Do you have a bug you need identified? Do you want to submit an interesting photo of a bug? The more information you can give us, the better your chances of getting your bug identified. Season? Geographic location? Picture(s) should be as clear and well-lit as possible.
By submitting an identification request and/or photo(s), you give WhatsThatBug.com permission to use your words and image(s) on their website and other WhatsThatBug.com publications. Also, you swear that you either took the photo(s) yourself or have explicit permission from the photographer or copyright holder to use the image.
Email us at whatsthatbug.com[at]gmail[dot]com with your photo and question, if you have any. We will try our best to identify the insect for you.
Requirements to identify a bug:
We need the following details to correctly identify a bug:
- The location where the bug was found. Without it, we will not be able to identify a bug.
- Please make the subject line Bug ID Request. We get hundreds of emails and it is fastest for us to respond by searching for this subject line. Anything else and your email will get missed.
- Send in 2-3 clear and well-lit photos. Ideally with a common item like a penny or a scale to understand the relative size of the bug.
- The email address is written like this to avoid spam. Please replace [at] with @ and [dot] with .
When I was in colleg in Lawrence, Kansas I was at a parade and was standing under this big tree. I didn’t feel anyting land on me but I could smell this somewhat stink odor and I and my sister got into my car and drove back to my dorm and I could still smell this odor. There was a sage colored bug with a tennis ball size body and maybe six legs on my shoulder. I never saw a bug that big in my life. I panicked and knocked it off my shoulder onto the passanger side floor. Both my sister and I jumped off the car and a male passerby got out of the car with a stick. He was scared of it too. That was in 1995. I have never seen a bug like that again. I don’t have an image of the bug but do you have any idea what I am talking about? Just curious. Thank you.
I’m not completely sure, but I think you’re referring to a beetle. Did it look like a giant beetle? We see those all the time around the neighborhood. It is called a Japanese beetle, it can grow very large, and it is multicolored and shiny. Just a suggestion, if you want to check it out.
Dear Buggirl,
You have multiple comments that are not associated with specific postings. Please make your comments on specific postings. The Ask What’s That Bug? link is used to submit images for identification or for consideration as unique, new postings. All of your comments seem to be headed to that page on our site as opposed to being routed to postings. I have requested assistance from our webmaster to see if he can determine why your comments seem to be going there.
In reply to Stefani…..
could it have been a stink bug?
It is very difficult to speculate when there is no image.
I wanted to send images of bug but i can’t because it’s taking forever to upload. Think I have to compress it somewhat…
Dear Bugman:
I have been trying for two days to upload 2 photos. This goes nowhere – the little spinning icon that appears after the send button is pressed, just keeps on spinning. Do you have suggestions that will speed up the uploading process?
Thanks.
If the images are too large, it might be contributing to your problem. Try reducing the size of the images to 5 megabytes.
Hi Stefani, I am a recent member of WTB, and I recently read your posting of 3-12-15. It was a huge bug, sage in color, the size of a tennis ball, and had a somewhat stink odor. You said you have never seen a bug that size before. I believe that it could have been a beetle called the Eastern Hercules beetle, most likely a female. They are about 2-3 inches long, round and a sage green, and do emit a strange, fetid, strong odor. Dynasties tityus is the scientific name. I can imagine it frightening you. They are quite large . March would be a bit early in the year for it to be seen. What a scary encounter!!! Tim
You might be right!
Ohh i had a problem like this. So many years ago i had this cat that was clawing under front door. Its about 100 degrees out .. i open door and between door and screen is this thing as big as u said.. knocking… Its freaking knock knocking on my door. Like “hello. Im so big i speak” .not really but it scared the bloody Jesus out of me. Im in Philadelphia and we don’t have crazy humid creatures.. I did live in Savannah so i know whats out there. So idk what to do… I throw a towel under the door and run around to front.. i realize im not doing anything and my area isnt the place to be asking strangers to help but this was a serious occasion. It this young, big, nerdy kid .. i said “ok im not crazy or on drugs… I live riggt there. A bug is knocking at my door.. here is bug spray please help!” He thought i was crazy but came and open my screen and currsed and screamed… He scared it so it flew towards him, he ducks and it went into a tree. .he said “omg. I did think u were nuts but that was insane. I never saw anything like that and i know some stuff about bugs.” He said no way its native around here and probably came in from a plant or crop but he said based on the size and color… And time of year it must be a cicada. Idk if they smell but stink buts are my ENEMY. They use to follow my long time bfs family from house to house but they werent here yet then. It must have beeen early 2000s. Maybe 2002. That year it was known to be one that the cicada’s did come up from ground and were all over everything but not that big
Sent a request with 3 photos but the pics were so large (20M each) they took FOREVER to load, so sent a second request with same pics downsized for expediency. Hope that helped.
