Caterpillar
Location: WEst Coast National Park, Langebaan , S. Africa
November 20, 2010 11:28 am
We saw a few of these caterpillars in the West Coast National Park about 100kms north of Cape Town , S.Africa. It looks like a mopane worm, and is the right size for a mopane worm but from what I can gather they are not found this far south and I dont think there are any mopane trees in the Park.
Any ideas?
Signature: Max Hopfl
Pine Emperor Caterpillar
Dear Max,
We identified your caterpillar as the Pine Emperor Moth, Nudaurelia cytherea, by researching on the World’s Largest Saturniidae Site. We found information on a virus that is being used to combat infestations of the Pine Emperor Moth Caterpillar on the Science in Africa website. We also found information that the caterpillar is edible and appeared on a stamp from Uganda.
Insects of Uganda Stamps
Hi Daniel:
Phew, that was quick. Many thanks for the identification. I knew it couldnt be the mopane worm , gonimbrasia belina,( which is also edible and indeed a very important food source for the northern people of southern Africa: Wiki says: It is estimated that South Africa alone trades 1.6 million kilogrammes of mopane worm annually, 8 and that Botswana’s involvement in this industry nets it roughly $8 million annually) as the mopane bush doesnt come this far south. Ironically, there are no pine trees in the West Coast National Park either, but they seem to have found a tasty alternative.
Beautiful creature, dont you think.
Regards and thanks again, Max
We are very lucky that Bill Oehlke has given us access to the World’s Largest Saturniidae website, though we cannot link to it since it is a member’s only website. It is a lovely caterpillar.
¶ Posted 20 November 2010 § Silkworms ‡ ° Also tagged: Gigantic grubs
November 19, 2010
Found these in our compost heap (and no you are right – I do not turn it over nearly often enough…). I’ve never seen or heard about giant grubs like these – they are placed on a standard sized garden trowel to give you a sense of the scale. I was honestly a little too grossed out to try to straighten one out to measure it though I know right where to find more if you need me to.
I didn’t destroy them all outright (my 1st impulse) just in case they are beneficial or morph into something gorgeous. Can you identify them for me? Location: Rollingwood, Texas 11/19/10…Thanks as always! Deb Wilson
ADD a Trowel Full of Grubs
Hi Deb,
We love your photo. You have a good cellular camera. We increased the resolution to make your tiny file larger, and it held up nicely. We hope that by making a reference to a recipe, we could get David Gracer to salivate and entice him into sending in an edibility comment. Though we are certain they are Scarab Beetles, we are unsure if they are June Beetles or Rhinoceros Beetles.
Thank you! I do have fun with my camera out in the garden.
I am fairly certain (due to the size) these are rhinoceros or ox beetle grubs. I’m basing that (though I admit I am lousy at bug ID) on the fact that I unearth June Bug/Beetle grubs out in the soil consistently in these parts. They are much smaller – about the circumference of a pencil and rarely more than 1/2 inch though in their curled in the ground state, length is a guess.
These grubs were in our compost heap, and were up to 3 1/2 inches long, with a diameter ranging from 3/4 to a full inch or more on the larger tail end side. Since I was thinking they were ox beetles (and therefore not out there garnering strength and numbers to launch a beetle apocalypse on my garden beds) I simply put them back into the compost heap after I took the photos.
If these grubs are edible (and I say that knowing how a person defines “edible” varies), then a few of them could make a fairly decent meal, depending of course on if you have to remove any parts, if they shrink during preparation, etc. And now I have to go look at photos of puppies and rainbows because I just totally grossed myself out.
Have a great weekend! /Deb Wilson
1
Underwing Moth
Location: Ancaster, Ontario
November 16, 2010 4:58 am
This underwing invited itself into the house and I took the photos in June of this year. I captured it in a vase to get a closer look and to take some pictures of it (and also to keep my cats from eating it) and then let it go back outside.
I love their aerodynamic little faces.
Signature: Cheryl-Anne
Greater Yellow Underwing
Hi Cheryl-Anne,
We nearly went dizzy scrolling through all the individuals in the Owlet Moth family Noctuidae on the Moth Photographers Group which does not recognize the newer taxonomy on BugGuide of the superfamily Noctuoidae. This is one large family or superfamily, but we finally found Noctua pronuba on the Moth Photographers Group on Plate 33 (Noctuidae, Noctuinae), and it matches your moth. BugGuide identifies Noctua pronuba by the common names Greater Yellow Underwing, Large Yellow Underwing or Winter Cutworm (larva) and states that it was: “Introduced from Europe to Nova Scotia in 1979, this species has since spread north to the Arctic Ocean, west to the Pacific, and south to the Gulf of Mexico.“
Greater Yellow Underwing
White bug with extended growths
Location: Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia
November 12, 2010 6:30 pm
Hi, We saw this bug in Sabah, Borneo in October. It was about 1” long and wide.
It seemed to have grown silk-like filaments that have bound together (rastafari-style), perhaps as protection to make it look too big to eat.
