Subject: Beautiful bug
Location: Bradenton, Florida
August 6, 2016 1:07 pm
About 1 inch long.
Signature: Kathleen
Hanging Thief
Dear Kathleen,
This Robber Fly is commonly called a Hanging Thief because of their habit of hanging from one leg while devouring prey they have captured on the wing.
Subject: Large flying black and yellow insect
Location: Hamilton OH
August 6, 2016 8:38 am
Found this flying around our wood deck mid morning on Aug 6, 2016. My husband knocked it down with a flyswatter and trapped it in a peanut butter jar. Our five grandkids are fascinated and want to know what type of insect it is. My husband wants to know if it will destroy our deck.
Hope you can help!
Signature: T. Spears
Cicada Killer
Dear T. Spears,
Your deck is safe from this Cicada Killer Wasp, a non-aggressive species that will basically ignore humans, though humans often kill them out of irrational fears. The female Cicada Killer will excavate an underground nest that she provisions with paralyzed Cicadas that provide a living source of fresh meat for her growing brood.
Subject: Large strange insect in garden
Location: Heptonstall west Yorks Hx7 7ha
August 6, 2016 8:14 am
Found this large bug in kids blue tray in garden. Never seen anything like it. What is it and isn’t safe please . It is about 2 ich long. Has bright yellow eyes and a trail like. Thing st back
Signature: Joan Rutkowski
Great Wood Wasp
Dear Joan,
This is a Great Wood Wasp, Urocerus gigas, and you can read more about it on UK Safari where it states: “They’re sometimes called ‘Giant Horntails’ for obvious reasons. The female Great Wood Wasp has a long pointed tube at the back of her body, and this is usually mistaken for a stinging organ. In fact it’s an ovipositor, which she uses to lay her eggs in the trunks of coniferous trees. Despite their slightly fearsome appearance, these insects are quite harmless.”
Thank you so much for that quick reply. Glad to know it is not harmful and we have let it loose in the conifer hedge
Subject: Kefalonia
Location: Kefalonia Greece
August 5, 2016 11:52 pm
We saw this on our balcony
Signature: Rf
Orbweaver
Dear Rf,
This is a harmless Orbweaver spider in the family Araneidae, but we are not certain of the species.
Subject: Moth
Location: Pa
August 5, 2016 9:06 pm
Large yellow moth-about 6″ across; in PA.
Signature: Tina
Imperial Moth
Dear Tina,
Judging by the size of the abdomen, this Imperial Moth is a female full of eggs.
Subject: Mummified spider that is alive
Location: Ontario
August 6, 2016 4:27 am
I unrolled my toilet paper and found a white still spider that looked like it was mumified. However when my husband went to see it began to move. Is this a local bug or has it been living in my toilet paper since the production plant?
Signature: Please help
Masked Hunter
This is not a mummified Spider. It is a living predator. Many of our submissions of Masked Hunters come from Ontario, so it is safe to say this is a local bug, though it was originally introduced from Europe. Masked Hunters are predators that will help rid your home of unwanted critters like Bed Bugs and Cockroaches. The immature Masked Hunter is sticky, and all manner of lint and debris adhere to the Masked Hunter, effectively camouflaging it in its environment.
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