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Tag Archives: Unidentified

What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Unknown Weevil from Chile

Three unknowns from Torres del Paine, Chile
December 6, 2009
I’ve looked through the categories I can think of for these three (moths, butterflies and beetles) and don’t see matches nor have I found them online with basic searching. All were photographed in Torres del Paine national park, Chile and were unharmed. …
The beetle was seen twice and this is the better shot. In both, there’s a bright orange/red spot on that one leg. Eggs perhaps? They were about 3/4″ long x 1/4″ wide Jess, Minnesota
Torres del Paine, Chile

Unknown Weevil and Mite

Unknown Weevil and Mite

Hi Jess,
We posted the beetle separately from the butterflies.  This is a Weevil, and the red spot is a Mite.

Posted 07 December 2009 § Mites § Weevils ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Two Butterflies from Chile: A White and a Fritillary

Three unknowns from Torres del Paine, Chile
December 6, 2009
I’ve looked through the categories I can think of for these three (moths, butterflies and beetles) and don’t see matches nor have I found them online with basic searching. All were photographed in Torres del Paine national park, Chile and were unharmed.
The white moth/butterfly was prolific. The orange one was spotted only twice. Both were about 2″ wide x 1″ tall.
The beetle was seen twice and this is the better shot. In both, there’s a bright orange/red spot on that one leg. Eggs perhaps? They were about 3/4″ long x 1/4″ wide Jess, Minnesota
Torres del Paine, Chile

Unidentified Gossamer Winged Butterfly

White Butterfly

Hi Jess,
Based on the striped antennae, we are quite certain the white butterfly is one of the Gossamer Winged Butterflies in the family Lycaenidae.

Unidentified Gossamer Winged Butterfly

White Butterfly

The orange butterfly appears to be one of the Brush Footed Butterflies in the family Nymphalidae.  It might take us hours to properly identify the species.  Perhaps one of our readers has a bit of time and can assist in this matter.  We strongly recommend that you post a comment to your own letter and if a reader posts a comment with an identification, you will receive a notification.

Unknown Brush Footed Butterfly, we think

Fritillary

Update by Karl
Hi Daniel:
The white butterfly is actually a White (family Pieridae: subfamily Pierinae) in the genus Tatochila. There are at least seven species in Chile and reference photos are hard to find. I believe it could be T. theodice, but they all look quite similar and there seems to be some disagreement about the taxonomic placement of some of the species (Tatochila vs. Hypsochila).
The orange butterfly is a type of Fritillary that is probably in the genus Yramea (Nymphalidae: Heliconiinae: Argynnini). Species within this genus look very similar to the old world genus Issoria in which they were formerly placed. Yramea is now considered a separate genus restricted to the high Andes and south temperate region of South America. Again, there are about half a dozen representative species in Chile, but as far as I can tell, the one in Jess’s photo looks most similar to Y. cytheris. Regards.
Karl

Another Update forwarded by Eric Eaton
At a guess the Frtiillary is a yramea. It is very reminiscent of Issoria species which is the European sister genus.
Perhaps someone else can follow from there.
Neil Jones

Another Update forwarded by Eric Eaton
I have at hand ‘The butterflies of Chile’ by Peña & Ugarte (1996). The upper photos are very close to drawings of Hypsochila microdice (Blanchard, 1852) in the book, and the lower photo to drawings of Yramea, possibly Y. cytheris (Drury, 1773) in the book. Greetings,
Diego

Posted 07 December 2009 § Brush Footed Butterflies § Whites and Sulfurs ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Tiger Moth from Brazil

3 more moths from Rio
December 5, 2009
Dear WTB
Here are three more ID queries from my Brazilian photo collection.
…  The second is a mystery – I can’t even place it in a family. About 3cm long. …  Any pointers you can give on the above would be gratefully received.
Thanks
Nick P
SE Brazil, Rio de Janeiro

Unknown Sphinx we believe

Unknown Tiger Moth maybe

Hi Nick,
We tried looking through all the Sphinx Moths on the Sphingidae of Brazil website, and came up blank.  Hopefully, one of our readers can assist with this ID.  The size you indicate seems quite small for a Sphinx Moth.