Thanks Frank D
www.delargy.com
Signature: Frank D.
Fulgorid Planthopper Nymph
Dear Frank,
Though we are uncertain of the exact species, this is a Planthopper in the family Fulgoridae, and it is an immature nymph. This family is often characterized by nymphs that secrete a waxy substance that often forms long filaments, presumably for protection.
Thanks!
I have updated the description on my web page to reflect your ID.
Frank
3
Little mayfly tempting me to skip work
Location: Yakima, WA
November 12, 2010 6:53 pm
I came into my office one morning in late March and found this little Baetis mayfly, or ”blue winged olive” as anglers know them, on my computer screen, tempting me to blow off work and go fly fishing. Oh, well, Windows is known to be buggy.
Signature: Paul Huffman, President-for-Life, Moclips Surf Club
Blue Winged Olive: A Mayfly
Hi again Paul,
There can never be too many opportunities to hang the “Gone Fishing” sign. Thanks for relaying the Blue Winged Olive moniker. We will link to the genus Baetis on BugGuide.
¶ Posted 13 November 2010 § Mayflies ‡ ° Also tagged: Paper Wasp
Paper Wasp
Paper Wasp
Location: Missouri
November 12, 2010 10:06 am
I found this Paper Wasp this past summer hanging around my front flower bed. I grabbed my camera and spent some time watching her. She kept going back and forth from our wooden bench, flying off (to wherever her nest is I’m sure) then coming back. Every so often she would take a ”snack” break on our Milkweeds. It was really interesting watching her work cycle.
I have also noticed that Wasps I encounter are not extremely aggressive as their reputation claims. If I can find them away from their nest, they don’t seem to mind me at all. I was within 12-18 inches away from this wasp for the wooden bench shots and not once did I feel like I was going to be stung. I think the danger of being near a wasp must come with getting too close to their home…..away from their home, they just don’t seem to mind a human presence as much.
My ID: Female Polistes metricus.
Signature: Nathanael Siders
Paper Wasp
Hi Nathanael,
As always, your photos are quite marvelous. We love your accounts of your observations as well, if not more. We agree with your theory about the aggressions of Paper Wasps being limited to protection of the nest, and we find it somehow ironic that so many people would take issue with something defending its home. It seems like that is the American way.
Paper Wasp
¶ Posted 13 November 2010 § Paper Wasps ‡ ° Also tagged: Scorpion floresence
Location: Naches, WA
November 2, 2010 1:18 pm
Thought you should have some pictures of scorpion florescence under UV. I was surprised that these scorpions are fairly common on rocky arid ground around Yakima in Eastern Washington. Don’t know the exact species or the sting hazard, but it seems like a big tail, smallish pincher. Around 1.75 inches with tail.
Also see: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=211481&id=748938972
Signature: Paul Huffman, President-for-Life, Moclips Surf Club
Northern Scorpion under Black Light
Hi Paul,
Thanks for your wonderful image of a Scorpion glowing under black light. We suspect it is the Northern Scorpion, Paruroctonus boreus, which we determined upon locating a website with images of the Northern Scorpions photographed in Washington. ENature has some information on the species, including: “Most scorpions are not dangerous and do not attack people. If disturbed, they will inflict a sting that can cause painful swelling, but the poison of most North American species is not lethal to people.“ According to BugGuide, it is: “Highly variable throughout its range, and depending on habitat. Throughout much of its range it is the only scorpion found. It has the basic identifiers of Paruroctonus scorpions, such as relatively robust hands and a somewhat slender metasoma/tail in which the keels do not terminate in an enlarged denticle. In most areas it is pale, light brown. In volcanic habitats it can be quite dark with a striped tail.“ According to AnswerBag: “All scorpions glow in the dark—even after death, even fossilized! A thin, transparent film (hyaline) in the outermost layer (cuticle) of their exoskeleton contains a protein that fluoresces. At night in the Arizona desert, you can see scorpions within a 20-foot radius by shining a black (ultraviolet) light around. They glow bright green-blue or green-yellow like scorpion jewels. Newly molted scorpions don’t fluoresce. As the cuticle hardens, it glows more. The hylane skin toughens into an incredible substance. After hundreds of millions of years, after all other cuticle layers are lost, the hyaline layer remains, fossilized in rocks. It still glows. We don’t know why scorpions fluoresce. Maybe it helps the antisocial creatures locate each other in the dark and either stay away (usually) or find a mate. Scorpions hunt at night and gladly eat fellow scorpions. In fact, mating is an extremely dangerous activity (to the smaller, usually male, partner).“ The reasons Scorpions glow under black light is not fully understood, and this is an excellent posting for us to tag as a Mystery.
Identify bettle
Location: Thailand
November 2, 2010 1:04 am
Please assist to identify this bettle
Signature: sulasno
Mango Stem Borer
Hi sulasno,
Your beetle is Batocera rufomaculata, and it is commonly called a Mango Stem Borer. It is one of the Longhorned Borer Beetles or Longicorns in the family Cerambycidae.
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