Beautiful bug on the window
June 7, 2010
I work at my computer where I can watch my tiny yard which backs onto a creek in DFW area of north Texas. I watch the birds/hawks during the day, raccoons, possums, and occasional fox at night. Yesterday, I looked up to see this lovely specimen. However, I cannot identify him. Please help..I had a cog beetle one day, but this? Hmm.
All Critter Lover
Dallas-Fort Worth North Texas
Flower Longhorn
Dear All Critter Lover,
This Flower Longhorn is Stenelytrana emarginata and it does not have a common name. BugGuide indicates it is attracted to fermenting bait. Were you by chance drinking a banana daquiri at the time of the sighting? Your photo is quite painterly.
Flower Longhorn
Ant Lion?
June 4, 2010
Hi! We found this monster crawling from the edge of the Muskegon River in Michigan toward the wood line. I thought it was an ant lion, but I haven’t seen any pictures of ant lions that look like this thing. I have video, also, if you’d like to see the creepy way the thing ambulated… What the heck is it? It was HUGE!
Eric Kincaid
Newaygo, MI
Hellgrammite
Hi Eric,
In the past week, we have been getting numerous photos of Hellgrammites like the one in your photo. We are also beginning to get images of adult Dobsonflies, the winged form of this aquatic larva. The male Dobsonfly possesses enormous saber-like mandibles, and if you think this Hellgrammite is frightening, wait until you see its daddy. Hellgrammites and Dobsonflies are both harmless, though the mandibles of the larva and those of the female can deliver a painful pinch, and possibly even draw blood. The foot is a nice use of scale.
Hellgrammite
Florida Beetle
June 3, 2010
My neighbor’s cat keeps finding these beetles and bringing them in. I love the eye markings, but I’m not sure what to call it. Is it an ironclad beetle?
Marc
Sarasota, FL
Eyed Elater
Hi Marc,
This Eyed Elater is a species of Click Beetle.
giant ichneumon survived windshield
June 2, 2010
This hit my windshield very lightly, and stayed for the rest of my ride home. Sorry the pictures are through my windshield, but there was NO WAY I was getting out of my car with that bad boy (or girl, actually) creeping around! You had other pics but this seemed more close up & I thought you might like them. Found in the Raleigh, NC area, end of April. Enjoy your site!
Creeped out but still fasinated
Raleigh NC
Giant Ichneumon
Dear Creeped out,
This is one interesting image of a Giant Ichneumon in the genus Megarhyssa. We believe it is Megarhyssa macrurus, which is profiled on BugGuide.
I had my husband come out & flick it off my car before I’d get out, and I’m still thanking him for that! Glad you liked the pic well enough to post on your site (I’m somebody now lol), take care & keep up the good work.
¶ Posted 02 June 2010 § Ichneumons ‡ ° Also tagged: Mystery Bug!
May 28, 2010
Spotted on May 28, 2010! This little mystery bug was spotted on my cat’s water bowl outside! I love bugs, but i’ve never seen this insect before. His abdomen is upturned in a strange fashion and is bright red. Tried to google its description for identification but failed. Thanks for your help!!!
Becca Hatfield
Beaufort, Missouri
Wheel Bug Nymph
Hi Becca,
This is an immature Wheel Bug, Arilus cristatus, the largest species of Assassin Bug in North America. The hatchlings are found in close proximity to the cluster of barrel shaped eggs that are laid in regular rows in a hexagon shaped cluster, but after they molt, they become solitary hunters. Adult Wheel Bugs have a crest on the back that looks like a wheel cog, hence the common name. Readers often claim that the Wheel Bug looks prehistoric, and it has been compared to a stegosaurus.
Cottonwood Borer?
May 27, 2010
Found this guy wandering about last night at a friend’s house. He’s has one heck of a grip & a serious set of mandibles. Is it in fact a cottonwood borer?
We’re located 50 miles south of New Orleans.
Lindsay
Southeastern Louisiana
Cottonwood Borer
Dear Lindsay,
You are absolutely correct. This is a Cottonwood Borer, Plectrodera scalator. This is one of the most beautiful images we have received this year. Your photograph put a bug in our head to produce a 2011 What’s That Bug? calendar. We last produced a calendar for 2006 in 2005. That was quite a project, but with finishing the book, we wouldn’t mind a small visual publication. Would you mind terribly Lindsay, if we wanted to use your image in a 2011 calendar? Your photo is exactly what we love in an insect image: that it not ever be included in a legitimate entomological text. So dear readers, is a 2011 calendar something that you would like to see? Please let us know by posting a comment to this announcement.
Family of spiders living in my shower!
December 14, 2009
I recently moved back into my old room in Costa Rica, after living 9 months in Australia. One day, all of a sudden, a pretty big spider came out of my shower drain. I don’t really like to kill bugs so I just let her share the shower with me. A couple of days later I saw two of them… but it wasn’t until I saw THREE of them staring at me that I really freaked out. I must say I’m used to worms, spiders, ants and pretty much any bug you can imagine, but I had never seen these spiders here before… and neither has my family. Any clues? Please don’t tell me I brought them from Australia!!!!
Karla
San Jose, Costa Rica
Tailless Whipscorpion
Hi Karla,
These beautiful Tailless Whipscorpions are native to Costa Rica. They are harmless nocturnal predators that will help keep your house free of cockroaches and other unwanted visitors. In Mexico, the Tailless Whipscorpion is called a Cancle and it is erroneously believed to be poisonous when it actually lacks venom.
Tailless Whipscorpion
In the interest of sharing – picture from Ingomar, Mississippi
This may end up in the trash, and that’s OK. I don’t need an explanation of what he is – they are all over the place in Virginia where I live. This is my reminder to never leave home without a camera. The attached picture has not been altered; this guy was hanging out on the front porch of my cousin’s home in Ingomar, Mississippi. In 2005 I spent a week with her while she was undergoing cancer treatment. The backdrop is a plaque on the wall beside the front door just below a porch light, and was a gift from another cousin so the picture has even more sentimental value. It just happens to be the same color and similar pattern as the garden spider’s head. Three years later we both still use this picture as our Windows desktop wallpaper. Date: October 11, 2005 Place: Ingomar, Mississippi
Lynne
Hi Lynne,
This photo of Argiope aurantia, the Golden Orb Weaver, or Yellow Garden Spider, or Black and Yellow Argiope, or Writing Spider, or Yellow Garden Orbweaver, is just the type of quirky photo that appeals to our aesthetic. If we ever do another calendar, it would be exactly the type of image we would select. Though we get many technically gorgeous photos for our site, we really prefer those that cross the line from mere identification documents to artistic representations. We can only wonder how many traveling sales persons, proselytizers and neighbors turned away in horror at the front door.
¶ Posted 28 July 2008 § Spiders ‡ ° Also tagged: 
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