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Mating Buckeyes: Who’s On Top???

Buckeye Love
Location:  Central Maryland
August 18, 2010 11:23 pm
These buckeyes are everywhere on my aunt’s Maryland farm. I caught a pair mating. Any idea which gets to perch on the leaf and which is stuck dangling upside down?
Sara

mating buckeyes sara 300x283 Mating Buckeyes: Whos On Top???

Mating Buckeyes

Hi Sara,
Your photo is so crisp and beautiful and it took absolutely no post-production level or curve control.  Your characteristic curve is perfectly fine.  The details are rendered nicely in the highlights, midtones and shadows.  We do not know the answer to your question, so we played the photography professor’s card.  We think our readership may have fun researching this one for us.

Posted 19 August 2010 § Butterflies and Skippers ‡ Comments (1) ° Also tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Mating Annual Cicadas

Dogday Cicada Love
Location:  Trenton, NJ
August 17, 2010 9:21 pm
I was walking into work when behind me I heard the characteristic chatter of a cicada. I turned around to make sure I hadn’t stepped on him and saw this instead. I picked them up off the ground before I took the picture, so they could continue in peace without being squished.
Jen v

cicadas mating jen 300x282 Mating Annual Cicadas

Mating Annual Cicadas

Hi Jen,
Your photo of mating Annual Cicadas in the genus Tibicen is a wonderful addition to our website.

Posted 18 August 2010 § Cicadas ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

MILKWEED MEADOW: Mating Walkingsticks and Mating Milkweed Beetles and Milkweed Tussock Caterpillars

Bug Love at Shenandoah
Location:  Shenandoah National Park, VA
August 17, 2010 9:43 pm
Hi, Daniel, My grandson and I just spent a long weekend camping at Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains of west-central VA, a nice change from the heat and humidity of the VA Peninsula. We found tons of good bugs and are sending a sample. The first is of milkweed beetles mating on, what else?, milkweed growing right outside the visitor center at Big Meadow in the Park. The second is from the Meadow and was a great find – walking sticks!! We also found 2 rhinoceros beetles but couldn’t get in close enough for a good shot. Enjoy!
Kathy Haines

walkingsticks mating kathy 218x300 MILKWEED MEADOW: Mating Walkingsticks and Mating Milkweed Beetles and Milkweed Tussock Caterpillars

Mating Walkingsticks

Hi Kathy,
We just received your numerous emails with multiple attached photographs, and we want to post one image before hurrying out to work.  The Walkingsticks appear to be Northern Walkingsticks, Diapheromera femorata, which can be verified on BugGuide.  Please in the future do not send multiple unrelated species in a single email because it complicates our system of archiving letters.

Daniel, thanks, and I’m so sorry – I’m so impressed with the work you do on what we send in that the last thing I’d want to do is mess it up.  My apologies, and thanks for letting me know.
Kathy Haines

Kathy,
PLease don’t take our comment the wrong way.  It will just be so difficult for us to choose from among your other great photos.  We may just try posting one email with multiple categories.  Your Large Milkweed Bug photo of Oncopeltus fasciatus is a great continuation of the thriving ecosystem surrounding the Milkweed Meadow.  More information on the Large Milkweed Bug, which is not a beetle, may be located on BugGuide.

milkweed bugs kathy 300x210 MILKWEED MEADOW: Mating Walkingsticks and Mating Milkweed Beetles and Milkweed Tussock Caterpillars

Mating Large Milkweed Bugs

Shenandoah, Part II
Location:  Shenandoah National Park, VA
August 17, 2010 9:47 pm
Here are a couple more from the Shenandoah NP camping trip. I think we have milkweed tussock caterpillars, maybe a type of armyworm caterpillar?, and a daddy longlegs. We’re bypassing the many monarchs, eastern tiger swallowtails (our state insect), and what we think is a hickory tussock moth but will send one more with a gorgeous green sphinx (we think).
Kathy Haines

milkweed tussock cats kathy 300x200 MILKWEED MEADOW: Mating Walkingsticks and Mating Milkweed Beetles and Milkweed Tussock Caterpillars

Milkweed Tussock Moth Caterpillars

Hi again Kathy,
This photo of the Milkweed Tussock Moth Caterpillars or Milkweed Tiger Moth Caterpillars, Euchaetes egle, supports the description of the life cycle on BugGuide which states:  “Larvae feed on milkweed, Asclepias species. Adults sometimes found on hostplant during day (1). Females lay eggs in “rafts” and caterpillars are gregarious during instars 1-3, solitary in later instars, when marked with bright tufts. May defoliate patches of milkweed.”  We are adding this image to your previous letter and building the Milkweed Meadow feature.

!!!
Ethan (my grandson) and I are honored.  This is so cool!  I can’t wait for him to see the post – he’s going to love it.
Thanks, Daniel – I can’t stop smiling.
Kathy Haines

What’s That Bug on the Tomato PLant???
Could that be a new book title?  The Milkweed Meadow or Goldenrod Forest would be much more fascinating books.  Or, I could just stay close to home and write Black Mustard and the Camino Real and its thriving Spider and Insect population in Elyria Canyon.

