Red and black insect
Location: Hemet California
September 4, 2011 9:09 pm
PLEASE identify this bug for me. I have about 25,000 of them in my acre backyard. I need to know if their dangerous, if i need to get an exterminator or what. Please help me!!!!
Signature: Bug information??
Red Bug
The quality of your photograph is not ideal for discerning details, but the photo of the single insect you have attached appears to be a nonnative Red Bug, Scantius aegyptius, a species known to form large aggregations containing individuals from various stages ranging from young nymphs through mature individuals. BugGuide has reported this invasive exotic species is already established in Southern California. Our first reports of this nonnative invasion date back to 2009. The University of Riverside has a nice page on this Invasive Exotic species.
Red Bug Aggregation
¶ Posted 05 September 2011 § Red Bugs ‡ ° Also tagged: Kleidocerys resedae I think
Location: Beloeil, Quebec, Canada
August 23, 2011 11:52 am
hello bugman, I noticed those little insects (~4mm) clustered on the end leaves of our white birch and also on the maple tree next to it, but much more so on the birch, they seem to feed off the stems or actual seeds of the tree. I don’t think there’s anything to be concerned even if that tree has been attacked by fungus in the past and is likely not going to last another decade?
I found it in bugguide but not on your site, but perhaps it goes by another name? Thank you! 
Signature: Frederic
Birch Catkin Bugs
Hi Frederic,
Thanks so much for taking the time to self identify your Birch Catkin Bugs, Kleidocerys resedae, and BugGuide is a wonderful place to search for North American species, however, as you must know, this can sometimes take considerable time. We really appreciate you saving us some time, yet providing us with a posting of a new species for our site.
¶ Posted 24 August 2011 § Seed Bugs ‡ ° Also tagged: Black and Yellow Bug
Location: Millbrae, CA
August 23, 2011 5:45 pm
Hello,
I found this guy hanging out under the sunny part of my bathroom closet door. It was yesterday, at Millbrae, CA (94030). I can’t figure out what this is. It moved really really super fast like a silver fish does. Its underside was white with a lot of tiny parallel segments. It’s very mysterious, I’ve never seen it before. I thought it was going to move like a lady bug but it did not. It also has long skinny black legs and antenna. What is this? And did he travel here from a flower? Or is from this area? Never seen it in my life.
Thank you! -Crystal
Signature: Crystal
Cockroach
Hi Crystal,
We will identify this Cockroach in the morning. We really love your photo which would be an excellent image if we ever do another calendar.
PS. I think that two long antennas were actually coming from his butt side. As you can see, he has a small head and smaller antenna on the other side. When I caught him with my insect looker, he moved forward from the side that is opposite of those 2 really long antennas you see up top.
Crystal
Hi Crystal,
Your Cockroach is Phyllodromica trivittata, and BugGuide provides some interesting information, beginning with: “Recently introduced into California, apparently now in Marin, Petaluma and Cotati” and “Reports of high abundance both indoors and outdoors make it likely that reproduction is occurring outdoors with subsequent invasion of nearby structures. As this species adapts to this new environment, studies will need to be conducted to confirm this.” Here is a final remark regarding its origins: “Known from dry habitats around the Mediterranean. It has been recorded from Morocco; Algeria; Spain; Italy (Sardinia Island); Italy (Sicily); Libya; and Israel. Given that it has not been recorded as being a pest in buildings in those countries (as far as I’m aware) it is unlikely to invade buildings in the USA. Comment by George Beccaloni (The Natural History Museum, London, UK).” The head is actually on the side with the long antennae. The shorter appendages are known as cerci and BugGuide has a nice definition of them.
Thank you for identifying this mysterious creature… but cockroach does make sense, especially its swiftness, its one piece body – which eliminated the cucumber beetle idea, its cerci, and its non-beetle looking underside… it’s a pretty cockroach. But the idea that it’s a cockroach is kind of creepy, especially because its American cousin is a pest.
Thanks again!
-Crystal
Food chain or strange threesome?
Location: Rockford, northern Illinois
August 18, 2011 6:49 pm
Dear Bugman,
I would like to identify the large orange and black beetle sitting atop the mating pair of asian beetles. I found them on the underside of a grape leaf in my backyard in Rockford, IL. At first I thought that the large beetle was eating the smaller ones, then I thought maybe it was trying to mate with them. Either way, he certainly was hanging on to them..I would appreciate anything to let me know if it’s beneficial or not, not as if the asian beetles haven’t already done a number on the grapevine…..
Sincerely,
Signature: Amy Berogan, Rockford, IL
Mating Japanese Beetles and Grapevine Beetle
Dear Amy,
It isn’t often that we are taken totally unawares by a photograph, but your images of mating Japanese Beetles with a Grapevine Beetle gave us a drop jaw moment. We recently featured another photo sent to us by the Phoenix Zoo staff that appears like an attempt at interspecies mating. Many other introduced species are known as Asian Beetles, including the Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle and the Asian Longhorn. To avoid confusion, your pair are known as Japanese Beetles, one of the most well known and reviled Invasive Exotic species to plague North American gardeners since the beginning of the 20th Century. They are known to feed on the flowers and leaves of more than 100 cultivated plants, and they are especially fond of roses, rose of sharon, and fruit trees. The larger Grapevine Beetleis native and adults are often found eating the leaves of grapes. Both are in the subfamily Rutelinae, the Shining Leaf Chafers, and we can only hope that they are so distantly related that there will be no progeny produced by this unnatural sexcapade. Gardeners will likely throw in the trowels should a hybrid suddenly appear that is the size of a Grapevine Beetle with the ravenous feeding habits of the Japanese Beetle. Perish the thought.
