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HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY: Red Admiral and Painted Ladies
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY: Red Admiral and Painted …
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY: Red Admiral and Painted …
Posted 6 days ago

Red Admiral photos (Vanessa atalanta)
Location: Naperville, IL
May 10, 2012 11:35 am
Hi Daniel~
These are three photos from last week of a…

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HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY: Red Admiral and Painted …
New Things Happening in Entomophagy!!!
New Things Happening in Entomophagy!!!
New Things Happening in Entomophagy!!!
Posted 8 days ago

Hi Daniel,
This is a sort-of press release: I'd be grateful if you'd feature it on your site.
Thanks,
Dave

As many have noticed,…

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New Things Happening in Entomophagy!!!
Red Admirals swarm eastern North America
Red Admirals swarm eastern North America
Red Admirals swarm eastern North America
Posted 13 days ago

Red Admiral population explosion
Location: St. Catharines (near Niagara Falls, Ontario)
May 3, 2012 10:13 am
Hello,
I thought you might be interested to…

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Red Admirals swarm eastern North America
Pseudoscorpion
Bug of the Month May 2012: Pseudoscorpion
Bug of the Month May 2012: Pseudoscorpion
Posted 16 days ago

8 legs Plus pinchers?
Location: SE PA, 20 miles west of Philadelphia, 15 miles north of Wilm, DE
April 29, 2012 9:34…

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Bug of the Month May 2012: Pseudoscorpion
WTB? sponsors National Moth Week event Saturday, 21 July 2012
WTB? sponsors National Moth Week event Saturd…
WTB? sponsors National Moth Week event Saturd…
Posted 105 days ago

Make plans for your own local National Moth Week event!!!
Posted February 1, 2012
What's That Bug? will be working the the…

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WTB? sponsors National Moth Week event Saturd…
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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Clavate Tortoise Beetle

Mystery Bug
Location: Newmarket, Ontario
May 15, 2012 7:10 pm
Hi,
Saw this strange looking bug on our patio. It was able to fly and resembled a ladybug in flight. You can see it’s antennae sticking out – body underneath carapace was roughly same color (orange/red).
Signature: Rob

clavate tortoise beetle rob 280x300 Clavate Tortoise Beetle

Clavate Tortoise Beetle

Hi Rob,
This distinctive beetle is a Clavate Tortoise Beetle, Plagiometriona clavata.  Are you growing tomato plants on the patio?  According to BugGuide:  “plants in the tomato family (Solanaceae): ground-cherries (Physalis), Jimsonweed (Datura stramonium), and Solanum spp.; other reported host plants probably incidental.” 

Thank you! It was indeed on a tomato plant…
Rob

Posted 16 May 2012 § Tortoise Beetles ‡ Comments (0) °

Ants

Pennsylvania Ants
Location: Near Reinhold, PA
May 15, 2012 8:56 am
Hi Daniel, hope all is going well! Have you pinned down your date and location for National Moth Week yet? As soon as you do let us know and we can spotlight WTB and the event on the NMW website. So, I found this cluster of ants on the side of a tussock sedge in a freshwater wetland near Reinhold, PA last week. I was hoping that you can help with the ID and what behavior they are exhibiting. They are pretty cool looking! Thanks, Dave
Signature: Dave Moskowitz

ants dave 300x225 Ants

Ants

Hi Dave,
We believe these are Wood Ants or Field Ants in the genus Formica.  According to BugGuide:  “Known as wood (or forest) ants, field ants or mound ants, depending on habitat preference and nesting habits of the various species. Most prefer non-flooded, open woodlands, openings in temperate forest, or grasslands. A few (mostly northern) species are more or less specialists in openings in boreal forests, fens or bogs, riparian areas, and a small number of species live in the full shade of closed canopy deciduous or mixed forests. Nests are built in soil or less often in rotten wood on the ground. The nest may be elevated above the surface as a mound constructed of earth and/or plant fragments.”  They could possibly be Allegany Mound Ants, Formica exsectoides, though BugGuide does not list fens or bogs as the habitat.  We are not certain what they are doing.
Because of Julian’s schedule, we are doing our national moth week event on Saturday July 21.  I have had this posted on WTB? for months.  I will do a new posting soon.
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2012/02/01/wtb-sponsors-national-moth-week-event-saturday-21-july-2012/

ants dave cu 300x206 Ants

Ants

Thanks on both fronts. The ants were very cool. I tried to go back last week and collect a few but they were gone. Hope you can figure out what they are and we’re doing! As for your NMW event, if you can send me a little writers about WTB and your event we will post it on the blog and hopefully help promote both. Wish I was closer to actually meet you guys and grab a beer, Dave
David Moskowitz

