Bug of the Month March 2019: Red Headed Ash Borer...

3 weeks ago bugman
Ed. Note:  March 3, 2019 After posting this submission, we realized we had not yet selected a Bug o…
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Bug of the Month March 2019: Red Headed Ash Borer... Image  
3 weeks agoBug of the Month March 2019: Red Headed Ash Borer...

New California Resident discovers Potato Bug in Sa…...

1 month ago bugman
Subject:  identify bug Geographic location of the bug:  Santa Maria California Date: 02/14/2019 T…
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New California Resident discovers Potato Bug in Sa…... Image  
1 month agoNew California Resident discovers Potato Bug in Sa…...

Bug of the Month February 2019: Lichen Mimic Mant…...

2 months ago bugman
Subject:  bug on a lichen Geographic location of the bug:  Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk, Naples FL D…
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Bug of the Month February 2019: Lichen Mimic Mant…... Image  
2 months agoBug of the Month February 2019: Lichen Mimic Mant…...

Bug of the Month February 2019: Female Golden Sta…...

2 months ago bugman
Subject:  Bright Green beetle, dark blue legs and orange head. Geographic location of the bug:  Mit…
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Bug of the Month February 2019: Female Golden Sta…... Image  
2 months agoBug of the Month February 2019: Female Golden Sta…...

Our 25,000th Posting: Bug Love under the Porch Li…...

1 year ago bugman
Ed Note: We knew that we were getting close to our 25,000th posting for a few months now, and we dec…
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1 year agoOur 25,000th Posting: Bug Love under the Porch Li…...
Overlays

Palmetto Tortoise Beetle Larva from Dominican Republic

On · Category: Leaf Beetles · 2 Comments

Subject:  Weird camo worm
Geographic location of the bug:  La Romana, Dominican Republic
Date: 03/05/2019
Time: 08:14 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I found this weird worm on several palm trees at a friends home. It seems to build a cocoon of dry fibers and then starts to eat the clorofila of the palm tree leaves. Several on each branch. Never seen it before and several landscaper friends either.
How you want your letter signed:  Ariel

Palmetto Tortoise Beetle Larva

Dear Ariel,
Thanks for presenting us with this challenging identification.  Our initial search did not provide us with any conclusive identification, but we strongly suspect this is a larval form and that it will mature into some species of Beetle.  Many Leaf Beetles in the family Chrysomelidae construct structures made of fecal matter to camouflage them while they are feeding.  Perhaps one of our readers will be able to provide an identification. 

Palmetto Tortoise Beetle Larva

Thank you for your help Daniel! I look forward to more info from your readers.
Regards!
Ariel.

Update:  Palmetto Tortoise Beetle Larva
A special thanks to Cesar Crash who identified the Palmetto Tortoise Beetle larva, Hemisphaerota cyanea, on BugGuide where it states:  “This is the underside of the Tortoise beetle fecal nest, showing the larva protected by it’s fecal strands.”

You have been amazing!!! Thanks for the help!!!
A.-

 

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Scorpion Spider from South Africa

On · Category: Scorpion Spiders Tagged With: · Add Comment

Subject:  Scorpion spider
Geographic location of the bug:  Secunda, South Africa
Date: 03/10/2019
Time: 03:35 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Found this spidey just inside my entrance at night. Decided to coax it outside.
How you want your letter signed:  Manfred

Scorpion Spider

Dear Manfred,
This is a beautiful image of a Scorpion Spider, a species that seems especially feared in South Africa, at least that is what the inquiries we receive tend to indicate.  Because you relocated this fascinating Scorpion Spider to the outdoors, we are tagging your submission with the Bug Humanitarian Award.

Hi Daniel,
Thank you, much appreciated!
Kind regards
Manfred

 

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Mole Cricket

On · Category: Crickets, Camel Crickets and Mole Crickets · Add Comment

Subject:  Strange insect!
Geographic location of the bug:  Houston, TX
Date: 03/07/2019
Time: 05:10 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Dear Bug Man,
I can’t figure out what this insect is. It looks like a cross between a crawfish and a cricket! What could this be?
How you want your letter signed:  Casey

Mole Cricket

Dear Casey,
This is a Mole Cricket, a subterranean dweller that is rarely noticed unless it comes to the surface.  Some individuals are capable of flight.  We have gotten several reports in the past of Mole Crickets swimming, but they are not aquatic.