Thanks. We will respond to the submission
I live in Mesa Arizona and have noticed a small bug roaming around the house.
It’s small,clear cream color, and looks very similar to a silver fish. Except much smaller and clearish, It’s about 1 1/2 cm long. It doesn’t move much, and I have been able to dispose of them without problem. Although I dont think they are harmful I don’t really want bugs roaming around the house. I have only seen 3 in my home i found one in my couch,bathroom,and on a shirt that was on the floor. I live in a very suburban area of mesa and in a little town house. I unfortunately don’t have a photo, but I’m hoping you’ll at least be ale to come up with some ideas of what it could be and how I can get rid of them for good.
Thanks so much!!
-Erica
Not exactly in love with the standard contact method eh
Small clear bugs often appear around dead things
The color sounds like one of the larval stages of a bedbug, but that would be like 1.5 mm not 1.5 cm….
Hello! I’ve been trying to submit some photos, and it keeps saying “Failed to send your message. Please try later or contact the administrator by another method.” I’ve tried waiting a day, using different browsers, and waiting another day. Do you know if it’s something that’s wrong on my end?
Thanks!
We have contacted our webmaster who might be able to assist you.
I tried submitting two photos and a video that was 2 minutes long but took 3 hours of uploading with no end in sight so I resubmitted with a third photo, if you get a double submission that is my fault, apologies. The good side of that would be you got the video clip but I don’t think it went through. Anyway. Thanks and happy Memorial Day
Is it normal that it takes really long to process my question?
We have a tiny staff and we are unable to respond to all requests.
how long does it take to process my question?
We are not able to respond to every question that is submitted to our tiny staff.
Dear Bugman, I tried to put this through via the regular submission method, but kept getting rejected, hope it’s okay to leave this here.
I just got startled by an absolutely massive insect I’ve never seen before. I live on the east side of Los Angeles, CA and this bug flew slowly into my back porch area. It was so big and loud that I thought it was a hummingbird, and it was also a brilliant green color. It appeared flat, but flew slowly, like a bumblebee. I was stunned at its sheer size! I was tending to my rabbits, who live in the back, and the huge bug dropped down into a pile of rabbit waste I was cleaning and started moving around in it. I tried to get a look at it, but didn’t want to get too close. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’m positive it wasn’t a common cicada.
Any thoughts as to what this might be? I really appreciate your time! I’m sorry I couldn’t get a photo– the creature had gone far below the regular levels of hay by the time I worked up the nerve to even get closer to snap a picture, and I could only tell it was in there by the way the hay was rustling around.
We are guessing a Figeater: http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2011/08/14/figeater-4/
Sounds like a Luna Moth, Kelly.
I tried to submit a query, but it wouldn’t let me submit because I need at least one picture, and I can’t take one. When I finish explaining, you’ll see why.
My sister brought home this bug today, and we have no idea what it is. It looks exactly like a ladybug, but it is about the size of a peppercorn and completely black. It’s very glossy and if I look really closely, I can kind of see ridge-like armor on it’s underside. It is so tiny that even on macro setting, I can’t get a half decent picture. Just a blur. I’ve looked around the internet, but can’t get a good answer. Any idea what it could be?
There are so many different beetles, it is nearly impossible to try to pin down what your sister found, especially without any information about where she found it. Was it in her bed, in the kitchen or in France?
It was outside. We live in Utah. I doubt you could identify it even if I did have a picture. I might be able to draw one with keyboard symbols. It looks like this, only biggger -> .
The dot. It looks like the dot, but bigger.
A joke, right? lol!
“It looks like a bug, but different. It’s like a speck, only bigger; and like a boulder, only smaller. What is it?”
lol!
Head lice
Hello! Just stumbled onto your site, and am very curious and have viewed a lot of the material here. Mainly the camel crickets and spiders. As the subject states, I do not have a picture, but am very curious about a particular bug I’d seen while visiting a friend in central New York.