Mating Japanese Beetles and Grapevine Beetle
Thanks Bugman! You know, my boyfriend said the same thing when I showed him my photo..let’s hope we don’t get huge Japanese beetles, then my grapes just won’t have a chance! I’m including another photo that I didn’t send at first because I didn’t think it was of the same quality as the other photos, but it does show some sort of ovipositor or penis thingy coming from the rear end of the Grapevine beetle toward the Japanese beetles. I couldn’t believe my eyes either. Let’s just pray, as you said, that no progeny are produced!!!
Thanks again and love love love your site,
Amy Berogan
Mating Japanese Beetles and Grapevine Beetle
2
Found on a Milkweed flower
Location: chicago il area
August 15, 2011 10:55 am
Hi,
Thanks for your site. I am unable to identify this one. It was found on a milkweed bloom. HELP
Thanks – Steve
Virginia Ctenucha and Japanese Beetle on Milkweed
Hi Steve,
WE doubt if you need an identification of the Japanese Beetle buried in the blossoms in the upper left of the inflorescence, but perhaps you do. We suspect you want the identification of the Virginia Ctenucha, a diurnal Tiger Moth. You can see BugGuide for additional information on the Virginia Ctenucha.
Thanks Daniel,
I adjusted the post on my wordpress site to indicate your help identifying this moth.
Thanks – Steve
http://photoindex.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/bug-on-a-milkweed-bloom-need-to-identify-this-one/
White Stink Bug?
Location: Lebanon County, PA
August 4, 2011 2:32 pm
Alright so I know there are many different species of insects but a White Stink Bug with Red markings… While I was frolicking through the forest in Central, PA I found this awesome insect. I’ve done some research but have not found a name or answer to what this bug is. It is exactly the size of a stink bug but its white, with red markings. Maybe an Albino? I don’t know, so I’ll leave it up to you.
Signature: Jeremy
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, freshly metamorphosed
Hi Jeremy,
Based on the striped antennae, our gut instinct is that this is a light Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, an invasive species that has gotten a foothold in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Perhaps it is a light individual, or perhaps it is freshly metamorphosed and it has not darkened yet. Sure enough, we found a visual match on BugGuide.
2
unknown bug
Location: Lincolnton, GA
August 2, 2011 10:30 pm
8/1/11
These started showing up a week ago a few at a time and have increased to hundreds today (pic 1). Some have laid what seems to be an egg pattern similar to the Harlequin Bug (pic 2).
Thanks
Signature: Jeff McKinney
Lablab Bugs
Hi Jeff,
Your home has been invaded by a recent introduced Invasive Exotic species, the Bean Plataspid, Megacopta cribraria, also knows as the Globular Stink Bug or Lablab Bug. The Bean Plataspid was recently introduced to Georgia from India or China, where it is native. It has since been reported in South Carolina as well, according to BugGuide which reports: “in Oct. 2009 was invading homes in large numbers in GA”. The University of Georgia Cooperative Education website has a very informative PDF entitled Megacopta cribraria as a Nuisance Pest. The Lablab Bug is known to invade homes when cool weather sets in.
Lablab Bugs
According to BugGuide, known food plants are legumes including soybeans, and though this Invasive Exotic species has many negative attributes, a benefit is that its primary host plant is reported to be kudzu, owing to yet another common name, Kudzu Bug. If you have kudzu growing nearby, you might want to consider trying to control the invasive vine before the insect population reaches an uncontrollable level, though your photo indicates that time may have already passed. The Nature Closeups photography blog has some great photos of the Lablab Bug.
Eggs of the Lablab Bug
Japanese beetle eater
Location: Wakefield, RI near Providence, RI
August 2, 2011 5:45 pm
This large bug (over 1”) was seen sitting in our vegetable garden. It snatched a Japanese beetle from the air as it flew by, sucked the juice out of it, and then grabbed another! Awesome!!
What is it and how can we get more?
Signature: Ann in RI
Robber Fly eats Japanese Beetle
Hi Ann,
There is not enough detail in your photo to determine a genus or species, but this adept predator is a Robber Fly, probably in the genera Laphria or Mallophora. We just posted a higher quality image of a similar Robber Fly eating a Bee, and there was not enough detail to determine an identity, but you may read our rationale here. What we especially love about your letter is the fact that the prey is the invasive exotic Japanese Beetle, the scourge of many a gardener.
Thanks so much for your quick reply and helpful information, Daniel. We’ll try to get a better photo and maybe we can key it out ourselves!
Your website is really fun and informative.
Thanks again,
Ann in RI
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