Thanks Daniel,
It is not a Sphingidae, but I do not know the moth family for that one.
I suspect one of the tiger moths, but am not sure.
Bill Oehlke

Identification by Julian Donahue
Indeed, it’s an arctiid currently in the genus Lophocampa. There are many similar species in this group, a group badly in need of revision. When revised, this group of similar-looking moths may end up in several genera!
One similar species, currently known as Lophocampa annulosa, occurs as far north as Texas.
Julian P. Donahue

Hi Daniel
Thanks very much for the very prompt reply and the IDs. The two links are also much appreciated – I had not found the Guyana one before, possibly because it is in French! but the collection of photos is excellent.  I have already got a lead on one of the other pics I submitted (the black moth with larva in my previous message) which looks to be an Arctiid, a Ctenuchinid, possibly of the genus Ptychotrichos based on similar wing pattern.
I have already emailed Bill back and hopefully can send him some images for his site.
Many thanks
Nick

Posted 05 December 2009 § Tiger Moths and Arctiids ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Unknown Caterpillar from Arizona

Caterpillar at Meteor Crater, Arizona
November 29, 2009
Can you help me identify this caterpillar? He has black segments and orange and yellow segments. He’s about half as long as a US bill. He is really furry.
Jennifer
Meteor Crater, AZ (near flagstaff)

Unknown Caterpillar

Unknown Caterpillar

Hi Jennifer,
Our first impression was that this had to be a Tiger Moth Caterpillar, usually called a Woolly Bear, but we could not locate a match on bugGuide.  It might also be an Owlet Moth Caterpillar.

Unknown Caterpillar

Unknown Caterpillar

Posted 30 November 2009 § moth caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Leaf Mimic Grasshopper from Borneo: Systella dusmeti

Leaf grasshopper from Borneo
November 24, 2009
This grasshopper mimicking a yellow leaf was found in Kinabalu National Park, Sabah, Borneo at approximately 1600m elevation in January 2008. I would be grateful for help to discover its species identity.
Peter Bruce-jones
Kinabalu NP, Sabah, Borneo, altitude c. 1600m

Unknown Grasshopper from Borneo

Grasshopper from Borneo

Hi Peter,
This is quite an amazing looking grasshopper.  We will post the image to see if our readership can assist in the identification.  We would recommend that you post a comment to this posting so you will be notified directly if you receive an identification.

Unknown Grasshopper from Borneo

Grasshopper from Borneo

Karl Provides an ID
November 29, 2009
Hi Daniel:
I believe the genus is Systella, a short-horned grasshopper (Caelifera) in the family Trigonopterygidae. According to the ‘Orthoptera Species File Online’ website this is primarily a southeast Asian genus with seven representatives on Borneo. My hunch is that it is S. dusmeti, but they all look quite similar and I really can’t be certain. Regards.
Karl

Posted 28 November 2009 § Grasshoppers ‡ Comments (1) ° Also tagged:

Mysterious Larvae in webbing possibly Fungus Gnat Larvae

Strange White Larvae In Webbing Under Rock
November 21, 2009
Hi,
I’ve been using your site to identify insects ever since I discovered it a year ago. The work you guys do here is really amazing, especially encouraging people not to kill the insect for identification!
Please note that the image here was taken in September under a rock on the bare ground. There were none of these larva on the ground under the rock, they seemed to be confined to their ‘webbing’. I only took one photo unfortunately, as I figured they’d be pretty characteristic and easy to identify. This has not been the case so far…
Christie
Muskoka, Ontario, Canada

Unidentified Mass of Larvae

Mass of Larvae: Fungus Gnats

Hi Christie,
Your image represents one of two letters with mystery larvae we just received.  We thought your example must be some species of fly, but our preliminary search drew a big blank.  We also entertained the possibility that they might be Flea larvae since they spin a silken cocoon, and though there is a resemblance, we cannot find any information indicating this degree of group habitation.  We will contact Eric Eaton in an attempt to give you an answer.  You might want to consider providing a comment to this posting online in the event that we get a response far in the future.