We were in central New York and I was sitting on a recently cut tree stump. I started to notice a loud buzzing sound, similar to a power saw, but quieter. I walked around the stump and saw the bug seemingly digging around in the pile of wood chips. It was about the size of a large or medium dragonfly, but the tail or body was a bit thinner, and seemed to be very “wriggly” and flexible. The segment where the legs attached was quite thick and noticeably large. The legs were about as long or slightly longer than those of a mosquito hawk, but a tad thicker and much sturdier looking. It had a long proboscis (or similar organ), that was fairly thick when it sprouted. The bug was a dark, matte black, but seemed to be mixed with that of a dark, shiny green. I didn’t stick around for much longer, and left the bug as I found it.
I know how difficult it can be to nail down the species of anything without proper photographs, but any information you guys could share would be appreciated! Thanks!
Because of the sound you describe, we are guessing an Annual Cicada or Dog Day Harvestfly. Your physical descriptions sounds a bit like a Giant Ichneumon in the genus Megarhyssa.
I did a google search, and found the bug I’d seen! It was the Giant Ichneumon. There was a picture on google that has a hand on a wall next to the Ichneumon, which shows a good size comparison, a lot like the one I had seen. Thanks a lot for getting back to.
Sounds Like A Spruce Beetle
Here’s hoping I can find out what kind of bug has my dog refusing to go outside at sunset! And I didn’t think Jack Russell Terriers were afraid of anything…
Hi Bugman, I have tried to upload my bug description with three great pictures taken with my phone, probably 6mb total (is that too big?). I have what I think is a roach-type bug, .25 inch long, brown, hard exoskeleton, moves quickly, avoids light. Found him dead between some papers on my desk, but not hurt in any way, totally intact. he is mostly dark brown with light brown marking on back (dark brown along spine), long-ish legs in front. The shape is rounded with a tapering at the tail. I’m in Sonoma County, CA, I’ve seen a few of these in the house this past summer. Thanks for any help!
Use our standard submission form on the Ask What’s That Bug? link. The photo size is not a problem.
I tried numerous times to upload the pictures earlier and kept getting an error message, which is why I wrote in the comments section. I will keep trying, but you might have a bug in the submission process.
This is the message I get when I try to send the photos on the Standard Submission Form:
Failed to send your message. Please try later or contact the administrator by another method.
Hello, I’ve been trying to submit a form, but the sign next to the SEND button keeps rotating and it won’t submit the form. I’ll just write it here:
Hello, my name is Carlos and I live in an apartment building in San Juan, Puerto Rico. A couple of months ago I found a couple of strange insects in my storage room. They are fast and a little bit bigger than regular ants. The insect has six legs, it has a black and yello body, and on its back torso there are three yellow spots which form some kind of smiley face. That first time I saw the insects, I captured one, but it died while I was investigating what insect it was. Two days ago I found one walking on a wall of my balcony and I captured it.
where can I send you the pictures? I have three photos of the insect.
Hi Carlos,
You submit photos with our Ask What’s That Bug? link, however we will be away from the office for the next week and we will not be taking any new submissions during that time. When we return, we will not be able to respond to many requests that arrived during our absence. You might want to wait a week.
I have no picture, I’m sorry it makes it sooo much harder to help, but I’m so paranoid and too scared to go to bed since I had found the bug on my wall. I have looked up all spiders//scorpions//pincer-related bugs, and as you will read I have had no success. I live in Virginia.
Well I have no pictures of it, I kind of was scared and yelled for my mom to kill it.
However it was spider looking and yet had pincers in the front. I tried looking it up and to no avail, it was none of the bugs listed in a website that was suppose to have all of Virginia’s bugs. I really wish I would have taken a picture but it was VERY aware of my presence! As I had gotten closer to inspect it before yelling for my mother, it would tilt its pincers at me, I was sure because I then moved my head and it followed. Praying it didn’t move, I ran downstairs got my mom and ran back up as she killed it. I am an extremely paranoid person, but only wish to know if it lived in a pack//hoard like my most feared bug does. It looked most like the stag beetle, but it didnt seem to have wings and its body was more spider like, and it had no tail or anything.
It sounds like a harmless Pseudoscorpion.
Furry ant / wasp without wings ?
I just asked about this bug but eventually found a picture online and it looks like it’s a red vvelvet ant ? Which is actually a wasp but the females don’t have wings ? Love your site! 😀
need help cannot seem to send you pistures
You can attach images by using the Ask What’s That Bug? link on our site.
Right now I have a female pet noble FALSE BLACK WIDOW SPIDER I will be getting a male and they never kill the female they respect their females the only time they kill is when a male spider tries to kill them and rarely do they kill males spiders they have fights to see whos stronger and they always win but if a male spider tried to kill him thats when he kills it. So when it comes to a male orchard spider vs a male noble FALSE BLACK WIDOW SPIDER who do you think wins in a fight over territory.
