Subject: Biking Bug
Location: Tallahassee, FL
October 20, 2014 1:12 pm
Dear Bugman,
I found this bug sitting on my bike, right beside the back wheel. I had turned the bike over a few times to secure the chain on the wheel, without seeing this little guy fall off. I even tried to slightly move him over with a leaf, but this guy would NOT budge!
I continued to ride, downhill, and uphill until I reached my destination. When I locked up the bike, he (or she) had moved, but was still attached to my bicycle.
This bug had black and yellow patterns. It looks like a beetle, but I’m not entirely sure. It has a “bigger” antenna, as well as legs and feet that tend to stick and hold on to wherever they are.
Signature: Biking with a Bug
Dear Biking with a Bug,
This looks like a Diaprepes Root Weevil, and according to Featured Creatures: “It was first reported in Florida in 1964 from a nursery near Apopka. It was presumably introduced in an ornamental plant shipment from Puerto Rico. Since 1964, Diaprepes abbreviatus has spread over a large area of central and southern Florida where it is damaging to citrus, ornamental plants, and some other crops.”