Unknown grasshopper from Israel
April 12, 2010
Hi WTB,
I saw lots of these grasshoppers on my hike to Eastern Samaria (north-east of Jerusalem, Israel) on April 9-10, 2010. I had no luck in finding a name for them. Both nymphs and adults have distinctive yellow and black markings on the inner thighs of the rear (large) pair of legs, and the adults have reddish hind wings. Otherwise they have excellent camoflage as rocks.
Ben
Eastern Samaria, Israel
Unknown Grasshopper
Hi Ben,
We are going to try to contact Piotr Naskrecki, an expert in Katydids, a related group of insects, to see if he recognizes this desert dwelling Grasshopper.
Unknown Grasshopper
Hi Daniel,
Thank you!
I know I sent lots of bug pictures, it was that kind of hike. Spring, everything is alive and active before it gets too hot here. I was hoping you’d have the time to post two or three of my submissions. I never expected you to post so many! So again, thank you! And thanks for the help in identification. I try to do the research before I send them, but I’m not always successful. There are a few websites that help, but no really comprehensive guide to Israeli or Middle-Eastern insects.
Ben
Unknown Grasshopper
mysterious large cocoon with a caterpillar inside.
April 5, 2010
I found him on the ground in my yard in Costa Rica. I brought it inside to hatch, but he just comes partially out to eat and poops round pellets out of the bottom, and spends most of his time inside. I have had him for about 5 days now. He has moved about to different locations, until i found a place he likes with leaves he likes to eat. He attached himself to a branch i provided with a small silk thread, and has remained there.
Is it normal for a caterpillar to continue to eat after spinning a cocoon, or is this his protective living space? Will it eventually pupate?
Jan Betts
Costa Rica, Central America 3000 feet altitude.
Bagworm
Dear Jan,
We intended to post your photo two days ago, but we got distracted. The number of letters that are arriving each day has drastically risen since the first of April, and it is becoming impossible to even respond to a small fraction. Your submission is so unusual, and we are hoping one of our readers, perhaps Karl who just returned from Costa Rica, will be able to assist with this creature. Normally, we would think that a caterpillar of this kind would be a Bagworm, but we don’t believe that is the case here because Bagworms generally incorporate plant material in their bags.
Bagworm
Do you know the plant it is feeding upon?
Bagworm
Daniel:
I initially thought this might be a Sack-bearer Moth (Mimallonidae) but the caterpillar itself just doesn’t look right. I am therefore going back to the Psychidae (Bagworm Moths), some of which look very similar to the caterpillar in Jan’s first photo. I can’t be certain about a more specific identification but I think the genus may be Oiketicus, possibly O. kirbyi which is widespread throughout the tropical Americas and Caribbean. Assuming that it is O. kirbyi, the caterpillars do incorporate plant material into their bags as you indicated, but in this case the silk that binds the material together often envelopes the bag entirely. The result is a “lumpy” looking bag, much like the one in Jan’s photos. Females in the genus never leave their bags (except to die) and don’t develop wings, so Jan may be disappointed if she is expecting a winged moth to eventually emerge (unless it is a male). Oiketicus kirbyi has caused some problems in Costa Rica and other places as an agricultural pest. Regards.
Karl
Winged Beetle?
April 1, 2010
Dear Bugman,
Hi! I snapped this lovely fellow after a night of heavy rains in the Indian State of Assam. He was perched outside our hotel room on a bush.
The eyes look fly-like so I thought it might be a fly, while the wings are jet black. Is it a beetle or a fly? Please help me identify it.
Thanks.
Royston
Kaziranga, Assam, North-East India
Bee Fly, we believe
Dear Royston,
This is most definitely a fly and not a beetle. We believe it is a Flower Fly or Hover Fly in the family Syrphidae, but we are not certain. We will try to do additional research. We noticed that you sent us multiple identification requests, and we may not be able to address all of them because we have other letters to answer as well. We are also playing catch-up as we took a holiday yesterday to visit Joshua Tree National Park.
Eric Eaton provides a Correction
Daniel:
This is actually some kind of bee fly in the family Bombyliidae. Great picture of a handsome insect!
Eric
¶ Posted 02 April 2010 § Bee Flies ‡ ° Also tagged: lamiinae beetle antennae knobs.