I am a teacher in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies — just east of Calgary. We are currently experiencing a lovely fall — aka “Indian Summer”. I was walking past a lot of autumn leaves that were on the ground from Poplar trees above. Then I saw that one of these poplar-leaf shaped brownish-gray leaves that was sort of blowing around had legs, etc. It was the same size as a regular poplar leaf — a large, flat beetle of some sort. I did not have a camera on me unfortunately. I have been searching online for something similar — and came across your site — which I have now spent over 2 hours on! What a great site you have. I really hope you can help with this query. I will NEVER allow children to jump into a pile of fall’s fallen leaves again — now that I realize that this type of insect may be residing in the piles of leaves. I have NEVER seen anything as scary — and large! It was blowing around with the poplar leaves — so well-camouflaged!! Thank you so much. (I am absolutely LOVING your site, by the way, and have it bookmarked for future reference — I am scheduled to teach Sr High Science second semester. I LOVED the post about the Sesame Seeds — and plan to use it when we begin to supplement the lesson on “Creating a Hypothesis” — going to be just perfect!) Thank you SO MUCH for any help you can provide.
Thanks for the compliment. We love that query and we had fun writing about sesame seeds. Our first guess as to the identity of your Poplar bug is a Cottonwood Borer, a magnificent black and white beetle with long antennae that feeds on poplar. If the Cottonwood Borer is in Michigan and South Dakota, as BugGuide indicates, then it might be in Calgary. As much as we want what you saw to be a Cottonwood Borer, we speculate you must be a little too far North for that to be likely. We believe you are too far North for a Wheel Bug to be your insect. We don’t know if Toe-Biters would hide in the leaves and you are not too far North to encounter Toe-Biters.
Correction — I am teaching just WEST of Calgary, not EAST!!
Impressive — speedy reply! So, upon looking at the pics of the above species, it definitely was NOT a Cottonwood Borer. This critter looked EXACTLY like a fallen poplar leaf (all brownish-grey) — and was the same SHAPE as the poplar leaves it was amongst — however, I saw that it was trying to get its footing in the wind — it had legs, antennae, etc. I just about died!! It would be closer to a Toe Biter — actually, Surrey BC is due west of me — so certainly possible, latitude-wise. I would still emphasize the shape of the bug/beetle was identical to the leaves — and the same size!! Scary!! Thank you for your speedy response!! – LW
Our money is on a Toe-Biter and we just posted another, fresh Canadian report.
Hmmmm — yes, closer to your toe-biter from the Dominican Republic post’s picture! Our school sits atop the banks of the Bow River — the river originates ~ 70 kms further west in the mountains at Bow Falls in Banff. I wondered about June Bugs — but it’s October — and I’ve never seen a June bug that size before! We do get food ordered to the school weekly — perhaps some beetle that hitch-hiked along with some bananas or something?? I also meant to mention that I 100% support your stance on not identifying bug collections for homework projects. Providing the resource for students to be able to research it themselves is a much preferred method for them to learn. I was shocked to read the venom that was spewed in your direction at your refusal to do the assignments for the students themselves! You took the RIGHT approach — and as a teacher in my 36th year of teaching, I feel confident in offering my viewpoint! Way to go — your site is very user-friendly — no reason whatsoever that a student can not search around and locate their assignment answers themselves — and actually learn the material!! On behalf of teachers, THANK YOU!!! 🙂
I don’t know why the above did not post last night — but I see the new submission from Canada’s east coast of a toe-biter. Yes — that was what I saw — but I believe it’s wings were extended as it was trying to fly (against the wind gust it was contending with) therefore it assumed the same shape of the poplar leaves — it was amazingly camouflaged! Thank you so much — love your site!!
thanks for the support.
So — after searching & searching pics of bugs on your pages — I have to say that what I saw was a “leaf-mimic katydid”. Then, upon reading more & more about them — they are amazing insects with their camouflage abilities. I have no clue if they are in Canada — but THAT is what I saw — identical to a poplar leaf — couldn’t get its footing in the gust of wind that was blowing leaves from the trees (deciduous trees that shed leaves in the fall) — and it was this critter that was trying to wander about in the midst of the pile . It was 2-3 inches long — identical in looks to the leaves. I am now so intrigued by these little marvels (well, not so little!!). 🙂
Hi there,
How long does it take to get a response on what sort of spider it is after I submit my photo?
We just responded to your identification request. The speed with which we respond depends upon the number of requests we receive as well as our unrelated obligations. Your submission of a Garden Spider or Orbweaver will go live in several days.
