Caribbean, crawling, red body, white stripes with some black
May 5, 2010
We have never seen these insects, but this year, there are _thousands_ and seem to reproduce with no obvious predator. Some eat downed fruit from a large Seaside Mahoe tree (sometimes called a seaside hibiscus), others seem to be eating dead plant material (example: a small dead palm plant about 3 feet tall), but some are seemingly eating live plant leaves.
There seem to be two variants:
(A) one flatter one with a red body and a white “collar” and an “X” marking on the dorsal side. It almost looks like an old foot soldier uniform from the 18th century.
(B) a more rounded one with a red body and several white stripes.
Anguilla
Caribbean (Anguilla, British West Indies)
Saint Andrew's Cotton Stainers: Mating Adults and nymphs
Hi Anguilla,
You have Saint Andrew’s Cotton Stainers, Cysdercus andreae, both winged adults and wingless nymphs. The pair in the center of you one photo is mating. According to Bugguide: “The feeding activities of cotton stainers on cotton produce a stain on the lint which reduces its value. A few authorities have reported the stain comes from excrement of the bugs. However, most have stated that the stain primarily is a result of the bug puncturing the seeds in the developing bolls causing a juice to exude that leaves an indelible stain. Feeding by puncturing flower buds or young cotton bolls usually causes reduction in size, or the fruiting body may abort and drop to the ground. – University of Florida.“
Saint Andrew's Cotton Stainer
Thank you! It’s a perfect answer, as we have a fruiting tree that dropped fruit. The stainers were all over the fruit, but also on a dead palm and some other _live_ plants. The live plants and the fact that these things can reproduce like crazy had us worried. (I have never seen so many end-to-end joined things before. They don’t have to work hard to pick up mates…)
Hopefully they have predators (birds, lizards, and (ahem) roaming wild chickens). if so I would assume they’d be controlled naturally. What _does_ eat them?
A great, great answer, in a fabulously short timeframe. Many thanks!
Mark
¶ Posted 05 May 2010 § Red Bugs ‡ ° Also tagged: box elder bug love
May 5, 2010
Not sure if you are interested in another one,but here is a picture of mating box elder bugs from our local playground. My 3 year old wanted to know why they had 2 heads, which evolved into a very interesting conversation….
Sara
Bridgewater, NJ
Mating Boxelder Bugs
Hi Sara,
Thanks so much for sending us your photo of mating Eastern Boxelder Bugs, Boisea trivittata. We are happy to post it.
Mating bugs?
May 3, 2010
Sorry for the lack of knowledge. I’m not exactly sure what kind of bugs these are! I thought they were lightning bugs, but I’m not sure.
Anyway, I thought you might like these mating buggies, and hopefully you could shed some light as to what these cuties are!
Terra
Massachusetts
Mating Winter Fireflies
Hi Terra,
We agree with you that these are Fireflies, more specifically Diurnal Fireflies, and most probably Ellychnia currusca, the Winter Firefly, which we identified on Bugguide.
Are these termites?
April 23, 2010
We have these small bugs. They are less than an inch long. They have blackish bodies and 2 pairs of white/clear wings. They smarmed today, and it’s raining. Last spring they swarmed on day. It seemed like it was raining then. They are all over the attic. My dad set up a bug bomb up there and they cleared out temporarily. But I wanted to be sure that these are termites.
LM
Southeast Missouri
Termite Alates
Dear LM,
Your suspicions that these are Termites is correct. They are the winged reproductive Aletes that often swarm after rain to mate and set up new colonies. While the bug bomb your father set off may have killed these Alates, it is very doubtful that the pesticide has penetrated to the colony. A professional should be consulted.
Spelling Correction thanks to Eric Eaton
Daniel:
The April 23 post of “termite aletes” should have read “termite alates,” with another “a.” That is the term for winged reproductives of termites and ants.
