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Cuckoo Wasp

Can you tell me what this is?
Location: Australia, NSW, Western Sydney area.
February 5, 2011 11:22 pm
Hi bugman, I found this bug in my laundry about 2 weeks ago. I put it into a bug-catcher to get it out of my laundry and so that I could let my son have a good look at it and then I was going to let it go. It was dead when I got up the next morning and looked like this (see photos). It is summer here at the moment and been particularly warm between 36-40 degrees centigrade/celcius. I hope you can help. I thank you in advance icon smile Cuckoo Wasp
Signature: Not sure what this means?

cuckoo wasp carnage australia 300x206 Cuckoo Wasp

Cuckoo Wasp

Dear Not sure what this means?
This sure appears to be a Cuckoo Wasp, possibly the Large Cuckoo Wasp, Stilbum cyanurum, which we located on the Brisbane Insect website.  According to the Brisbane Insect website:  “The adult Cuckoo Wasp’s back is well armored and with abdomen concave beneath. When disturbed, it curl up into a ball. This is a defense behavior against the attack by angry nest host.“  Perhaps your individual rolled into a ball in self defense before it died.  Though it was not intentional on your part, keeping an insect in a confined container and then finding it dead might constitute Unnecessary Carnage.

Posted 06 February 2011 § Cuckoo Wasps ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Fanmail

Fan letter, no response requested
January 31, 2011 3:50 pm
I have just spent the morning re-visiting your site, one of the very best in the world in my humble opinion. To my knowledge, no one else is doing what you do. Just one reason for your work: songbirds of all kinds are in serious decline, in no small measure due to pesticide use. Private individuals are often the worst offenders in use of widely available, broad-spectrum pesticides. We all need to learn not to unthinkingly destroy invertebrates.
“Unnecessary Carnage” is important as well as entertaining (if tragic), and the entire “Nasty Readership” section has made me laugh more today than anything has in weeks. You guys are incredible. I know it’s a lot to ask of volunteers with important, time-consuming day jobs, but please never stop!
Sincerely,
Signature: Lee White

Hi Lee,
Thanks so much for your kind letter.  It is really appreciated.

Update
Me again, sorry — more supportive thoughts
February 1, 2011 1:36 am
I have been sitting here for some time now, re-reading your marvelous responses to irate readers. These are people who have been trained to believe that the customer, however ignorant and infantile, deserves immediate gratification and an ego stroke in the process. “Ooh, was the bug scary? Oh you poor thing! I can’t believe you waited hours for my unpaid labor!” It thrills me beyond words that you don’t play that game.
As to the smash-first response (“But I was scared!” “I feared for the safety of the chiilldrennn…”), how hard is it to brush the critter off and count some legs? Education is everything! As a California child, I feared the dreaded potato bug, but eventually learned to appreciate it as the harmless and charming Jerusalem cricket. Of course, some people don’t care; they smash because they just don’t like bugs, or because “it’s only a bug”. As I recently told my  classmate, who smirked while I took some trapped boxelder bugs outside, “they understand suffering as well as you do”. Unnecessary carnage is not okay.
Signature: Lee White

potato bug jazz 300x213 Fanmail

Potato Bug from our archives

Thanks for your additional insight Lee.  We have found a nice image of a Potato Bug from our archives to illustrate your passionate and supportive letter.

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Posted 31 January 2011 § Potato Bugs, Wetas and Parktown Prawns ‡ Comments (1) ° Also tagged: ,

Wheel Bug Hatchlings exterminated after hatching indoors

bugs hatching
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
January 26, 2011 7:24 pm
Just the other day my roommates and I were in the living room when we noticed a dark spot up my our fireplace. When I climbed up to investigate, I noticed it wasn’t just one bug but a whole bunch of small ones hatching. The area there were in was roughly the size of a adult female palm. They were found in January in Oklahoma. They were about a foot from the celing on the brick around our fireplace in the living room. We caught one in a peice of tape and took it to the home depot and though they couldn’t id the type, they gave us some Raid which killed them. We had a huge problem with black widows in the fall and I’m worried they might be babies that are just hatching. Any ideas? Do we need to have someone come spray for them?
Signature: Amanda

wheelbug hatchlings amanda 300x206 Wheel Bug Hatchlings exterminated after hatching indoors

Wheel Bug Hatchlings before the insecticide

Hi Amamda,
This is a cluster of Wheel Bug hatchlings, a beneficial predator.  It is odd that the egg cluster was laid indoors, but the fact that they were found near a fireplace brings up a possibility.  Perhaps a female Wheel Bug was prowling through the wood pile outdoors looking for a Black Widow Spider to prey upon when the log was taken indoors.  Adult Wheel Bugs are dark gray and they would blend in with the color of the log.  Left with no other alternatives, the Wheel Bug laid her eggs on the ceiling of the living room.  Because of the heat indoors, the eggs hatched early.  Hatchling Wheel Bugs do look somewhat spiderlike and they do have red and black coloration like Black Widows, so your mistake is understandable.  Hatching indoors did not leave them very good odds of survival even without the insecticide, but we are going to tag this posting as Unnecessary Carnage nonetheless because as we stated originally, Wheel Bugs are beneficial predators.