If you were to identify my identification request would I recieve an email alert? Also I put in a request how do I tell if it went through?
Please resubmit your request. Put “second attempt” in the subject line to get our attention.
Hi bugman!
Really love your site, and it became a habit to visit it daily as one who is interested in Entomology.
I do appreciate your Efforts in identifying lots and lots of posts that comes to your mail, and I know that you’re trying really hard.
You have helped me in identifying a couple of insects and I’m thankful to you
however,I’ve send about six identification requests for about a year but haven’t got any answer.
I don’t know if it was the system or maybe my mail, anyhow I wanted to thank you for the great work you’re doing to help the others
Wish you best.
M.A-Saudi Arabia.
Dear M.A.,
The comment section of the site is relatively recent, and we try our best to respond to comments, but actual submissions do get picked over. We notice there are two very recent submissions from you right now in our inbox, and we will make an effort to provide you with those identifications soon. Much has to do with timing, because we get so many more identifications in the northern hemisphere summer than during the winter, when most identification requests come from Australia and South Africa. From approximately April through October is the busiest time for submissions. We apologize, but our tiny staff could never respond to every submission. Thanks for your patience.
Thank you very much for your response, and I really appreciate your Efforts.
you don’t always find Great and helpful sites like this one.
I have and get these little bugs/ beetles every year in my kitchen on my window screens. They are about 1/32 long and have zig zag patterns that are off white/tan and or brownish. I see little wings at the end of their body. I seem to appear every spring / early summer.
I can’t get a picture of it with my camera because of how small it is.
probably carpet beetles
Regarding the 2 images I sent yesterday, based on some images I found from towns in the metro area, I think the spider is an orchard orb weaver. Too bad the web is located such that I can’t get a different angle. I bet the little guy is quite dashing from the other side.
If you send me an Email I will send you a photo of a Superb Katydid that I took at Granny Smith Gold Mine near Laverton yesterday.
Is our standard submission form not working? That is the method by which we receive all of our submissions.
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/ask-whats-that-bug/
Hi Bugman, can you check the upload functionality please? I’ve tried submitting a request with a photo in both Chrome and Internet Explorer. Neither will complete the send process.
We will let the webmaster know.
Sorry, but I don’t have a photo at this time. Hoping that you can help us identify bugs that we see on the lawn and hanging out on an exterior wall on the sunny side of the house. Not moving around much- as if they are sun bathing! Located in the NY Metro area. They have started appearing on sunny days- since the end of April.. They are about 1 (one) cm in length, tear-drop shaped about .4 cm at its broadest, brown with a narrow red chevron-shaped marking near the back of the body. They look a bit similar to a small firefly without the luminescent part. They have four legs, long antenna (about .5+ cm) . Any ideas? Many Thanks!
I’ve been trying to send a “what’s that bug”, with 3 small photos. It seems to accept my answer to the arithmetic quiz, but the thingie just keeps spinning – never sends. Any suggestions?
Not sure why you are having a problem. We will check with the webmaster.
I’m having the same issue, little “sending” spinny arrow circle…can’t tell if my request/pics uploaded or not?
Hi,
I tried to upload an image but was unsuccessful. Is your website up and running?
Yes, we are up and running. You may submit an image using the Ask What’s That Bug? link on our site.
Is this the image you were trying to send?
My submission keeps failing to go through, is there any way I can directly email my pictures to an admin? This is my predicament:
I’m not sure if you can help me, I’m really hoping you can because these things are driving me insane. I’m not sure where it started, but our 1 bedroom apartment is now home to these stupid tiny flies. I thought they might be fruit flies, but after removing all overripe fruit/veg, making sure to take out the garbage more often, and setting out an apple cider vinegar trap to try and catch them, nothing has worked! They started out by the kitchen sink but can be seen hovering pretty much wherever, and now they’ve taken a liking to my bathroom sink. I haven’t been able to find any signs of larvae and plan on bleaching our drains to see if that will get rid of them. Please let me know what the hell these are if you can, if I don’t know then I can’t rid myself and my family of them. They are truly a nuisance.
The bottle cap is for size reference, they are as small as a gnat but definitely some sort of fly.
We will be away from the office for the next week and not responding to any requests.
