I was outside this morning at about 8:00 am. I live in West Virginia. I happened to look at the corner o my house near where my gas meter is and saw a real strange bug sitting on the wall. It was very dark blue or black had a body that was about 1.5 to 2 inshes long ( approx) . Had wings that were about an 1.5 or so. Had a curved body. It also had this stinger or something ( not sure what to call it. That was about 1/32 inch in diameter and about 5 or 6 inches long. I watched it for a minutes and it flew off. It was so large that i could see it 50 feet away in the air. Do you have any idea on what it was or where i can find information on flying insects? any help will be great.
Big Bad Bob
Dear Bob,
Let me commend you on your excellent verbal description. I believe it is a female Ichneumon Wasp, probably Megarhyssa atrata. She uses that long ovipositor to deposit her eggs deep into wood where the young search out and devour wood eating grubs. Very specialized development that would interest all Darwinians.
I like This
My wife came across a dead beetle of some sort. It is light green in color with mottled black spots on the wings. It is about 2″ long and has pincers that open top to bottom, not side to side. I have attached a picture for your review. Thanks for any help you can give us in this identification.
Dave B.
Columbus, Ga
Dear Dave,
I’m sure I answered your wife’s letter, though now can’t seem to find any record of it. She sent three photos of different views. It is a Unicorn Beetle, Dynastes tityus, a member of the scarab family prized by collectors. They are harmless.
Daniel,
Thanks for the quick response! Once you had been able to identify it, I was able
to find additional pictures online. As an aside, my wife hasn’t sent any pictures in…so there are a couple of us who recently came across a beautiful specimen.
Thanks again!
Dave
We at What’s That Bug appologize to Dave and Lori because we confused their photograph with the following photograph which arrived in our offices two days before. They are remarkably similar.
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Thanks for having this "little" guy on you page. I’ve seen Hellgramites before, but I never knew what they grew into. I spotted this one on the ash tray outside our office this morning. I thought you might like to add the picture to your collection.
Thanks!
Bob
Thanks for the great photo Bob.
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Hello,
I was wondering if you could tell me what this thing was. It is very different. However I found it dead, so I decided to take pics, It looks mean. What is it’s purpose. I have never seen anything like this. We are in the Limestone area, of Texas. Thanks ever so much.
Gary
Hi Gary, It is a male Unicorn Beetle, Dynastes tityus, a member of the scarab family prized by collectors. The males have three horns, not one, so Unicorn Beetle is something of a misnomer. The grubs are found in rotting wood. It is a Southern insect. It is also known as an Eastern Hercules Beetle.
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Hello,
I was wondering if you could tell me what this thing was. It is very different. However I found it dead, so I decided to take pics, It looks mean. What is it’s purpose. I have never seen anything like this. We are in the Limestone area, of Texas. Thanks ever so much.
Gary
Hi Gary, It is a male Unicorn Beetle, Dynastes tityus, a member of the scarab family prized by collectors. The males have three horns, not one, so Unicorn Beetle is something of a misnomer. The grubs are found in rotting wood. It is a Southern insect.
Related posts:
I saw this insect in my loft apartment in Augusta, GA. The building is relatively old, somewhere around 60-80 years old I would guess. Anyhow, the insect I’m writing about is a cricket-like animal with grasshopper-ish big legs. It’s relatively gray/brown in color, and quite ugly if I say so myself. Definitely not as exotic looking as a house centipede (which, by perusing through your site, I found out are the things that are also some of my roommates from time to time!). Anyways, it looks harmless, but it’s kind of big in >hat it has a body roughly the size of a marble (maybe a little smaller, or bigger for that matter), and those hind legs are just huge compared to it’s body in that the body is not as elongated as a cricket or a grasshopper. Great sight!
Dear David,
It could be a Camel Cricket, family Rhaphidophoridae. See if this photo looks right.
