whats this bug?
Hello Guys,
Great to find your site as I have a find the bug question! We have recently been to France where our parents have bought a house, they are keen gardeners and have found the bugs attached all over the place! There are two pics one of the bugs in normal state but also one of them I suspect mating! Really the ground in certain areas appears to be moving where there are so many! Due to the number of them I suspect they are similar to the lady birds we have in England but would like to know if they are helpful to the garden as well as the name etc. Thanks for your help on this, I look forward to hearing from you. Regards
Kate Mills
Hi Kate,
Nice photo of mating Fire Bugs, Pyrrhocoris apterus, a common species in continental Europe.
¶ Posted 17 April 2006 § True Bugs ‡ ° Also tagged: Cylindrical hardwood borers mating
Dear Bugman,
Despite the crappy picture quality, my sister the biology teacher was able to identify these bugs for me. I watched them for much longer than I’m willing to admit. The mating ritual was pretty funny. Two or three of these guys were running back and forth, back and forth along an almost vertical segment of a mostly-dead tree. Each time one got to the end of the vertical segment, it would turn around and dart in the other direction. About every twentieth pass, two bugs would run into each other and mate. They’d finish (or he’d get tired of holding her down) and take off in opposite directions. Back and forth, back and forth…Then they’d run into each other again and the fun would resume. This went on long enough for me to go back to the house and fetch the camera. Unfortunately, my camera isn’t good enough to take top-notch close-up pictures.
Nancy
Hi Nancy,
What your photos lack in technical quality, you more than make up for with your colorful account of the mating ritual of the Cylindrical Hardwood Borer, Neoclytus acuminatus.
your ID help would be appreciated
About 1 year ago I moved from CA to TN and I’m having a great time trying to figure out what the various critters I’m finding here actually are. I’m sending this pic as a link because I’m stuck with what seems to be the slowest dialup connection in the world. Just in case I decide to share my pics with more than one person, I upload them to my web site and then share them by sending the link so I only have to upload them once. I just found these 2 doing the wild thing on the underside of a daffodil leaf. Any idea what they are? Thanks
Ken Childs
Hi Ken,
We thought identifying these distinctive moths would be easy. We are still stumped. We will continue to check. The photo, meanwhile, is gorgeous.
(04/17/2006)
Hi there, I just wanted to say kudos on your great site! I’m currently trying to identify and caterpillar I found in my bathroom, and I am growing more and more increasingly eager to just rear it and find out what it is! I hope this is a bit of help to you. I believe the spotted moths that are in question from the 16th are “mournful Thyris” moths. cheers!
Kitty
Hi Kitty,
Thank you so much for your assistance. We found the Mournful Thyris, Pseudothyris sepulchralis, on BugGuide which puts it in the family Thyrididae, Window-Winged Moths.
¶ Posted 16 April 2006 § Moths ‡ ° Also tagged: bug love photo
Here’s another photo of hummingbird clearwing moths mating. I guess flowers really do work. This was taken in Memphis, TN.
Tim Doyle
Hi Tim,
Thanks for the wonderful photo of mating Clearwing Sphinxes. We have difficulty distinguishing the species, but we believe this is the Snowberry Clearwing, Hemaris diffinis.
busy bugs
Hi! Well, here we are again, trying to identify a critter…proably not as unusual
as the wheel bug last time, but my kids and I were walking today at Tyler Arboritum and I noticed these “busy” bugs on a rhodo leaf & were curious if you would please id for us…they were very irridescent and also VERY tiny, smaller than 1/4 inch…Thanks so much!
Jennifer, Madi and Harrison (in Pennsylvania)
Hi Jennifer,
We originally thought this was one of the Leaf Beetles in the Family Chrysomelidae but Eric Eaton set us straight: ” The mating metallic leaf beetles may be in the genus Altica, certainly in the Alticinae subfamily called Flea Beetles for their ability to jump. Very common insects.” We are guessing Rhodo leaf is Rhododendron.
¶ Posted 13 April 2006 § Beetles ‡ ° Also tagged: Musk-mare
Here’s a photo of a musk-mare – didn’t know what it was ‘till I found your website. Thought you’d like a decent photo of the pair. Also, you helped me identify a mole cricket today. Strangest thing I’ve seen in a while. Thanks.
Gene Browning
Melbourne FL
Hi Gene,
Your photo of Mating Two-Lined Walkingsticks, or Muskmares, is great. Stay clear of the noxious fluid they are capable of spraying into your eyes.
Bug Love Photo!
Hello!
I just have to say that I LOVE your site. I noticed you put up a “bug love” section… I have a photo to contribute. This is a photo I took of two mating beetles at the Seattle Zoo. I actually took a photo of the entire beetle exhibit, but didn’t notice THESE two going at it until after I got home and took a closer look at the photos. So I cropped the large photo down to include just the two lovers for your bug love page. However, I didn’t write down the name of the beetles from the exhibit.. and forgot what species they were.
sincerely,
brenda
Hi Brenda,
What a nice image to begin the first day of spring. We are relatively certain one of our readers will be able to provide a name for your amorous exotic Scarab Beetles.
Robber flies
Dear Bugman:
Can you identify this pair of mating Asilids? Can you tell which is the female? I would assume the female is the one hanging suspended, since craneflies mate that way; also, with dragonflies it is always the male that holds fast to a perch, unless they’re doing it in flight. I am also attaching a photo of a single individual of the same species. The shots were made in early fall in a field of exotic grasses and thistle near a pond in the San Francisco Bay area. We have another larger Asilid at that pond that preys on damselflies, but I have not seen this species with a prey item.
Thanks very much.
Odophile
Hi Odophile,
We need to defer to Eric Eaton on anything more general than Robber Fly on this, though we agree the female is the suspended member of the pair.
I like This