Katie — Not sure if you have managed to get rid of these things yet — but they sound like what I had last summer! They were like gnats — they hung around the kitchen sink (I did use bleach & other sink chemicals — to no avail). They would be hovering all over the house –liked other sink areas, dog water dish, etc. Several times when I would run the tap in the kitchen — an area on the basin of the sink where I saw nothing would suddenly come alive with a new batch of them — yet I had seen nothing there. We constantly had them in our faces, etc. in all areas of the house. I have no idea what they were — BUT, I finally bought the old sticky fly tape and hung it above the sinks — within a week or so — the tapes were covered in these things — just kept replacing the fly sticky tapes until there were no more — seemed to be the only thing that worked. (I would also boil the kettle and pour boiling water into the sink & drain each time I made tea — to slow down the hatching of these tiny, but annoying flying insects!! Good luck!!
Not sure what you are talking about but i also had the same nuisance of these small gnat like flies last summer. Suddenly They would come out of nowhere and Hover over the entire house. I tried to find the source and found out it to be the sink. When i switched off the lights i found them being attracted to candles.( They would come only at night….hordes of them). I placed a inverted saucer over the sink and stopped coming(this is possible only if you know they come at fixed time.) After that i bleached the sink regularly abd they disappeared.
I have filled out all I can but these little buggers don’t stay still long enough to take their picture
I tried to submit my request several times with Chrome and Firefox.
The wheel is spinning, but nothing else happens. :<
Server busy, Vacation or something else?
We found a realy creepy looking shielded worm in southern Germany.
70-100mm long and fast moving. Would be great to her from you BugGurus!
We will let our webmaster know.
June 2017. Still not letting us submit via the form.
Hi, I found you on the web through a google search. I recently submitted a picture of a black, winged, ant-like looking insect we found in our master bath this morning. It was about a half-inch long, with straighter antenna bent outward. It had six reddish brown legs. I live in O’Fallon, MO, USA, 40 miles west of St. Louis, MO. After reviewing the web, I want to say it is some type of ant but would like other opinions. Thanks for any info!
Steve
I have sent requests for bug identification (about the same bug) 3 times in the past year (via this page), and have never gotten a response. I explained that this was for a project for my students, but was ignored all three times. If you don’t know or can’t identify it with the info & pics given, then at least that would have been a response. But ignoring the requests (when you have a specific form and page for identification requests) is a bit ridiculous.
We have a small staff (editorial staff of one) and we cannot handle all the identification requests we receive, as many as 140 per day in the summer. We try to post numerous requests each day (1714 already this year for an average of about six per day) and numerous more requests get answers without being posted. We are not going to apologize for not being able to answer all the mail we receive. Try submitting again and please put “Fourth attempt” in the subject line. Be forwarded we will be away from the office until early next week.
I have tried “Fourth attempt” and “Fifth attempt” and it keeps getting ignored. Oh well. Sorry to have bothered you. Won’t happen again.
We do not believe we have been receiving your submissions.
Hi!
I found these little bugs in the house in Florida. And they fly like little gnats. What are they?
http://imgur.com/gallery/30HVx
I tried both the what is this bug form and the comments and questions form but none of them will submit. Once I hit send it just never goes through. I tried copying the picture to this post but it won’t allow it. I tried it on both my iPad and my pc. I really hope this is fixed soon, I was so excited to finally have an answer to what this bug is, I’ve been searching for months. If at all possible could you contact me via my email so I could send you the pictures? (fingers crossed)
Thank you kindly, Kelly
You may submit images using the Ask What’s That Bug? link on our site. You cannot attach images to comments.
Hi! This thing is taking forever to upload so here are some pictures:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9a7LXd9-LR9QWVBSWE1bEtaeDg/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9a7LXd9-LR9akdNdEtBaUhZWGc/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9a7LXd9-LR9SW5laWJINENPYUU/view?usp=sharing
Please help. They’re all over my house and I need it to stop.
since it’s taking too long to upload. I have millions of tiny bugs on the outside walls of the house. They’re very tiny. Have brownish color and yellowish varying. They are only the walls that don’t have direct sunlight. They don’t seem to bite. I live southern New Mexico.
Dear Bugman
Oh-oh, someone else has just found you – me. In 2015 I started taking photos in my garden in Zambia, and already have images of 112 species of butterfly. Now I am photo-ing anything else that moves, too. Mostly I haven’t a clue what I’ve snapped. But rather than ask, I plan to search your amazing site. Already I have discovered the tussock moths, and a really beautiful tiger moth. And there is a weird cocoon that appeared one night in a dark cupboard that I will be keen to identify… Congratulations, and well done!
Are you able to identify bugs from outside the U.S? I was in the D.R. And curious about a bug that fell down from a tree, onto my head. All of Dominican boys we were with were frightened of it.
