what bug is this
Location: Midland mi
June 24, 2011 2:33 pm
My friend has this bug living in their porch.Do you know what it is?
Signature: David Schmidt
Mating Eyed Tiger Moths
Hi David,
These are mating Eyed Tiger Moths also known as Great Leopard Moths.
Mating Hover Flies
Mating Hover Flies
Mating Hover Flies
Location: Northeast Florida
June 23, 2011 3:36 pm
I have been enjoying your website since finding it a few days ago, and I’ve also been enjoying the Bug Guide which I found through your site. Yesterday I was able to identify a Hover Fly, Toxomerus marginatus, in a photo I’d taken of this tiny bug perched on a flower.
Today I went out to the garden and saw another little Hover Fly hovering in the air over the flowers. When I started taking pictures I realized that it was actually two mating Hover Flies! They appear to be Toxomerus marginatus also. I’m sending a couple of photos. They were mostly flying parallel to me but I did get one fuzzy photo of their backs.
Signature: Karen
Mating Hover Flies
Dear Karen,
We need to start by exclaiming “WOW!!!” These are awesome action photographs. We especially love that he is taking her for a ride. We agree that these Hover Flies look like Toxomerus marginatus based on photos posted to BugGuide.
Hover Flies mating
Hi Daniel,
Wow, thank you–I’m glad you liked the photos! Yes, it was fascinating to watch the male taking the female for a ride–he just carried her around as he hovered over the garden.
Karen
More Leaf-Footed Bugs
Location: Northeast Florida
June 20, 2011 6:00 pm
I found some Leaf-Footed Bugs mating on my tomato plants today, and I took a few pictures. In these photos I don’t see the yellowish spots on the forward part of the pronotum that were obvious in the first bug picture I sent you. So do I have two varieties of Leaf-Footed Bugs on my tomatoes?
Signature: Karen
Mating Leaf Footed Bugs
Hi Again Karen,
These mating Leaf Footed Bugs are in the same genus as your previous submission, Leptoglossus, however they represent a different species. We believe this is Leptoglossus phyllopus based on images posted to BugGuide.
Mating Leaf Footed Bugs
Hi Daniel,
Thank you again for your help. At first I assumed these bugs were the same as the bug in the first photo I sent you, but when I looked at the pictures closely I didn’t see the spots on the pronotum. It’s hard to believe that I could have two species of a bug I’d never heard of or seen before on my tomato plants!
Karen
Orange Antenna’d Mating Stink Bugs?
Location: Quakertown, PA
June 20, 2011 1:06 am
The body of these bugs looks just like that of a Stink Bug, but these are black and have orange antennae. Also… they seem to be mating. Could you tell me what they are? This picture was taken today, north of Philadelphia, PA
Signature: Jeff
Mating Leaf Footed Bugs
Dear Jeff,
These are actually Leaf Footed Bugs in the family Coreidae, not Stink Bugs. We believe they are Acanthocephala terminalis, which according to BugGuide can be identified by the: “Apical segment of antenna orange or yellowish, contrasting sharply with the basal three segments, which are dark; flange on hind tibia wavy-margined, narrowing distally and extending only two-thirds the length of the tibia; pronotum with small but distinct tubercles present, surface with covering of golden hairs; abdomen sinuate in outline, the sides of the abdomen bulging outward beyond the wings when viewed from above (these last three characteristics distinguish A. terminalis from A. confraterna).”
Please Identify This
Location: Malaybalay City Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines
June 20, 2011 12:30 am
Hello, I have seen this small tiny flying creature in our Backyard and in some of my friends backyards. I want to know if this is a moth or a butterfly and what kind of a specie it is. Took this picture for my 365project (http://www.365project.org/altadc). Thank you so much.
Signature: Alta
Mating Tiger Moths
Hi Alta,
We originally believed these might be Wasp Moths or Clearwings in the family Sesiidae. The mating pair demonstrates dramatic sexual dimorphism. We tried searching the family and Philippines, and immediately found a match on TrekNature that agrees with our family identification, and a comment provides this species name: Amata heubneri, and indicates it is a Tiger Moth in the subfamily Arctiinae. Then things get really confusing. The Butterfly House website has images of a mating pair of Amata heubneri that do not exhibit the sexual dimorphism. We are relatively confident that these are diurnal Tiger Moths in the subfamily Arctiinae, but we may need additional time on the species ID.