A reader Comments:
RE: hatchling wheel bugs
January 27, 2011 10:07 am
Hello BugMan,
I am writing to you today to convey a message to your readership. I was very dismayed to see all of the wheel bug hatchlings that met a very early demise. This was a very unfortunate event with these awesome wheel bugs, and even though in your response you say Amanda’s mistaking them for Black Widow babies is understandable because of the similar colors and them being ”spiderlike”, I noticed clearly in Amanda’s picture that the bugs have antenna. So that is my message for your readers: if you see something that has antenna, it’s not a spider, as spiders don’t have antenna. Sincerely, Amy
Signature: Amy

Thank you for the response and I inderstand the Unnecessary Carnage tagging though I think you understand my fear they were baby black widows. I would like to point out as well that our fire place is gas and has been sealed up by the homeowners as they do not want renters “setting the house on fire” icon smile Wheel Bug Hatchlings exterminated after hatching indoors We assumed they climbed in through the fireplace. The next time we find them we will be sure to relocated them back outside where they belong (which I do with most of the insects that find their way in my house with the exception of the black widow.) Can you answer a question of whether or not they bite? I have read several things online that differ. Thank you!
Amanda

Hi again Amanda,
Wheel Bugs can bite, but they do not typically bite humans.  Careless handling might result in a bite.  Certain other Assassin Bugs are more prone to biting, and some species, like Kissing Bugs actually feed on warm blooded hosts, including humans.

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Posted 27 January 2011 § Assassin Bugs ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Unnecessary Carnage Comment

Unecessary Carnage responses
January 22, 2011 4:47 pm
I love your witty and informative Unecessary Carnage responses.
Signature: Mary Sue Rubin

Hi Mary Sue,
It is refreshing to hear that.  Few things incite more vitriol on our website than Unnecessary Carnage comments.  The only possible exception is the Nasty Reader Award section.

Posted 22 January 2011 § Uncategorized ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Solifugid from Zambia: Killed during ambush

Poisonous spider?
Location: Zambia, Africa
December 8, 2010 11:08 pm
I encountered this aggressive spider in Zambia, Africa, in October. It lunged out at me from within my suitcase. I quickly sidestepped it and instinctively killed it by giving it a swift kick. I took a picture of it next to a British ten pence coin, which was all I had near me at the time. (A ten pence coin is roughly the size of a US quarter, or 24mm in diameter.) I’d estimate the length of the spider’s body to be about 60mm from head to thorax. It seemed to only have 2 eyes. One of the local villagers saw the picture and told me that the spider was poisonous, and that a bite could cause my leg to swell up twice its size (or more). Can you identify this specimen?
Signature: Dave

solifugid zambia dave 300x199 Solifugid from Zambia: Killed during ambush

Solifugid: Dead after discovery in suitcase

Hi Dave,
Though we are tagging your posting as Unnecessary Carnage, we want you to understand that we do not blame you for your instinctual reaction, but we want to educate you should you ever again encounter a Solifugid, commonly called a Sun Spider or Wind Scorpions, or in the Middle East, a Camel Spider.  Tropical specimens can grow quite large.  Despite the common name, Solifugids are neither Spiders nor Scorpions, but they are members of the same taxonomic class, the Arachnids.  Unlike Spiders and Scorpions, Solifugids do not possess venom, so they are not poisonous.  Despite what you have been told by the local villager, if you are bitten, the bite will not result in a swollen leg unless it gets infected.  Solifugids are aggressive predators that are capable of eating small vertebrates including lizards and possibly small mice.  They have amazing jaws that open in multiple directions, and we would not want to be bitten by a large Solifugid.

Posted 09 December 2010 § Solpugids and Camel Spiders ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Unnecessary Carnage: Leaffooted Bug Dispatched with a 2 half cans of Insecticide!!!

Flying Insect with Chubby Ankles
Location:  Richmond, Virginia
October 16, 2010 10:57 pm
This thing is about the size of a stinkbug, but it has what look like fleshy pouches on its two hind legs. It has a proboscis, and I don’t know what it eats.
It has wings and flies, but seems very resistant to Raid: Flying Insect Killer, and Raid: Ant & Roach Killer. I finally brought this thing down with about half a can of each. It didn’t die quickly, and twitched for about 15 minutes as I was drowning it in the spray.
I have nuked all entrances to my house with poison, yet these things seem to be the only things that still get in. Even spraying them directly doesn’t kill them quickly at all.
I’ve never seen them before I moved here, but have seen half a dozen of these things since I moved here about 2 months ago.
Please help!
Signature:  Raid Can’t Help Me

leaf footed bug raid 300x202 Unnecessary Carnage: Leaffooted Bug Dispatched with a 2 half cans of Insecticide!!!

Leaffooted Bug: Dead after spraying with 2 half cans of insecticide!!!!!!!