FOR ANYONE HAVING ISSUES SUBMITTING YOUR QUERY
I was having trouble submitting my request and resizing my pictures solved the issue. My pictures were about 2 MB each. Once compressed and resized, they shrank to roughly about 170 KB each. My submission then went through with no issues.
Hi,
I’ve tried posting pictures of a particular bug I need identified but I keep getting an error message say ‘request too large’ please advise.
Try reducing file to 5 megabytes.
Smaller than a pin head. Squash it and it’s red. Dozens in the window sill every summer on the west side of the house. No matter the bug killer I apply, more arrive. some die and look like a grain of creamy sugar. A professional mused that they feed on vegetation outside beneath the window, a five foot trek one way. I think they must live in the window frame wood.
I have bugs clawing under my skin , on my face, they have a thron hook like an eagle beak,or bird craw,one is larger than all the others seem to be the claws to move and crawl around and borrow . Look like a bot fly chamber… than also dead give away claw sticks out,especially when you brush by it
And it thinks it’s camafloged! Hidding!!! Also in all different sizes and a company ed by tiny black straight hair like fibers bugs and tiny black specks of bugs and saw the claws always white clear nails like a lizzerd like HELP!!! Makes a breathing tiny hole too !!!
Found a bug on the screen of my laptop, up in my bedroom. Was so small I couldn’t take a picture and had to use a loupe microscope. Can’t even give you a measurement. Maybe the length of the nub on the top of a AAA battery? Anyway, bc of the microscope I can describe it: 6 legs, thin narrow body with a definite SEPARATE head (not a head that is part of the body). And the head was striped, with colors that were different from the body. (Hard to actually tell WHAT colors…when it’s that small everything looks greenish-greyish-yellowish. Also, it did not fly, and it had pincers on the top of his head, like an earwig would have.
I really hope you can help me bc the fact that this thing was in my room and was microscopic and had pincers is freaking me out…for all I know my carpet could be infested with them. I’ve been searching bug ID sites and the only thing I could think of is maybe termites?
Other facts to consider: I have a few cats that I harness and take for walks around the yard on a leash (they’ve never gotten fleas EVER, and I put the flea/tick goo on them monthly); and we live in a townhouse development (our backyard is a cornfield).
I tried to submit this to Bugman but bc my bug was too small for a picture this site wouldn’t let me. I’m not optimistic I’ll get a reply bc the messages on here are all several years old. PLEASE HELP ME SOMEONE!
might be a springtail or booklouse
scary bug
I tried to send a question but the page says request to large, I have photos of it but don’t know where to send it
this is the original message
“Hello, tonight I found a cute caterpillar in my callistemon tree(Melaleuca citrina) first time seeing that kind of catterpillar, around 5 – 7 mm thick and around 5 cm long, with black bands with red dots and grey bands with greyish hairs, I would ask someone in my country but they are lacking in everything, If you can help It would be amazing”
I’ve tried several times to upload a couple images of a bug I can’t figure out but it keeps saying “entity too large” regardless of how small a size I make the files.
It’s the shape of a piece of rice which burrows down into the top of the carpet. Found in bathroom rugs, and the top weaves of carpets. When I have taken it out, it is soft, white, and has several “legs” from the rear and the front. No smell, no noise, but a pest. Sometimes it breaks in little pieces, but I can’t seem to locate it on the computer.
Okay so i couldn’t get a picture of these bugs.
The bug in the spigot is 2-3 in. long, i’ve seen,
white, it’s legs look like long eyelashes and they move gently in wavey ripple motion and it has what appears to be anteni, but they look like white hair.. WAY COOL!!!!! What are they 0.o?
The second one is as cute as a jumping spider and you’d swear it from outer space… it looks like a little piece of snow white lint floting around, but if you look closely you will see an actual face with two cute fluffy anteni, i’m tellin’ you the face looks almost human and the creature seems very aware… i can’t explain it. I Have To Know Who These People Are!!!!!
Please if you have any information i would love to read it…
Thank you for your time…
While in greece a month ago I came across a very strange insect. It was about 7 cm, completely green, with a uniform slim body, and looked like a praying mantis, but there was no differentiation between head, body and tail. The only reason I noticed it was that being summer, all the vegetation around was dry/brown, and it was green, but perfectly camouflaged. Initially I thought it was a green plant, but noticed it as there was nothing green around, and i realised it is a living insect. Unfortunately I didnt have my phone with me at the time so no photo. I touched it a few times and wasnt moving, I guess its defense was pretending dead.any ideas? As I said, first thing that came to mind, was it looked like a praying mantis, and I assume it belongs to the same family.
My favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite male spiders are the 6 KING SPIDERS these spider can defend their territory from any male orb weaver spider and any male orchard spiders????? HAA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAA.
what could possibly leave microscopic eggs on a humans scalp or body embedded on the body as a parasite then hatch days later to rise to the first layer of epidermal to emerge as a small nat?
Hey, just curious how bad the e-mail queue is. I have a few bugs that could use identified, and some beautiful shots of ones like a cicada molt that you could use for your page.
I have multiple bugs by my basement window and around the basement sink. They mostly come out at night. I live in northern New Jersey, Passaic county area.
I could not get a picture of this small white nose bee or hornet but he hung out briefly a few times before blowing away in the wind. White nose, not whole face, I failed to count the number of wings but he had 3 or 4 narrow yellow stripes flight direction on the black carapace, banded yellow on black cross-flight direction on the body. Carapace and body about the same length. Not furry. About 1/2-3/4 long. I’m in Northern Michigan. Any ideas? TIA
Hello i was in indiana and we didn’t have a weed wacker and so i pulled the tall piece of grass out and sometimes a little dirt would come out and i found roll Pollys and worms but then i found that looked like a red bean with a point on one side like a work but it wasn’t.
This bug has been biting some friends here in Mt Shasta, CA. https://photos.app.goo.gl/25RcKH5MR4ypuQt29
Hi there,
I found a spider crawling around in our hotel room in Montreal, Quebec today (Aug 19th, 2023), and I’ve never seen something quite like this before. Since we are at an airport hotel, I’m wondering if this is a local species or something that hitched a ride with a recent traveller. It was crawling on the desk in the room, so not in the bathroom or sink area.
It was crawling around slowly on its own, with no visible web. It seems to be hunting spider.
Looking around online, I think it somewhat resembles an Eastern Parson Spider, but I’ve seen lots of those before and it’s not the same. This spider has a much wider abdomen to the Parson, which is much more streamlined in shape, and the markings on the back are different.
Its cephalothorax seems black with a whitish/light grey splotch on it. Its abdomen is either brown or dark tan in colour, with two big white or light tan spots on either side of its back that, together, look almost like a pair of sunglasses in shape. There is another curved whitish line closer to the cephalothorax, so that when looking at it from the from the head toward the back, it looks almost like a smiley face with the sunglasses splotches.
The segments of the legs closest to the body are black, and the rest of the legs seem reddish brown.
It is about half the size of a penny, so not tiny and not huge, but still a hefty looking spider for its size.
It’s body is covered in small hairs, so it’s not shiny at all.
I didn’t get a good luck at the underside of the spider, only a quick look, and it seemed a solid reddish-brown colour. In that quick look when it flipped over, I didn’t see any obvious markings.
I have several photos, but I don’t know how to submit them here.
Let me know if you need any more info, or if you have suggestions on how to submit/share photos to help with identification.
Thanks,
Greg
Can you please identify this insect? My husband was bitten this morning and smacked off him. This is the only thing I could find.
Many thanks!
Nancy Tharpe
Also can’t find ways to submit photos for identification.
Hi Nancy. You can email us at ehatshtatbug.com@gmail.com. We are backed up a little right now but will get back to you as soon as we can. Thanks
Hi Piyushi – is that really the email address or an accidental typo?
Thanks!
-Kathleen
It indeed is the email address. It is written like this to avoid spam. Please replace [at] with @ and [dot] with .
I have had three of these caterpillars eating my geraniums for several weeks. They make their cocoons from the plant material and move around the plants with their cocoons.
Hope you can help me ID a spider, when you have time! I presently have hundreds of tiny spiders all over the exterior of my Central FL home, and have for years. They are tiny and non-aggressive. When disturbed the tiny ones just drop. Larger ones (still quite small) are behind funnel-type webs with round fibrous egg sacs. They are tan, have long thin legs, bright white markings (mottled) on their back. They fold into hidey places with their front legs outstretched long in front of them.
This summer we saw an explosion of them, in creases and corners all over my home’s exterior – soffits, door frames, window frames. They rarely, if ever, enter my home and we have never been bitten, even when working around them.
I would love to know which spiders these are. My gut says one of the widow spiders, but would appreciate your knowledge in properly identifying them. I cannot attach photos here, but have pics of them, including an egg sack surrounded by recent itty bitty hatchlings.
Are you able to send us some images, please? Thanks