Unidentified Mass of Larvae

Mass of Larvae: Fungus Gnats

Eric Eaton Responds
Daniel:
I have now found several images of fungus gnat larvae on the ‘net that show a distinct head capsule.  They are well-known to spin silk or mucus, too, so that part fits.  There may be a species up in Canada that is colonial as suggested by the image, but that is a group of flies I am barely familiar with (families Mycetophilidae and Sciaridae).
Eric

Posted 22 November 2009 § Gnats ‡ Comments (1) ° Also tagged:

Mite in terrarium

Mite or Tick ?
November 19, 2009
i’ve finished my new Azureus tank a few weeks ago, and i’ve found, several times, during the last few days these bugs crawling around my water feature edges.
some info of whats in the viv:
NO Frogs In The Viv ATM !!!
few broms and some riccia starting to expand on the ground.
water feature of waterfall and a pond ( false bottom ). the substrate is a mix of Baltic peat and coco peat/shreds.
thats about it.
omer hauser
U.S.A

Unknown Mite

Unknown Mite

Hi omer,
We needed to do a bit of research just to understand your questions as you used so many abbreviations and words we did not know.  Now we see you have set up a habitat for Dendrobates azureus, poisonous tree frogs, and that the plants are growing.  This looks like a Mite to us.  Not sure what though.  Mites are not our specialty.  Perhaps an acarologist will write in with an identification.

Hi Daniel,
I’m really really sorry for using words you didnt know ( sometimes, i forget that not to long ago i didnt know these words myself :) ) and you had to spend time on research. My sincere apologies.
Thank you for your reply and if you come across a definite answer in this issue, i’d be more than happy if you let me know. I really want to know the common name and the scientific name of that mite.
Thank you again and have a nice weekend.
Omer Hauser

Hi Omer,
Since we do not keep track of our contributors’ email addresses, the best way for you to get your answer is to provide a comment on your own posting, requesting the identification.  If an acarologist writes in the future, our website program will contact you that a comment has been posted to your comment.

Posted 20 November 2009 § Mites ‡ Comments (1) ° Also tagged:

Puddling Caper Whites in Mali, Africa

November 16, 2009
The butterflies inhabit a pond shared with 10 crocodiles in a village called Banani.

Unknown Puddling Whites in Mali

Puddling Caper Whites in Mali

This village is one of 10 Dogon villages located beneath the Bandiagara Escarpment which contains ancient Tellem cave dwellings in Mali, West Africa.
AJ

Unknown Puddling Whites in Mali

Puddling Caper Whites in Mali

Dear AJ,
Your photos are stunningly beautiful.  These butterflies are a species in the group known as Whites in the family Pieridae.  The butterflies are puddling, drinking water with dissolved chemical salts.  This unusual practice is characteristic of many butterflies the world over.  We will try to identify the exact species when we have time.  We found one photo online on a Harvard website labeled Brown Veined White Butterfly that looks very close to your specimens.  Continued searching found another visual match on the Birdman in Tanzania website, and the Brown Veined White is identified as Belenois aurota.  The species often has spectacular migrations with thousands of individuals.  The Marketgid Website also calls the species the Caper White.  Maybe Karl can take a stab at this ID.

Unknown Puddling Whites in Mali

Puddling Caper Whites in Mali

Posted 17 November 2009 § Whites and Sulfurs ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Longhorn Beetle from China: Batocera rubus

Chinese beetle
November 10, 2009
Hello,
I saw these on a (low) hill path in Zhongshan in China yesterday and wondered what they are? Is it mother and child or a male/female couple? Thanks
Neil
Zhongshan city, GuangDong, CHina

Chinese Longhorn Beetles

Chinese Longhorn Beetles

Hi Neil,
The markings on your beetles are different than those on examples of Mango Stem Borers, Batocera rufomaculata, that we have posted previously, but there are enough similarities for us to question if this is perhaps a regional variation.  Your beetles might be a closely related species in the genus Batocera, like perhaps Batocera davidis, or perhaps a member of another genus in the Long Horned Borer family Cerambycidae.  In our opinion, this is a couple.  Perhaps one of our readers can assist in this identification.

