with it. We’ve noticed some of the butterflies coming around the cocoons trolling for mates. But, we also saw one of the trollers frantically knock a newly emerged one off it’s cocoon and onto the ground. We were wondering, do males fight each other? We know now to keep other butterflies away from fresh ones until they’re wings are hard. Anyway, enjoy the pic from Florida, the state of the year round butterflies.
Signature: Elizabeth

Mating Zebra Longwings

Hi Elizabeth,
Thanks so much for sending your photo of mating Zebra Longwings.  We don’t normally think of butterflies as being aggressive, however, males of some species will defend territory.  We will try to research this a bit more.

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