Eric
¶ Posted 24 April 2010 § Termites ‡ ° Also tagged: Infesting my mugo pine
April 23, 2010
April, 23, 2010 – I live in Toronto, ON Last week I notice bunch of flying bugs in my mugo pine, after careful examination I realised that they were all over the mugo. They like to get right into the pine needles and escially where the new candles are growing. When they fly the wings make a buzzing sound, they can be easily swatted away. I don’t want to lose my pine and was wondering how I could enticed them to move. I did my best with the attached picture it shows both the red-headed one and the black one. You insight is greatly appreciated.
TD in Toronto
Toronto, Ontario Canada
False Pine Webworm
Dear TD,
We thought your insect resembled a Sawfly, so we searched through BugGuide and quickly found the False Pine Webworm, Acantholyda erythrocephala. The female has a reddish orange head and the male is black with a yellow face, a sexual dimorphism that is clearly represented on your photograph. BugGuide also indicates it is a: “Serious problem on white pine along east coast of U.S. Also in Ont, Alberta and Newfoundland. Introduced from Europe in 1925.“ Though they are not mating, we are going to tag your image as Bug Love nonetheless.
Spotted Leopard Slugs Mating
April 21, 2010
Hi WTB!
I snapped these photos of a pair of what I think are Spotted Leopard Slugs doing the wild thing hanging from a thick strand of slime attached to the side of my house. At one point, there were two males trying to get to the female, but one fell off. This was the end result. A gooey sky blue slime wad. I never knew slugs mated like that! I thought maybe you could use this for your site.
Keep up the great work! I slug-love What’s That Bug!
Rebecca White
Charlotte, NC
Spotted Leopard Slugs Mating
Dear Rebecca,
The mating positions of these hermaphroditic Spotted Leopard Slugs is positively salacious. All slugs are hermaphrodites, so you are mistaken in believing that the third member in the encounter was a male. The close-up photograph you included is quite graphic, and viewers should exercise caution before reading more. Several years ago we posted a photo of Spotted Leopard Slugs mating and that letter sparked quite a controversy. You can read about it on our archive.
Spotted Leopard Slugs Mating
Interesting Costa Rican Wasp Moths – Part 3
Interesting Costa Rican Wasp Moths – Part 3
To round out my little set of Costa Rican Wasp Moths, here is a pair of Southern Cyan Tiger Moths (Macrocneme chrysitis). This is another day flying Ctenuchid (Arctiidae: Ctenuchinae) and an obvious wasp mimic. The species ranges throughout the tropical Americas, as for north as south Texas. These were also photographed at the Las Cruces Biological Station/Wilson Botanical Gardens. Regards.
Karl
Mating Southern Cyan Tiger Moths
Hi again Karl,
We wrote back the day you sent this and indicated we would post it upon returning home from work, but political activism got in the way, and it wasn’t until this morning that we were reminded that we had neglected your wonderful submission. Since the quantity of mail we are receiving has drastically increased with the arrival of spring, we had to dig back several pages to locate you awesome image. Sorry for the delay. According to the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) website, the species may also be found in Texas.
What kind of moth is this?
April 16, 2010
The reddish moth showed up two nights ago, and this afternoon I noticed she (I’m assuming she’s a she) had begun to lay eggs on a deck post. This evening the darker moth (the male?) landed next to her, and they seemed to connect at the thorax in bit of “nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more” moth love. I’ve found about four different moth identifications that could be this moth, but I’m curious what you think it is.
Michael
Landrum, South Carolina
Promethea Moths Mating
Hi Michael,
What marvelous photos you have submitted. These are mating Promethea Moths, Callosamia promethea, also known as Spicebush Silkmoths. BugGuide has information on the identification of the species. The female is the lighter larger moth, and the male is the darker smaller moth. Your letter and wonderful photos almost got overlooked because it has the same subject line as a letter we posted the day before, and the archiving of our email system in WordPress combined them in our inbox.
Promethea Moths Mating
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