Update from Karl
Hi Daniel:
They are definitely a Batocera species (Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Batocerini) but not B. rufomaculata. There are several similar looking species in Asia, but as far as I can tell only B. davidis and B. rubus occur in China. The B. davidis photo that you linked to does look very much like the ones in Neil’s photo, but most images of B. davidis do not show the prominent white spots on the elytra. This could be an example of regional variation, or it could be another case of misidentified photos on the web. On the other hand, there are numerous postings of B. rubus and they all appear very similar. For comparison, the ‘Siam Insect-Zoo & Museum’ site has excellent photos and descriptions of all the species mentioned here. I think I have to go with B. rubus. Coincidentally, I also came across a photo of mating B. rubus (subspecies mniszechi) from the Philippines that is remarkably similar to the one posted by Neil. Regards.
Karl

Posted 11 November 2009 § Longhorn Beetles ‡ Comments (2) ° Also tagged:

Mantis in California

Stagmomantis Californica up close.
November 8, 2009
Hey WTB! I thought you might enjoy a couple pictures of this Mantid (which I’m quite sure is a Stagmomantis Californica, please correct me if I’m wrong) perched on a creosote branch.
Michael G.
Southern California, Coachella Valley.

Mantis, but what species???

Mantis, but what species???

Hi Michael,
Your photos are great.  We aren’t certain that this is a Stagomantis.  Perhaps one of our readers can supply a definitive identification.

Posted 10 November 2009 § Praying Mantis ‡ Comments (1) ° Also tagged:

Leaf Beetle from Brazil

Beautiful Beetle
October 28, 2009
As we live in the southern hemisphere, we are currently in the midst of spring with summer close at hand. For us, this means we will be seeing more and more bugs (woo-hoo). That being said, my kids and I found this beautiful beetle early this morning on the sidewalk outside their school. We immediately rescued it so that it would not get stepped on by the students. I let it walk around the palm of my hand so that we could let my children’s classmates admire it as well. It is a beautiful shiny hard-shelled beetle. When walking, it does so quite quickly, but remains fairly still for the most part. It is about an inch and a half from the tip of it’s nose to the tip of its rear, and the antennas add about another half an inch to its overall length, with a thickness of abo ut a quarter of an inch. I have searched and searched but I cannot identify what type of beetle it is. Any ideas? Another interesting note: Shortly after I returned home and placed it on a branch to retrieve my camera, it slowly and deliberately excreted something onto the branch from the tip of it’s rear. It would slowly move forward bit by bit as it attached the excretion to the branch. The beetle then ‘patted’ it to be certain it was firmly attached to the branch. The excretion is tan in color, about a quarter by an eighth of an inch, and has an oval-rounded shape to it. It resembles a very flattened rolly polly with a clearish tan coating over it. Could this be a single larvae? Thanks for anything you might be able to tell us about this wonderful creature.
Todd Madsen
Sao Paulo, Brazil

Unidentified Beetle from Brazil

Unidentified Beetle from Brazil

Hi Todd,
We are requesting assistance with your beetle.  Our initial impression is that it is a Leaf Beetle in the family Chrysomelidae.  We hope Eric Eaton can verify that.

Unidentified Beetle from Brazil

Unidentified Beetle from Brazil

Daniel:
Right on!  Yes, it is indeed a leaf beetle in the family Chrysomelidae, subfamily Hispinae.  Many are leaf miners, but I can’t imagine this large species being one of them:-)
Eric

Karl locates some images online
Hi Daniel:
Everyone is right! Following Eric’s lead, the genus is Coraliomela (Hispinae: Alurnini). But there are several species in that genus in Brazil and there is very little information to be found, so that is likely as close as we are going to get. Chances are that at least some look quite similar (e.g., C. tetramaculata). Regarding the behavior described by Todd, I would guess the beetle was laying eggs – I can’t think what else it may have been doing. From what I could gather, some and perhaps all Coraliomela species feed on palms; the larvae of C. brunnea (an entirely red species), for example, are considered one of Brazil’s most important pests on coconut seedlings. I can’t tell if the plant in Todd’s photo is a palm. Regards.
Karl

Posted 28 October 2009 § Leaf Beetles ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Unknown Eggs, possibly Amphibian, or maybe a fungus???

Slug or Snail Eggs, Maybe Not?
October 25, 2009
Dear Bug Man,
I’m pretty sure these are not bug eggs, but I am confident you can help ID these things.
I discovered this cluch of eggs under a pile of wet and decaying wood.
Thanks for the help,
W. Matthews
San Antonio, TX

Amphibian Eggs perhaps???

Amphibian Eggs perhaps???

Hi W. Matthews,
We agree they are not insect eggs, and we would also discount snail or slug eggs.  We believe they may be Amphibian Eggs, though it is also possible they are some type of fungus or mushroom.  Hopefully one of our readers may supply an answer.

Posted 25 October 2009 § Eggs ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

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