Scorpionfly mating ritual
Hi Daniel,
after sending of the last email I got to thinking whether the image may still be in a sent mail folder, guess what, I found it.
So attached is the full frame just resized down 50% so you can crop as desired.
regards,
Trevor
Hangingflies: Mating Ritual
Hi again Trevor,
Thank you so much for contributing this wonderful image to our site. The male Scorpionfly in the family Bittacidae, the Hangingflies, often present the females with a nuptial gift of a captured insect to entice her into mating. The male Hangingfly in your photograph has such a gift. Again, thanks so much for responding to our earlier request and for contributing so many wonderful images of Australian Hangingflies to our site.
Wheel Bugs!
Location: La Fortuna, Costa Rica
November 9, 2010 3:58 pm
Hello!
I have been meaning to share this picture with you for awhile but never got around to it. When I browsed through today and saw that the bug of the month is the wheel bug, I took it as a sign. I snapped this picture in the transistion forest at the base of the Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica. This was taken 3 years ago in 2007. I don’t know if this qualifies as bug love but that’s what it looks like to me. You run a really fantastic site. Thanks for your efforts!
Signature: Maria
Cog-Wheel Bugs mating in Costa Rica
Dear Maria,
Thank you for your kind words. We are very excited to post your photograph and we wonder what other gems you may be withholding from us. While it is obvious that this amorous pair is related to the North American Wheel Bug, the coloration is also quite distinctive, most notable the red coloration at the base of the coglike projection of the thorax. The orange wings are also not typical of the North American Wheel Bug. We decided to do a web search of the genus name Arilus and Costa Rica and we found a google book entitled Latin American Insects and Entomology by the amazing Charles Leonard Hogue. On page 223 is a line drawing of the Cog-Wheel Bug, Arilus carinatus, though there is no mention of the coloration. We found some additional photographs online of the species on the Flickriver website, but again, the coloration on your specimens is different. While we can rest assured that your mating pair is a close relative in the genus Arilus of the North American Wheel Bug, we cannot be certain of the Costa Rican species.
Spider Trapping a Baby Black Widow
Location: Southern California
November 4, 2010 1:10 pm
We found this spider in our backyard on the patio trapping a baby black widow. We are thinking it is either a male black widow or a brown widow, but are uncertain. We live in Southern California in the Murrieta/Temecula area. We would love to find out what it is. Thanks!
Signature: Courtney
Black Widow Cannibalism
Hi Courtney,
We are intrigued with your photos of Black Widow cannibalism. The predator in this photo is an immature female Black Widow that will eventually lose that striped pattern and become a glossy black spider, and the prey is exhibiting the telltale red hourglass of a Black Widow as well.
Black Widow Cannibalism
Thank you so much. Is Black Widow cannibalism common? Do all females change like this? Would it have started out all black like the baby here? I understand if you can’t answer all my questions, but I thought I’d try.
Thanks,
Courtney
Hi Courtney,
We were going to paste the third of your photos into this response so we could better determine the identity of the victim. We have never seen data on the frequency of Black Widow cannibalism, but the name and alleged reason may be an indication that there is fact in the lore. With that said, this may be a virgin adolescent female who is still wearing her prepubescent markings. That may be a suitor that sacrificed his life for the perpetuation of the species. Black Widows may be able to mate as adolescents and then storing the spermatozoa until it is needed. Adult females are glossy black and we have not seen documentation of mature females marked otherwise.
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Please help identify green bug
Location: Sierra Nevada foothills, ca 2500’ elevation
November 1, 2010 7:31 am
Observed these mating on a thistle, late June, 2010. I believe his neighbor is a yellow-faced bumble bee.
Signature: Captain Telemark
Mating Stink Bugs
Dear Captain Telemark,
Other than being able to identify this amorous pair as mating Stink Bugs, we cannot provide a species identification because the lateral view is not ideal for identification purposes, and there are numerous green Stink Bugs in the family Pentatomidae.
Mating Mantis’
Location: Covina, CA
October 16, 2010 9:55 am
Hey there Bugman, I thought you’d appreciate a couple pictures I took of this pair in my back yard.
Signature: Mark P.
Mating Preying Mantids
Hi Mark,
Thanks for this interesting photo of a pair of Preying Mantids mating.
What’s this bug called
Location: Savannah, GA 70’s degree
October 13, 2010 10:41 am
A co-worker pointed this bug out to me and we were curious to know what this was. Thanks for the help in advanced! : )
Signature: CRB
Mating Muskmares
Dear CRB,
These are Two Striped Walkingsticks in the genus Anisomorpha, commonly called Muskmares because they are often found in the mating position with the considerably smaller male on top. Caution should be exercised in handling Muskmares because according to BugGuide: “Members of this genus can deliver a chemical spray to the eyes that can cause corneal damage.”
Mating Praying Mantis
Location: El Dorado County, California
October 15, 2010 11:37 pm
I know this bug is a praying mantis. I was just surprised to see them in such an ”uh hum” embarassing position on my window. Perhaps your readers will find it interesting too. Obviously, as I just learned, the brown one is a male and the large green one is a female. They are still together for about 12 hrs now. I wonder if she will eat him when they are done. There also was another male nearby – I guess waiting to see if she will need another partner. He watched for several hours before deciding to fly away.
Signature: Sexy Bugs
Mating Preying Mantids
Dear Sexy Bugs,
We wanted to identify your species so we tried BugGuide unsuccessfully, but we did discover this mating frenzy of a an unidentified Mantis Quintet from California on bugGuide.
Hi again…
I don’t usually shoot bugs (frogs are my primary prey — but dragons and damsels hang around the frog pond and so are fair game). Your “Bug Love” link reminded me that I have two dragon/damsel X-rated photos that might be of interest… although I realize that everyone shoots pictures of these photogenic guys. If there are any pictures in my small dragonfly collection that would be of interest, please feel free to grab them or ask for better resolution. The only question I have … is it surprising to see a red dragonfly mating with a blue one? (It’s the 5th picture down on the page… I’m tempted to give it the politically-flavored title “Red meets Blue”).
The “Damsel fly Valentine” is further down the page … the typical heart-shaped union.
Regards,
Suzanne
Dragon/damsel page is at:
http://frog-shots.com/Dragonflies.html
Whitefaced Meadowhawks Mating
Hi Suzanne,
You did not indicate a location for this photograph, so we are guessing it is also Westford Massachusetts, the location given for your Robin photograph. Many Dragonflies exhibit sexual dimorphism, where the males and females appear quite different, even to the extent that they do not look like the same species. We believe this mating pair are Whtiefaced Meadowhawks, Sympetrum obtrusum. BugGuide has a photo of a mating pair for comparison purposes.
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