Walkingstick look-alike
Fri, Nov 7, 2008 at 9:22 AM
Hello! I’ve been a fan for years and rec’d responses several times to my queries, and I thank you again for this great service you provide! I do not believe this insect is a true ‘Walkingstick’, but a look-alike. The legs were quite long, maybe 4-5″, antenna abt. 4″ and wings abt 1 1/2-2″ in length. I saw a photo similar to this insect somewhere with a diff. name and forgot to make note of it! =-( I was in a small field surrounded by woods when it came ‘floating’ very gracefully by. Fortunately, it landed just a few feet away, and I was able to get sev. diff poses of it. Any info you can provide is greatly appreciated. I am sending several captures for your best chance at ID’ing.
Thank you again for your time and service…you are very much appreciated!
Pat Garner, Hawk Point, MO
Lincoln Co., Hawk Point, MO abt 1hr 20 mins West of St. Louis, MO
Thread Legged Bug
Hi Pat,
Thank you for your sweet letter. This is a Thread Legged Bug, an Assassin bug in the subfamily Emesinae. We are relatively certain it is in the genus Emesaya, possibly Emesaya brevipennis which can be found on BugGuide. Like all Assassin Bugs, they are predatory.
Thread Legged Bug
Arilus cristatus
Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 1:52 PM
Good Evening!
A friend called me to my front door earlier. She was on the front porch; I was here at the computer. “Bet you’ve never seen this one before,” she said. She was right. Then, after downloading several shots of the creature, imagine my surprise when I found that it is your BUG OF THE MONTH! No searching through hundreds of pages this time! Thank you, too, for the link to The BugGuide. We both appreciated all the information found there.
As long as it stays outside…
R.G. Marion
Great Smoky Mountains
East Tennessee
Wheel Bug
Hi again R.G.,
We always try to select a Bug of the Month based on what we believe our readership will encounter, and sometimes we err. There are months when not a single letter comes in to substantiate our speculation, but this month we chose wisely. We have gotten numerous additional letters of Wheel Bugs, some posted, some not, and we are happy to post your letter and photo.
Wheel Bug!
Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 3:50 PM
I found this enormous bug on my screen door today, captured it, photographed it, and released it. Then I can to whatsthatbug.com as usual to find out what it was. Turns out its on the top of the main page as Bug of the Month! The person who submitted it, lives just minutes away too! Quite the cooincidence.
Anyways, I took some fantastic photographs of it…and figured since it is bug of the month, you may be able to use them. I also captured a small video of him cruising around on my desk which can be seen here: http://www.goochball.com/ images/bug.wmv
Thanks.
Dan Bowen
Pittsburgh, PA
Wheel Bug
Hi Dan,
Your head on view of a Wheel Bug is a nice addition to our archive.
Wheel Bug up close
Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 12:27 PM
I came across this Wheel Bug recently. I had never seen one before and didn’t have a clue as to what it was. Fortunately for me, I kept a slight distance and managed to get some great & painless photos. The little guy was actually very cooperative. I later researched it online and discovered its identity — what a fascinating little creature. Anyway… I love your site and wanted to submit one of the many photos I captured.
Dave Elmore
Roanoke, Virginia
Wheel Bug
Hi Dave,
Thanks for sending a photo of your Wheel Bug, our Bug of the Month for November 2008, to add to our archive. Your photo is stunning and dramatic and shows the piercing/sucking mouth parts and cog-like crest to great advantage. Wheel Bugs are not aggressive to humans, but they should not be mishandled or a painful bite may result.
Ant in armor
Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 1:03 PM
Hello,
I found this fellow about a month ago when I picked up a lawn sprinkler. It looks a lot like an ant. But it doesn’t have the clear narrowing between segments and looks almost like it is wearing a suit of armor. Also, there was only one that I could find and behaved with more curiosity and intelligence that most ants. I can’t seem to find anything quite like it on the web. Do you know what it is?
Dave
Oak Ridge, TN
PS: I hope repeats are OK. I asked about an adult ant lion some months ago.
Broad Headed Bug nymph
Hi Dave,
This is a new family for us. Your insect is a True Bug known as a Broad Headed Bug in the family Alydidae. We believe it is the nymph of Megalotomus quinquespinosus which has no common name. According to BugGuide, it feeds on the juices of plants, especially those in the pea family.
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Posted 04 November 2008
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Giant Water Bug
Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 12:34 AM
Hi, love this site. I have one here I found in a small local pond, among other water insects. It appears to be a giant water bug. I have looked throughout the site and seen several varieties. It still has no wings, and surfaces to attach a bubble to its sternum before diving back down to the bottom of the aquarium. I am feeding it moths and flies, observed it and other beetles feeding on floating bee remains. Will it eventually crawl out and scare the fiber out of my girlfriend?
thank you
Lanz
Soledad, CA
immature Giant Water Bug
Hi Lanz,
There are three genera of Giant Water Bugs and all three grow wings as adults and can fly. When it matures, your specimen may decide your aquarium doesn’t suit its needs and it may try to fly away. Your specimen is either Abedus or Belostoma. We will try to get some assistance on which genus your specimen belongs to.
immature Giant Water Bug
Amphibian bug
Sat, Oct 25, 2008 at 12:09 PM
Hi Whats that bug team , This afternoon my husband was cleaning out the pool and found this thing crawling out of it . Its huge and its mean looking , It has to weird thing coming out of its behind whenit gets aggrevated, we’ve never seen anything like this . I hope u can help us figure out whats that bug .