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Harvestman from Brazil

On · Category: Opiliones and Harvestmen · Add Comment

Subject:  Spider brazil
Geographic location of the bug:  Southern Brazil
Date: 03/09/2019
Time: 09:30 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  O Foundation this spider in a forest, near a creek. What species Is it? Is it venemous? Thanks.
How you want your letter signed:  Silvia

Harvestman

Dear Silvia,
Though it resembles a Spider, this Harvestman is an Arachnid in the order Opiliones whose members lack venom.  This Harvestman poses no threat to humans.

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Invasive Hawaiian Kiawe Round-Headed Borers Emerge from souvenir Tiki Statue in Oregon

On · Category: Longhorn Beetles Tagged With: · Add Comment

Subject:  Bug from Maui found in wood art
Geographic location of the bug:  In Oregon now, brought Tiki from Hawaii
Date: 03/09/2019
Time: 12:43 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hi, Our Tiki from Hawaii had sawdust around it for awhile, I put in a container. A couple months later these two guys showed up. Wondering what they are. Gave them some water but not sure I want to let them loose. They bore big holes in wood.
Thanks!
How you want your letter signed:  Verlan & Kristi

Kiawe Borer

Dear Verlan & Kristi,
This is a Kiawe Roung-Headed Borer, Placosternus crinicornis, an invasive species in Hawaii.  Its larvae are wood borers that feed on Kiawe or Prosopsis, and ccording to Wikipedia, Kiawe or Prosopis limensis is a species of mesquite native to South America.  According to BugGuide:  “This beetle’s host plant, Kiawe (Prosopis pallida), is a tropical mesquite native to Peru, Ecuador and Colombia that was introduced to Hawai’i by a single seed planted in a courtyard in Honolulu in 1826. Kiawe spread to all islands and became a source of nectar for honey production, the abundant seed pods produced became fodder for a growing cattle industry, and the wood is prized for smoking meats and barbecue. The first Kiawe Round-headed Borer was collected in 1904. The beetles are attracted to felled trees and cut wood.”  Beetles with wood boring larvae frequently emerge from milled lumber many years after the tree that contained the larva was felled.

Kiawe Borers

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Spittlebug Nymphs from South Africa

On · Category: Aphids, Scale Insects, Leafhoppers, and Tree Hoppers · 2 Comments

Subject:  What in the world…
Geographic location of the bug:  Durban, South Africa
Date: 03/06/2019
Time: 10:58 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I was strolling through my garden when I came across these weird bugs. What are they and what are they doing? They are freaky, stuck together and bubbling!!
How you want your letter signed:  Ryan

Aggregation of unknown Hemipterans

Dear Ryan,
We have not had any luck matching your images to any images on line in our initial search, so we are posting your request as Unidentified.  We are quite certain these are members of the insect order Hemiptera, the group that includes True Bugs, Cicadas and Leafhoppers.  We will continue to research this matter and perhaps one of our readers will have some free time to investigate.

Update:  Cesar Crash from Insetologia found this Spittlebug posting in our archives that looks like the same species.  North American Spittlebugs do not tend to aggregate in such large numbers, though it is frequently possible to find several individuals hiding in the “spittle.”

Hemipteran Nymphs

Facebook Comment from Amy
Spittlebugs! (Ptyelus grossus?)

Subject:  What in the world….follow up
Geographic location of the bug:  Durban, South Africa
Date: 03/08/2019
Time: 02:40 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hi again.
Thanks for trying to identify that mass of bugs:”Aggregation of unknown Hemipterans”. I have taken a few more pictures of whats left of them, so it might be clearer on what they are. Think they are some sort of leaf hopper.
How you want your letter signed:  Ryan

Spittlebugs

Hi Ryan,
Thanks for sending additional images that include the winged adult Spittlebug, Ptyelus grossus.  According to the Flora of Zimbabwe:  “Larvae and nymphs of this species are highly gregarious. While feeding on the sap of certain tree species they excrete a foamy liquid that forms protective nests around them. Numbers of these nymphs can by so high in a single tree that the excessive excretions can drip onto the soil below the tree and may form wet patches or even small puddles.  Widespread in tropical and Southern Africa.“

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