March 30, 2010
im wondering what these knobs are for and if they have anything to do with sexing certain lamiinae??? these two beetles appear to be (Aristobia approximator) but one has no knobs.
gary heiden
n.e. thailand
Aristobia approximator
Dear gary,
Your beetle with the tufted antennae is definitely Aristobia approximator. The antennae are sensory organs, and in many insects that release pheromones to attract a mate, the male has highly developed antennae so that he can locate a female for mating purposes. Aristobia approximator can be found pictured on stamps from Laos, North Vietnam and Central Africa. Your other beetle appears to be a different species. WE found Aristobia approximator pictured on the Beetles from Thailand website, but we could not locate your other individual there. We could not locate the mystery beetle on Inhdonesien Cerambycidae Seite 1 or the other three pages on that site. Perhaps when Karl returns from Costa Rica, he will have more luck than us at an identification.
Unknown Longicorn from Thailand is Cremnosterna carissima
Grashopper from Ecuador
March 29, 2010
hello, this impressive insekt was on a bar table in a jungle lodge in the rainforrest on the napo river in ecuador
janosch
ecuador napo river
Spiny Lobster Katydid
Hi janosch,
We are keeping Piotr Naskrecki, and expert in Orthopterans, quite busy today with unknown Katydid requests. We hope he responds soon.
Spiny Lobster Katydid
After posting and sending an email to Piotr, we checked our own archives and located the Spiny Lobster Katydid, Panoploscelis specularis, which Piotr identified for us this past December.
Hi Daniel,
The one from Ecuador is indeed Panoploscelis specularis.
Piotr
¶ Posted 29 March 2010 § Katydids ‡ ° Also tagged: new caledonian bug…
March 29, 2010
this was found when a crested gecko dropped it when starteled and absolutally stinks
print
new caledonia
Unknown Katydid chewed by Gecko
Dear print,
We will contact and expert in Orthopterans, Piotr Naskrecki, to see if he can identify this Katydid.
Piotr Naskrecki responds
Hi Daniel,
The squashed New Caledonian katydid is Pseudophyllanax imperialis, a huge
insect, endemic to the islands. I am impressed that a gecko was able to kill
her (although they do have large geckos on NC.)
Piotr
Ed. Note
Armed with a name, we located the Insect Net Forum that calls this a Coconut Grasshopper, and the Endemia NC website has some photos and a recording of the sound made by the male calling to the female.
¶ Posted 29 March 2010 § Katydids ‡ ° Also tagged: Whitefly Pupa???
March 29, 2010
3:1 before crop. I’m completely oblivious to what this is….
Found it on a tangerine leaf this December.
Jonathan Campos
Los Angeles, CA
Unknown Scale
Hi Jonathan,
This appears to be some species of Soft Scale Insect in the family Coccidae. We found a photo on BugGuide of Saissetia coffeae that looks similar, but different nonetheless. There is also something of a resemblance to the Soft Brown Scale, Coccus hesperidum, also pictured on BugGuide. We are fairly certain your photo depicts a different, though related species. Scale Insects can do great harm to agricultural crops and ornamental plants. We are concerned that this might be a newly imported Citrus Pest as though the threat of the Citrus Psyllid, profiled on Featured Creatures, isn’t enough.
1cm likes fruit not grass or strawberry leaves
March 26, 2010
End of March (so we’re in autumn), and it’s been 5 degrees (c) warmer than usual here (25C or so).
My son noticed the brown / red 1cm long bug in our local icecream shop and brought it home.
Gave it a piece of plum and it seemed interested in it. It has biting mouth parts.
We’ve seen black feathery ends to wings under the back cover but haven’t seen it fly.
It can move quite quickly but not so quickly that it is easy to loose when on your finger.
Walks around the container we have it in constantly during the day. Not sure what happens at night.
It got out of it’s container yesterday evening but was found 1m away this morning so it’s not travelling too far.
We live in a commercial port town with lots of container work so know people who have seen non-native species before.
The local folks we’ve shown the bug to, including ourselves, have never noticed a buglike this in New Zealand.
Would love to know what you think it might be.
Many thanks
DM
Lyttelton, New Zealand
Leaf Beetle
Dear DM,
We are certain that this is a Leaf Beetle in the family Chrysomelidae, and it is probably in the subfamily Chrysomelinae. It most closely resembles the Eucalyptus Leaf Beetles in the genus Chrysophtharta or possibly Paropsisterna, though we have not had success with a perfect visual match on the Brisbane Insect website which indicates the two genera have been combined by stating: “The genus Paropsisterna has been recently expanded to include Chrysophtharta. They are native to Australia and New Guinea. There are more than a hundred species in this genus in Australia.“ The closest match is the Marble Leaf Beetle, Paropsisterna semifumata, but it is not exact.
Leaf Beetle
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