From the monthly archives: "July 2010"

African Painted Bugs

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Not the fig beetle
Location:  Western AZ
July 31, 2010 12:38 pm
I was looking up beetles that are found on figs, and kept coming up with the larger fig beetle that looks like a Japanese beetle. These are much smaller and seem to be in a mating frenzy. Location western AZ, elevation approx. 1800 ft.
Judi V. Cugat

African Painted Bugs

Hi Judy,
These tiny Stink Bugs are called African Painted Bugs, Bagrada hilaris, and they are one of the most recent agricultural scourges to hit the western states.  They are an invasive exotic species that was first reported in Los Angeles in 2008 according to a very comprehensive report from the University of Arizona College of Agriculture.  We encountered them in our Los Angeles vegetable patch last summer where they proliferated on collard greens and kale, and your photos are the first indication we have received that they will also infest figs.  That is significant information.   BugGuide remarks:  “Not native to North America, and a potential pest, especially of cruciferous crops (Brassicaceae, i.e. cabbage, kale, mustard), but also other crops (incl., at least in Africa, cotton, millet, potato).“

Mating African Painted Bugs

Thank you for your prompt response.  My father (in Florida) sent me identification  just a few minutes before you did.  I am glad to help and will report any unusual things I come across. I’m a Master Gardener, La Paz County, AZ.

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Lily Leaf Beetle: Metamorphosis stages

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Red Lilly Beetle
Location:  Naugatuck,CT. USA
July 31, 2010 11:17 am
Hi there love this site, I have been interested in insects since I was little. I have never seen this nasty little red devil until this summer nibbling on my lillies. I looked it up and found it was a Red Lilly beetle. Also that they are a recent invasive species.

Eggs of the Lily Leaf Beetle

I have 3 photos 1 of the eggs, one of the larval stage(very disgusting) and one of the adult. I haven’t seen any pics of them on your site and hoped you could use them? There are quite a few of them in my garden now and my lillies are totally destroyed. I am not that sad the garden is there to attract the bugs.
David K. Howe

Lily Leaf Beetle Larva

Hi David,
Your excellent documentation of multiple phases of the metamorphosis of the invasive Lily Leaf Beetle, Lilioceris lilii, are greatly appreciated.  We have images in our archives of the adults, but your egg and larva images are a first for us.

Lily Leaf Beetle

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Land Planarian

On · Category: Worms · 2 Comments

Trilobite Beetle!
Location:  Pulau Tioman, Malaysia
July 31, 2010 9:22 am
Just back from Pulau Tioman in Malaysia. Saw some reasonably strange critters, including this trilobite beetle.
You might also like this land planarian.
Bert

Land Planarian

HI again Bert,
We  really appreciate you sending us your excellent image of an Asian Land Planarian.

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Firefly Larva we believe

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Trilobite Beetle!
Location:  Pulau Tioman, Malaysia
July 31, 2010 9:22 am
Just back from Pulau Tioman in Malaysia. Saw some reasonably strange critters, including this trilobite beetle.
You might also like this land planarian.
Bert

Probably Firefly Larva

Hi Bert,
We believe this is a Firefly Larva, but the larva of members of some other beetle families, including Net Winged Beetles, look similar.  We will be posting your letter but dividing it into two separate postings to keep our archive filing a bit neater.

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Questionmark Butterfly

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Question Mark Butterfly
Location:  Cumberland Plateau, rural southeast Tennessee
July 31, 2010 11:26 am
Hello Bugman,
I saw this butterfly on one of our porch chairs and didn’t think I had seen the wing shape before. After I took its picture and checked with those on your site, I think it is definitely a Question Mark Butterfly. I had taken a photo with its wings folded showing what I thought was an unremarkable underside, but after seeing the description, found that indeed the ? shape is definitely there!
Thanks for your great site.
Bob Kieffer

Questionmark

Hi Bob,
You have provided our readership with excellent images of the open and closed wing views of a flawless Questionmark butterfly.  The closed wing view also shows the silvery interrogation sign on the lower wings.  When the wings are closed, the butterfly is easily camouflaged against dried leaves, making it difficult for a predator that is trying to find the resting place of the flashy winged butterfly it is pursuing.

Questionmark

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Young Male Eastern Pondhawk and Great Blue Skimmer

On · Category: Dragonflies and Damselflies · 1 Comment

Eastern Pondhawks
Location:North Middle Tennessee
July 30, 2010 5:23 pm
Hi Daniel,
I saw this green dragonfly about a week ago but couldn’t get to my camera in time for a photo. I was pleased this morning to see it again while I had the camera. After looking at your website and bug guide I think it is an ”Eastern Pondhawk” I read the males are blue. This afternoon while stalking a wild mosquito this ”blue guy” came by and said, ”Hey Richard take my photograph.” Of course, I was happy to do so. Thanks for everything and have a great day.
Richard

Young Male Eastern Pondhawk

Hi Richard,
First we need to ask if you are resubmitting this request.  We spent a goodly portion of the day earlier in the week trying to find an email titled Pondhawk to no avail.  There is so much email for us to choose from that many requests go unanswered as we do not have the resources to respond to every query.  You identification of the green specimen as an Eastern Pondhawk, Erythemis simplicicollis, seems correct in our opinion.  According to BugGuide:  “Females and young males are green with square blackish spots on the abdomen.”  We do not believe your second specimen is an Eastern Pondhawk, though the coloration superficially resembles that of a mature male described on BugGuide as:  “pruinose blue with white claspers and a green face.”  The face in your photo does not appear to be green and the claspers are not white.  We will try to get a conclusive identification on the second specimen, though Dragonflies often present a major challenge for us.

Great Blue Skimmer

No Sir, This was my first request, the photos were taken just yesterday. I do realize you are very busy and if one of my requests go unanswered I just figure it didn’t make the “cut.”  Thank you so much for your replies to many of  my ID requests. Have a wonderful day.
Richard

Thanks Richard,
We feel bad about the other request since we tried unsuccessfully to locate it.  We advise our readership that is they do not get a response after a week, to try again by resubmitting the letter and images.  A followup question with no photo attached does not help us because then we still need to search old mail to match the two letters together, and that is just too time consuming.  Our limited time devoted to posting letters is better spent researching responses than trying to piece together identification requests.

Hi Daniel,
I did some more searching for an ID on the blue dragonfly. Could it be a “Blue Dasher”?

Hi again Richard,
There are spots midway on each of your specimen’s wings that are absent in the Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis (see BugGuide), so we don’t believe your specimen is a Blue Dasher.

Update: August 9, 2010
Karl provided a comment that the unidentified Dragonfly is probably a Great Blue Skimmer, Libellula vibrans, and the photo matches the images on BugGuide.

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