Posted 16 May 2012 § Ants ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Summer Fishfly, we believe

Identification Request: not a Dobsonfly but what?
Location: Stillman Valley, IL
May 15, 2012 9:33 am
Hello Bugman,
Long time fan Amy B. here..I noticed this not so little guy on my screen this morning. At first I thought I was looking at a male Dobsonfly, but then I noticed the ”feathery” antennae so that made me second guess myself. What is it?I looked around a bit to try to find it, but the baby is keeping me from doing very much searching. There is one photo with the corner of our newspaper in it to give an idea of scale..I’d say it was about an inch and three quarters with the antennae. I live in northern Illinois near a creek. Let me know when you get a minute, would ya? Sincerest thanks!
Signature: Huge fan of the site

summer fishfly illinois 300x160 Summer Fishfly, we believe

Summer Fishfly

Dear Amy,
Thank you for your kind compliments.  Your confusion is easily explained.  We believe this is a Summer Fishfly, Chauliodes pectinicornis, and it is closely related to the Dobsonflies which are in the same family Corydalidae.  According to BugGuide:  “Both sexes have pectinate antennae. Flies, probably, more in mid to late summer than the more spring-flying C. rastricornis. Head and pronotum have yellow markings on dark brown background, compared to dark markings on yellowish background in C. rastricornis.”  The description is closer to the Summer Fishfly, though the sighting in May tends to indicate this might be the closely related and very similar looking Spring Fishfly, Chauliodes rastricornis, which is also profiled on BugGuide.

Thanks so much! I had come to the same conclusion during a nap the baby was taking that allowed me to search a little more. I’ve never seen anything related and always had hoped to see a Dobsonfly in person especially after seeing how big they get in some of the pics. This guy stayed on the screen all day until the sun set and then took off for his own adventures. It was a pleasure to have his company for the day and I was honored. Thanks again Bugman for all the work you do in keeping us in the know!!
Very sincerely,
Amy Berogan

Posted 15 May 2012 § Dobsonflies and Fishflies ‡ Comments (0) °

Newly emerged Cicada

Cicada
Location: South East Texas (Sour Lake), USA
May 13, 2012 3:20 pm
Found this beauty hanging on our chicken coop today. I don’t know how long it was out, but it appeared to be still drying. It’s such a beautiful color and there are several areas around the head of a coppery-gold.
Signature: HereFishyFishy

cicada emerged texas 233x300 Newly emerged Cicada

Newly Emerged Cicada

Dear HereFishyFishy,
This newly emerged Cicada is still clinging to the exuvia or cast off skin of its nymph form.  It is most likely in the genus Tibicen.  As it dries and hardens, it will lose its neon coloration.

Posted 15 May 2012 § Cicadas ‡ Comments (0) °

Possibly Spider Wasp and Possibly Orbweaver: Food Chain from Congo

Wasp hovering over paralyzed spider
Location: Kisantu, Congo
May 14, 2012 2:24 pm
Dear Bugman,
We found a wasp guarding a spider that was upside down and looked dead. Did this wasp attack the spider and can you tell us was species they are ?
Signature: Katy and her dad

wasp spider congo katy 300x218 Possibly Spider Wasp and Possibly Orbweaver: Food Chain from Congo

Probably Spider Wasp and Orbweaver

Dear Katy and her dad,
The behavior you describe is very consistent with that of a Spider Wasp in the family Pompilidae.  Spider Wasps prey upon spiders not to eat, but to provide food for their young.  A female Spider Wasps stings the spider and paralyzes it, but doesn’t kill it.  That way the spider remains alive and fresh and provides a living meal for the developing wasp larva.  Spider Wasps are often very family specific when it comes to their prey.  Your was appears to be a Spider Wasp, and the description on BugGuide includes:  “Typically dark colored with smoky or yellowish wings; a few are brightly colored.  Slender with long and spiny legs, hind femora typically extending beyond tip of abdomen.”  These are characteristics of the wasp in your photo.  Based on the eye pattern which is pictured here on BugGuide, we believe your spider is an Orbweaver in the family Araneidae.  Exact species identifications are not possible at this time.

spider congo katy 300x213 Possibly Spider Wasp and Possibly Orbweaver: Food Chain from Congo

Probably Orbweaver

 

Posted 15 May 2012 § Orb Weavers § spider wasps ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Sawfly Larva and Bee

