Subject: Question from my 5-year old son
Location: Florida
June 3, 2015 12:42 pm
Dear Bugman,
We saw these bugs on a tree. It was in our yard. What are they? We live Florida. Winter park. We saw them yesterday.
(Mom who typed this adds: They were swarming in several locations on that tree. They were all about the size of a kid’s fingernail. No flying just grouping together. Hadn’t seen them there before. My son really loves bugs and our goal this summer, being fairly new to florida, is to find and identify as many as we can. We couldn’t find these in a guidebook. Pic attached! THank you I advance!)
Signature: From Declan
Dear Declan,
These immature Barklice, Cerastipsocus venosus, are commonly called Tree Cattle, and though they may look like an injurious species, they are actually quite benign, feeding on lichens that grow on the trees and not in any way harming the trees themselves. Adult Tree Cattle have wings. You can read more about Tree Cattle on BugGuide.