Posted 18 August 2010 § Seed Bugs § Tussock Moth Caterpillars § Walkingsticks ‡ Comments (1) ° Also tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Mating Stilt Bugs

found it
Location:  Northern Indiana
August 18, 2010 9:25 am
I recently sent a few pics of insects I’ve found in Northern Indiana. I have been able to ID it with Peterson’s Field Guide, and then confirmed it with pics on BugGuide. They are stilt bugs (the Berytidae Family). Just thought I’d let you know so you don’t spend a lot of time searching for it.
Vince

stilt bugs mating 300x209 Mating Stilt Bugs

Mating Stilt Bugs

Hi Vince,
Thanks so much for resending your photograph and identification.  We apologize, but your first attempt slipped under our radar and we never saw the letter.  We are very excited to have this image of mating Stilt Bugs because the family Berytidae was not represented on our site until your letter.  According to BugGuide members of the family can be identified because:  “Antennae have four segments, the fourth enlarged.”

Posted 18 August 2010 § Stilt Bugs ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Six Spotted Burnets Mating in the UK

Green with red spot and black with red spots on wings
Location:  Brean Down Somerset UK
August 10, 2010 4:14 am
Dear bugman please identify the pair of bugs in the attached photos
Gill

6 spotted burnets mating uk gill 300x253 Six Spotted Burnets Mating in the UK

Mating Six Spotted Burnets

Hi Gill,
Your mating moths are Six Spotted Burnets, Zygaena filipendulae.  Just yesterday we posted another example from the UK.  You may read more about Six Spotted Burnets on our website and on the UK Moths Website.  We have been getting numerous identification request from the UK lately.

6 spotted burnet uk gill 300x187 Six Spotted Burnets Mating in the UK

Six Spotted Burnet

Posted 10 August 2010 § Moths ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Mating Bordered Plant Bugs

Please identify this bug
Location:  Phoenix Arizona
August 7, 2010 8:32 pm
Hi,
It is summer here in Phoenix AZ and I have these guys all over my front yard which is mostly stone.
I’ve lived in Phoenix for a long time and never had my yard over ran like this.
Thanks,

mating bordered plant bugs arizona 300x206 Mating Bordered Plant Bugs

Mating Bordered Plant Bugs

You have mating Bordered Plant Bugs in the genus Largus, most likely Largus californicus.

Posted 08 August 2010 § True Bugs ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Mating Thread Waisted Wasps

Mating Wasps
Location:  Northern Kentucky, near Cincinnati, OH
August 5, 2010 7:30 pm
Hi Bugman,
I caught this pair of, what I believe to be, thread-waisted wasps mating in my garden today. I chased the pair around as they flew from flower to flower, snapping images of the dynamic duo.

eremnophila ragdoll 300x224 Mating Thread Waisted Wasps

Mating Thread-Waisted Wasps

They were seemingly oblivious to the fact that I was recording their ’George
Costanza-esque’ love-making session. icon wink Mating Thread Waisted Wasps
Finally, the pair went their separate ways, but not before the male gave his girl one last ’love bite’.
I am assuming that the male’s protruding ’stinger’ is his sex organ? I have searched, but seem to be unable to come up with an actual term for this, other than ’genital capsule’.
I saw that you have a couple of pics of these guys already, but thought you might like these.
Regards,
Ragdoll

eremnophila ragdoll 2 283x300 Mating Thread Waisted Wasps

Mating Thread-Waisted Wasps

Hi Ragdoll,
We love your detailed images of Mating Thread-Waisted Wasps, Eremnophila aureonotata. According to BugGuide, the species can be identified because of  “The blue-black body and silve/gold patches are distinctive. The patches may wear off in older individuals (Troy Bartlett).“  BugGuide also indicates:  “Female digs burrow and provisions with a single large lepidopteran larvae. These are reported to include various moths from the families Noctuidae, Notodontidae (especially), and Sphingidae, and also skippers (Hesperidae).  The wasp is commonly found on wildflowers with large clusters of blossoms, such as Queen Anne’s Lace, from summer into fall. One frequently observes mating pairs on the flowers.“

Hi Daniel,
Thanks for the info, as always. Sorry if my email was a little ‘whimsical’. In case anyone was confused, the ‘George Costanza’ reference was a nod to ‘Seinfeld’ and George’s fantasy of ‘eating while having sex” The pair seemed to go about the business of of food while mating.
I have read that the life cycle of this wasp is very short and that the queen will often mate with many drones before depositing her eggs and dying. I also read that she will seldom mate with drones of her own hive. Poor guys! All that work and no reward.
I was amazed at how well these photos came out and am proud that you have posted them on your site.  icon smile Mating Thread Waisted Wasps
Regards,
Ragdoll

Posted 06 August 2010 § Wasps and Hornets ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Mating Nuttall’s Blister Beetles

What’s this bug?
Location:  Western North Dakota
August 5, 2010 6:28 pm
This bug was found in western North Dakota on some leaves. I think it’s a beetle, but don’t know for sure.
Jason

mating blister beetles jason 300x215 Mating Nuttalls Blister Beetles

Mating Nuttall's Blister Beetles

Hi Jason,
These are mating Blister Beetles, and based on images posted to BugGuide, they appear to be Nuttall’s Blister Beetles, Lytta nuttalli.

Posted 05 August 2010 § Blister Beetles ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

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