What am I seeing?
Location: Cornville, AZ
May 14, 2012
Hi Daniel -
Another pic attached for you, strange one.
What am I seeing here?
We have 10 Italian Cypress appx. 25 ft. tall here that we found the
Sawfly Larva on.  Did not want to take a chance on losing them so I
sprayed them all with Spinosad to kill the larva very early this morning.
Went back a few hours later to see if any of the larva were dead, collected
a few twigs in a plastic pail.  Some larva were dead, some still alive.  Shot
some pics and ran across the attached image.
Is this a newly hatched Sawfly of some other type of insect?
Thanks -
Lou Nigro

sawfly chalcid lou 300x279 Sawfly Larva and Bee

Sawfly Larva and what might be a Chalcid Wasp

Hi Lou,
We are creating a brand new posting for this image and linking to your original submission.  The other insect looks like a parasitic Hymenopteran, possibly a Chalcid Wasp.  There are some similar looking Chalcids, but they have larger hind legs.  Perhaps it is just the camera angle.  The Chalcid is a Parasitic Hymenoptera.  The female lays eggs within a host, usually the larva of a moth, fly or beetle.  It stands to reason that they might also parasitize Sawfly Larvae.  Most parasitic Hymenopterans are host specific.  It is possible that this Sawfly that is underrepresented on the world wide web has a species specific parasite that preys upon it.  We are going to tag this posting as Food Chain even though much of our response is speculation. 

Eric Eaton identifies the Mining Bee
The “wasp” is a bee in the genus Perdita.  How it got there I have no idea.
Eric

Hi Daniel -
Looks like you are right on, took a few more shots from different angles.
Could be a species specific one as the coloring is a bit different.
Depth of field this close is limited, wish the pic was sharper, will shoot a
few more later.
See attached -
Canon 7D, Tamron 180mm Macro Lens, ISO 100, 1/250 sec, f18 using a Canon flash on
ETTL, manual exposure, handheld.
I’m glad to see that there are wasps in the area, even though I killed some of them,
that are helping me out.  Further spraying will be kept to a minimum.
Wasp measured appx. 2mm in length.
Thanks -
Lou

Hi again Lou,
Since we were wrong about the Wasp and it actually being a Bee, we suspect it was collateral damage from your insecticide.  We are not sure why it was found on the Sawfly.

Posted 14 May 2012 § Horntails, Wood Wasps and Sawflies § Solitary Bees ‡ Comments (0) °

Leopard Moth from France

Moth?
Location: Le Chautay, France
May 13, 2012 4:59 am
Dear Bugman,
my aunt found this beautiful creature during last summer on the ground – i was wondering if you could identify it for me.
Signature: Cassia

tiger moth france cassia 247x300 Leopard Moth from France

Tiger Moth from France

Dear Cassia,
This is a Tiger Moth, and we cannot find any photos of French or European species that look similar, however, both the wing markings and body markings are remarkably similar to a North American species Hypercompe scribonia, known as the Giant Leopard Moth which is pictured on BugGuide.

Correction Courtesy of Karl:  Leopard Moth
Hi Daniel and Cassia:
It probably is a Leopard Moth, but not the North American variety. The European species of Leopard Moth, or Wood Leopard Moth (Zeuzera pyrina), is actually a Carpenter Moth in the family Cossidae.  The larvae are stem borers and apparently can take up to three years to develop into adults. They are considered a minor pest on fruit trees. There is a fair amount of online information about the species, including this page from the “Interactive Agricultural Ecological Atlas of Russia and Neighboring Countries”.  I don’t know if the North American species Hypercompe scribonia has made it to Europe, but Z. pyrina has been established in the northeastern USA since the late 19th century. Regards.  Karl

Wow, thanks Karl,
This Leopard Moth looks so much like the Giant Leopard Moth.

Related Posts

Posted 14 May 2012 § Ghost Moths ‡ Comments (0) °

Emerald Cockroach Wasp from Brazil

Emerald Cockroach Wasp
Location: Pirituba, São Paulo City, Brazil
May 14, 2012 7:56 am
Hi!
I’m sending another picture of the Brazilian Emerald Cockroach Wasp, because the first picture I sent was blurry. It’s just if you wish to update the post.
Signature: Cesar Crash

emerald cockroach wasp brazil cesar 2 300x236 Emerald Cockroach Wasp from Brazil

Emerald Cockroach Wasp

Hi Cesar,
How nice to hear back from you.  Rather than to update your previous posting, we have just created a new post.

Posted 14 May 2012 § Cockroach Wasps ‡ Comments (1) °

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