Dear RCHM,
Rarely have we been so entirely horrified with a posting that we tag as Unnecessary Carnage.  Generally, we lament the dispatching of a single beneficial or benign creature that has been swatted or stomped, but your letter has taken the term Unnecessary Carnage to an entirely new level.  In your obsession to prevent a benign creature from entering your home, you have exposed yourself, your family, your pets, and the environment to poisons with potentially long term side affects that might not be fully understood.  We can’t help but to be reminded of the publicity stunt pulled by B.T. Collins during the aerial spraying of malathion in California in the early 1980s in a feebly unsuccessful attempt to control the spread of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly.  According to Time Magazine Online:  “B.T. Collins, 40, director of the California Conservation Corps, gave the most dramatic demonstration of its safety: he drank a glassful of Malathion diluted with water to the concentration used in the spray.“ Malathion spraying failed to control the Mediterranean Fruit Fly, AKA The Med Fly, in the 1980s and your senseless spraying of insecticides will fail to keep insects from entering your home.  Please take the time to educate yourself about the wonderful natural world around you and to learn about the harmful effects of introducing unnecessary chemicals to the environment.  Your insect is a Leaf Footed Bug in the genus Leptoglossus, possibly the Western Conifer Seed Bug.  These harmless creatures often enter homes as the weather begins to cool so that they can hibernate during the cold winter months.  They will not harm you, your pets, your home or its furnishings.  If you find their presence offensive, simply remove them and please desist with the excessive use of poisons.

Daniel,
I must apologize for my actions that I now realize were unnecessary against the harmless Leaf-Footed Bugs that have gotten inside my house over the last few months. I was scared that they would be dangerous given their size and appearance, but now that I know what they are, I won’t be afraid of them any more. Because of the information you’ve given me, I won’t kill them any longer when I find them, I’ll simply brush them back outside.
Thank you!

You’re welcome.  In the interest of education, the indiscriminate use of pesticides might be very harmful to sensitive individuals as well as the environment.

Posted 17 October 2010 § Leaf Footed Bugs ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Crickets in Greece fall victim to bug sprays and stomping

Please help me identify this bug
Location:  Trilofos, Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece
October 8, 2010 4:21 am
I recently moved to a country house in Northern Greece. Since the first few days the house had this visitor, along with his brothers, cousins and other relatives.
They are black, they jump but not very well, their usual movement is a walk with plenty of stops. They exist in large numbers around the house and they like coming in through any hole, or under the doors.
They are strong but not very fast. They like holes, corners and other hideouts. They die with cockroach sprays but not fast. If you step on them they make a crunchy noise and sometimes they don’t die, they need a second harder hit.
I am familiar, at least visually with most of the big bugs of the region, but this one is a new one for me.
I looks and moves like a bizarre hybrid between a cockroach and a grasshopper.
As I have a newborn baby girl, that will start crawling soon, I would like the species identified, in case it can be harmful in any way to the baby. I appreciate all your help.
Signature:  Alexander

cricket greece alexander 300x189 Crickets in Greece fall victim to bug sprays and stomping

Cricket

Dear Alexander,
We hope we are able to convince you that you do not need to poison or stomp on these interesting Field Crickets any longer.  We believe your Field Cricket is in the genus Gryllus, and though they might do some damage in the garden, they are benign insects that are actually kept as pets in Japan because of their melodic chirping.  You can read more about Crickets in captivity on Insects.org and perhaps you will learn to appreciate the wonder of the insect world that surrounds you.

Dear Daniel,
Thank you very much for your prompt response. I am convinced…. but
now I will need to convince my wife too, a much harder job I am afraid
when it comes to these critters.
I have to say though that our crickets do not chirp – melodically or
otherwise. Maybe they see no reason to chirp given that the summer is
over.
If any Japanese people want a new pet, I have a few hundred
immediately available and they are welcome to come and collect them
ASAP…. icon smile Crickets in Greece fall victim to bug sprays and stomping
Thank you again,
Alexandros

Posted 08 October 2010 § Crickets, Camel Crickets and Mole Crickets ‡ Comments (1) ° Also tagged:

Velvet Ant Carnage

What the heck is this?
Location:  Houston, TX
October 3, 2010 2:03 pm
My dad was outside and this bug started crawling towards him. I took him many tries for him to actually kill the bug so I’m sorry that the bug is torn up in these pictures. We’ve never seen one like it and we would really be interested in knowing. It looks kind of like a wingless wasp and has a stinger, but also looks like a spider.
Signature:  Texas Girl

velvet ant carnage texas 300x178 Velvet Ant Carnage

Velvet Ant Carnage

Dear Texas Girl,
These are the mutilated remains of a Velvet Ant, most likely a Cowkiller, so named because its sting is reported to be so painful.  Velvet Ants are flightless female wasps.  We hope we are never in a position to be approaching your father if it might incite a similar response of Unnecessary Carnage just because we might look unfamiliar or different.  Granted, the sting of a Velvet Ant is reported to be quite painful, but it is not the intent of a Velvet Ant to sting indiscriminately, but rather, to sting if it feels threatened due to careless handling.

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Posted 04 October 2010 § Velvet Ants ‡ Comments (3) ° Also tagged:

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