Wasp Predating on Bee
Location: Eatonton GA (Middle GA)
July 20, 2011 6:30 am
Hello!
I love the daily Bug posts on Facebook. I’m a gardener and see all sorts of interesting insects. Here are two photos of a wasp eating a bee in my pole beans. I don’t know what kind of wasp this is – they typically eat pests and nectar. I think the bee is a wood bee – we have many of them.
Signature: GA Gardener
Hanging Thief eats Bumble Bee
Dear GA Gardener,
This adroit predator is a Hanging Thief, a species of Robber Fly, and it appears that it has caught and is feeding upon a small Bumble Bee. You should be able to tell how the Hanging Thief got its common name as your photo clearly shows it hanging from a single leg as it is feeding. The prey is typically caught on the wing.
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cool looking bug I found on my satellite dish
Location: Charlottesville, VA
July 10, 2011 8:17 pm
Hi! I was up on my roof yesterday and saw this really interesting bug with a shiny patch of dark grey material on its back, and a spiked spine. Also had an interseting hooked beak with a small worm in it. Can you identify it? Thanks!
Signature: James in VA
Wheel Bug
Hi James,
This is a Wheel Bug, one of the predatory Assassin Bugs in the family Reduviidae, and its largest North American member. They use the beaklike mouth to pierce the prey and suck fluids. They are also capable of biting humans, though not aggressively. Bites occur when they are accidentally encountered or carelessly handled.
Cicada killer with it’s prey
Location: 20 miles north of Dallas, Texas
July 8, 2011 9:41 am
This cicada killer has been busy! The cicadas are in full swing in north Texas and there are plenty to go around, as this guy is showing. He’s working on getting him down the hole…
Signature: Living in an episode of Wild Kingdom
Cicada Killer and Prey
Dear LiaeoWK,
Thanks so much for sending us a positive letter regarding the Cicada Killer. We just posted another from a person with concerns because of young children. For the record, he is a she in your photo. Only the female Cicada Killer can sting, and the Cicada must by stung and paralyzed so that it provides fresh meat for the larval Cicada Killer. Adult Cicada Killers, like so many other wasps, feed on nectar.
Ladybug larva molting
Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle
Ladybug larva molting
Location: Naperville, IL
July 7, 2011 10:30 pm
Dear Daniel~
I have many, many ladybugs and green lacewings this year on my milkweed. I thought I would share some cool photos: an adult ladybug staring me down, a ladybug larva that is molting and an earlier instar that is eating an aphid. Have a wonderful weekend! Best regards.
Signature: Dori Eldridge
Lady Beetle Larva Molting
Hi Dori,
Thanks for sending all of your fabulous photographs. We do not mean to malign a beneficial insect like the Lady Beetle, but your adult, and most likely the larvae as well, is a Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle, an introduced species that is thriving in North America and crowding out our native Lady Beetles which are becoming scarcer each year. While it is doubtful that anything can be done to curb the spread of the Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle, we can at least try to take steps to save our diminishing native populations.
Lady Beetle Larva eats Aphid
What’s this bug
Location: West Virginia
June 30, 2011 2:53 pm
Hi there. I have seen this guy twice now and have no idea what kind of critter it is. Any ideas? Thanks much.
Signature: Bill Wells
Tomato Hornworm parasitized by Chalcid Wasp
Hi Bill,
The caterpillar is a Tomato Hornworm, and it has been parasitized by a Chalcid Wasp. The female Chalcid Wasp lays her eggs inside the body of the Hornworm, and the larval wasps feed on the tissues of the Hornworm. Eventually, the Chalcid Larvae burrow to the surface and form cocoons, which is what you are seeing. Here is a nice set of images from BugGuide. The Hornworm will not live to metamorphose into a moth.
Jumping spider feeding on a cicada
Location: cheney kansas
June 29, 2011 11:52 pm
Was mowing one day and saw a cicada drying it’s wings on a Walnut tree.
I returned a couple hours later to check up on the cicada and found a jumping spider feeding on the cicada.
Signature: Chris Harris
Bold Jumper eats Cicada
Hi Chris,
We are very impressed with both your photograph and what it documents. We believe the spider is most likely a Bold Jumper, Phidippus audax, and based on the information on BugGuide, it is a highly variable species, though BugGuide does indicate: “The majority of audax specimens are black with three white spots.” There are also some excellent images and information on this Cirrus Image website. Alas, your photos do not provide a clear dorsal view of the abdomen, so only one white spot is visible. We have so much room to speculate upon how this Bold Jumper managed to capture a Cicada many times its size. We wish you hadn’t cropped the photo. It appears that this might be a newly metamorphosed Cicada. The Cicada is lighter in color when it first metamorphoses. Also, insects are much more vulnerable immediately following molting and the metamorphosis process. The exoskeleton will not have properly hardened immediately after metamorphosis and the Cicada is incapable of flying until after its wings and exoskeleton harden. That would be the window of opportunity for a proficient hunter like the Bold Jumper to tackle a significantly larger prey than it would normally be able to take. Thanks for sending us your photos.
Bold Jumper
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Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly?
Location: Coastal SC
June 26, 2011 3:37 pm
Walked out on my back deck and found this dragonfly having lunch. He was so into his meal that he stayed put long enough for me to go back inside for the camera. I did a quick look online and saw that it looks like an Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly.
Signature: Lisa Ski
Eastern Pondhawk eats Fly
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for taking the time to self identify your Eastern Pondhawk, Erythemis simplicicollis. When we checked on BugGuide, we found the examples of males that are turning blue to match your individual who appears to be feasting on a Fly.
Ambush Bug Eating Honeybee
Location: Milton, VT, USA
June 25, 2011 8:56 am
I mentioned the Ambush Bug in my previous submission so I thought I would send you the photos of the one I saw that had ”ambushed” a honeybee in a Queen Anne’s Lace! The one I am holding is a second one that was in the next flower over. He/she had the coolest face I’ve ever seen on a bug (except for a cicada), kind of reminded me of a dinosaur. Anyway I hope you enjoy these, and I love this site. This site kept me from killing a pseudoscorpion I found in my closet that I thought was a tick!
Signature: Betsy
Ambush Bug eats Honey Bee
Hi Betsy,
Your letter inspired the entire editorial staff to go out and weed in the garden and observe insects on our grounds in Mt. Washington, Los Angeles. Many of the species of insects in the east that frequent Queen Anne’s Lace also visit the flowering carrots in our our garden. Pollinating insects love Queen Anne’s Lace and carrots as do predators that prey upon pollinating insects. The staff began to feel guilty that computers were abandoned and emails and comments were left unanswered so we returned to the desk, but we only felt guilty enough to post your letter and wonderful photographs before immediately heading back outside to the sun and activity.
Ambush Bug
Thanks Daniel! Your entire site today inspired me to go outside and take about 100 pictures of teeny tiny bugs! I even spotted a spider the size of a pin head that had caught one of those little iridescent flies on a milkweed, a perfectly matched green grasshopper hiding in milkweed blossoms/leaves, and lots of mating beetles! Our Queen Anne’s Lace hasn’t blossomed yet this year but I always look for the Goldenrod crab spiders and other interesting critters that reside in them on my walks.
Elisabeth
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