Sorry if the pictures are a bit blurry .
Stevens familly
Saint-constant, Quebec ,Canada
Giant Water Bug
Hi Stevens Family,
The tenant in your pool is a Giant Water Bug or Toe-Biter. Though it is aquatic, it can also fly and is attracted to lights, hence the common name Electric Light Bug. The weird thing coming from its behind is a snorkel-like breathing device.
Hi WTB !
Thu, Oct 23, 2008 at 10:25 AM
I found this bug on a Ragweed plant during spring, but have also seen it around lights at night and also other ragweed during summer. It looks closest like a Plant Bug, but not quite. I live in Northeast Georgia, around the mountains. I cannot find it anywhere on the internet ! Please help me!
Luke
Murrayville, Georgia
Plant Bug
Hi Luke,
We agree that this is a Plant Bug in the family Miridae based on the long thin antennae and slender legs. We will contact Eric Eaton to see if he can provide a genus or species since the matching image we found on BugGuide was not identified.
Plant Bug
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Posted 24 October 2008
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Colorful insect found in woods
Wed, Oct 22, 2008 at 7:55 AM
Hello,
I found this insect in the woods hiding behind a piece of bark. I noticed the red on his leg as he squeezed in to hide. I cannot figure out what kind he is! At first I thought it was a box elder bug, but aside from the giant white spot, his head is a different shape.
He moved very slowly, and did not try to hide again after I had exposed him from the bark.
Bug world enthusiast
John James Audobon National Park, Henderson, KY
Assassin Bug
Hi Enthusiast,
This is an Assassin Bug with no common name. It is Microtomus purcis.
Possible Tiger Moth?
Tue, Oct 14, 2008 at 8:26 AM
These pictures taken in South Western Ontario, in mid-August. Using a black light and blanket to attract insects. Wondering if these are from the Tiger Moth family based on the tuft of ‘fur’. But i cannot tell what species. Wingspan aproximately 1 - 1.25 inches
Bug-eyed Canadian
South Western Ontario, Canada
Tolype species
Dear Bug-Eyed,
Your moth is in the genus Tolype meaning it is not a Tiger Moth. The genus is part of the family Lasiocampidae, theTent Caterpillar and Lappet Moths. BugGuide shows five species of Tolype, and we don’t feel qualified to identify your specimen to the species level. Though you didn’t request the information, the other insect in your photo looks like a Water Boatman in the family Corixidae.
Assassin Bug?
Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 4:46 PM
Hi Bug Guy, I just want you to know that I never really cared alot about bugs, Then I got a new camera for my birthday, and I loved it, I was having so much fun with it, but now I have a new like, not love yet, just like, for the bugs, some of them are so beautiful and some, I think God had alot of fun making. This bug was on my dads porch and I looked it up on here and I found one. The bug liked my husbands ear and kept crawling up his shirt to his ear. He sat very still and did not bother it and waited for it to leave. Later someone told me that if the bug had bit him that he would have gotten really sick and maybe even lost his ear. Is this true? I have sent a pic of him or her.
Soon to learn to love bugs,
Lisa Benningfield, Stanton Ky
Eastern Kentucky
Wheel Bug gets familiar
Hi Lisa,
The bite of a Wheel Bug, a species of Assassin Bug, is reported to be quite painful but not really dangerous. Like many bites, swelling, redness and pain or itchiness may occur, but loss of an ear is not really a side effect. Your husband should, nonetheless, consider himself lucky he was not bitten.
Help I don’t know what this is
Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 8:45 PM
I am trying to find out what this bug is. I discovered it underneath a flat board that was covering a broken basement window, the board fell off the house and when I picked it up this was underneath the board with others like it numbering around 25 - 60 of them, they scattered fast, seems to like dark moist places. It measures from front to back without including leg or antannae, 1 cm long. I am worried this may be some type of bug that is causing hidden damage to my home.
Scott worried in Ohio
Midwest, Columbus, OH
Long Necked Seed Bug
Hi Scott,
The Long Necked Seed Bug, Myodocha serripes, is not damaging your home. According to BugGuide, the Long Necked Seed Bug “overwinters as adult in leaf litter or under bark of trees in woodlands” and is found in “Leaf litter in early spring; fields and artificial lights in summer.” Many True Bugs hibernate overwinter in aggregations, and your individuals found the board to be a fine substitute for the bark of a tree. While it is not harming the home, it may be harming your strawberries, because BugGuide also indicates it feeds on the “Seeds of strawberry and st. johnswort. Sometimes a pest of strawberries. ” We believe your photo is a new species for our site.
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Posted 14 October 2008
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some kind of beatle?
Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 3:12 PM
found these two having a romantic evening as the sun set on Oct 12, 2008.
very prehistoric looking. thank you,
Genesis
South St. Louis area of Missouri USA
Mating Wheel Bugs
Hi Genesis,
Prehistoric is a word that we often hear in conjunction with Wheel Bugs. Your mating Wheel Bugs are Assassin Bugs, not beetles.
Neither pair of wheel bugs is mating, just coupled. Mating means they would by coupled, the male off to the side, not directly on top.
Eric Eaton
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