Diurnal Tiger Moth
Julian Donahue, noted Arctiid Expert, provides some information
Beautiful and fascinating photo. Using the “old” classification, this is in the tiger-moth family Arctiidae, subfamily Ctenuchinae, and a member of the Old World group of genera. It is NOT Amata huebneri, but rather the male appears to be Ceryx flaviplagia, described from Mindanao by Hampson in 1898, or something very close to it. The female, however, may represent sexual dimorphism (common in this group) or an extreme melanic individual (also fairly common). It is very likely that the female was described as a distinct, separate, species, because it is so different from the male (also a very common occurrence, a confusion usually not resolved until mating observations such as this one provide evidence that two “species” are actually the same species, or “conspecific.” In fact, the female looks very similar to illustrations I have seen of a moth, described from the female only, as Ceryx chea Druce; the fact that it was also described from Mindanao makes the possibility of conspecificity even more likely.
Be aware, however, that I am working from very old references, and I am not conversant with the latest knowledge about Old World ctenuchines, so further verification and research are necessary to confirm the identification and, more importantly, whether the possibility of conspecificity of these two “species” has been previously reported. This is really exciting stuff that should be pursued further.
Julian
Moth in Brazil
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
June 13, 2011 11:05 am
Hi bugman.
Found a strange looking moth, haven´t figured out which species it might be. Can you help me out?
Signature: Mary Drumond
Mating Royal Moths
Dear Mary,
We believe we have correctly identified your mating Royal Moths as a pair of Citheronia laocoon, but we would like to copy Bill Oehlke on our response to get his opinion. He may also request permission to use your excellent photo on his website. The smaller individual in your photo is the male, and we do not know if this size discrepancy is normal, or if this is just an abnormally small male. The male has a wider yellow band on the upper wings than the female. Here are some photos of mounted specimens of Citheronia laocoon on the Lepidoptera Barcode of Life website.
Bill Oehlke confirms identification
Daniel,
Thanks for thinking of me. Here is email I just sent to Mary.
Hi Mary,
Yes, it is Citheronia laocoon.
Males are typically smaller than females, but it would appear that you probably have encountered a smaller than average male pairing with a larger than average female.
Thanks for permission to post photo.
I am very interested in seeing and posting images of Saturniidae and Sphingidae with dates and locations. I should be able to help with identifications of any moths from those two families.
Bill Oehlke
Dear Mr. Marlos and Mr. Oehlke,
Can you tell me if this month is native to Brazil (rio de janeiro) as its the first time i see anything like it around here.
Thank you so much for you reply, and yes, you may use the picture.
Thank you once again
Hi Mary,
I realized that neither Bill Oehlke nor I confirmed that this is a native species for you.
Well, i googled it (ha ha)
Apparently its native to south america, but i didnt get specifics on my state, rio de janeiro, which is on the coast. Like i said previously, i had never seen anything like it befor. Our moths tend to be small, dull and to be quite honest, ugly.
Big beautiful moths like these are a real treat.
My friend thought they were from argentin and might be escaping volcanic ash from the chilean volcano this week.
Seems a bit far.
Thank you for all your time and attention.
Mary
What kinda bugs are this pair?
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
June 1, 2011 9:47 pm
Hi, I took this picture today thru the screen of our lanai. The bugs are doing the love dance and stayed that way for at least an hour. We live in Jacksonville, FL where the weather today was a steamy 89 degrees. I have never seen these bugs before, not flying, not crawling; not at all. I did post it on Face Book where someone thought it was a locust, but I looked at pix and their legs are not that long. Would love to know what this pair is. We’ve seen all kinds of creepy crawly things in Florida, this is a new one for us. Thanx for your help.
Signature: Warm Regards, Sunnie Ellis
Mating Robber Flies
Hi Sunnie,
These are mating Robber Flies. We will be out of the office for a week and we have prepared your posting to go live next week in our absence.
Mating Cicadas
Location: Cedar Hill Missouri
June 5, 2011 8:35 pm
Hello Bugman,
What kind of cicadas are these, such as year/scientific and common name? I would love to know!
Signature: Thanks!, Nathan Becker
Brood XIX 13 Year Cicadas Mating
Hi Nathan,
We are very thrilled to have received your photo of a mating pair of Brood XIX 13 Year Cicadas, Magicicada tredecassini. Here is the BugGuide information page on this species. This map on BugGuide illustrates the range of the Great Southern Brood of Periodical Cicadas in the genus Magicicada.
Ed. Note: Though Brood XIX seems to be emerging throughout its range, we have not received reports of great numbers of Cicadas. Is habitat destruction combined with Unnecessary Carnage beginning to contribute to a decline in the number of individuals?
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