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January 1. 2009
We are having intermittent internet connectivity problems with our provider Time Warner cable, and a technician cannot come to our office until Monday. Please excuse any delays we have in posting and responding to your queries.  Right now we are unable to post any new images and we need to resolve this problem.

Posted Site News § Uncategorized ‡ Comments (0) °

BUG OF THE MONTH JANUARY 2009 - CAMEL CRICKET

6 legged spider/grasshopper
Thu, Jan 1, 2009 at 8:38 AM
Hi,
I walked into my basement one day and I found this creature on my wall. It looked like a spider had mated with a grasshopper and this odd bug was what came of it. This bug did not seem to be aggressive. It was January first and I live in Fairmont, WV. The bug had long antennas, 6 legs, the two back ones looked like grasshopper legs and the 4 front one like spider legs. I believe I might have seen this creature before while in TN. What is this mysterious bug inhabiting my basement?
Sarah
fairmont,wv

Camel Cricket

Camel Cricket

Hi Sarah,
Though your photo is blurry and the camera angle is not ideal for identifying your Camel Cricket, it is the time of the month for us to select the Bug of the Month for the New Year. Camel Crickets are also known as Cave Crickets and they are in the family Rhaphidophoridae. They frequent damp dark places. Basements are a perfect habitat for them. BugGuide indicates: “If these occur in a house the best treatment is to remove them and their breeding habitat - cool moist dark places such as piles of logs or boards in basements. A clean dry home will not be a welcoming place for these guys. Although they are scary-looking they are basically harmless to humans, except perhaps for minor damage to stored items, and are easily discouraged by eliminating the dark damp habitat they prefer.” Since your photo is not ideal for identification purposes, we will be including an older photo along with the Bug of the Month for January 2009 posting.

Shrimp-like Bug
Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 11:59 PM
We have ’smooshed’ a couple of these at my house recently. I can’t recall ever seeing them before. they can jump grasshoppers, perhaps even better than the grass hoppers we see around here.
The fact that it’s an insect is obvious. What’s less obvious is when shrimp made the transition to land. ;D It’s a rather dejected looking bug don’t you think?
So, whats that bug?
+1 dollar to the site if you can help me out.
KILL IT WITH FIRE!
North Carolina, US

Camel Cricket

Camel Cricket

Dear KILL IT WITH FIRE,
Your insect is a Camel Cricket or Cave Cricket in the family Rhaphidophoridae. They are often found in basements and other dark, damp habitats. According to BugGuide: “Feed on leaf debris. In houses may chew on paper products, occasionally fabric.

Posted § Crickets, Camel Crickets and Mole Crickets ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

We’re New and Improved

… and we hope you like our new user friendly format. We have spent many long hours in this transition, and we are confident the changes will make our site easier for you to use and navigate. Please contact us with any comments, problems, suggestions, praise… Autumn is here and we are swamped. Our summer vacation has ended. We are returning to the classroom and numerous time consuming responsibilities. This means we will not be able to answer or post as many letters. We are setting a strict time limit of only 30 minutes per day allotted to answering your numerous requests, so most will be ignored. We are getting about 100 letters per day and can only post a few. We can email short answers to a few more. Getting our attention is the luck of the draw. Chances are quite good that the insect you want identified might already be in our archives. Please try our search engine or click the links on the left side of the homepage. Don’t forget to scroll down to see our most recent postings and you can see the alphabetized archive of links on the lower left.

Posted § Administrative ‡ Comments (1) °

Immature Toxic Milkweed Grasshopper from South Africa

South African Grasshopper
Mon, Jan 5, 2009 at 7:43 AM
Photographed at Cape Point, SA. A photo is attached.
Brett
Cape Point, South Africa

Immature Toxic Milkweed Grasshopper

Immature Toxic Milkweed Grasshopper

Hi Brett,
This is an immature Toxic Milkweed Grasshopper, AKA Gaudy Grasshopper, AKA Bushlocust, in the family Pyrgomorphidae.  It may be Phymateus saxosus, but we are not certain.  Grasshoppers in this family feed on toxic milkweed and stores the toxic compounds in their bodies.  If injested, sickness or possibly even death may result.  The warning colors are a signal to not eat.

Posted 06 January 2009 § Grasshoppers ‡ Comments (0) °

Goliath Stick Insect from Australia

Australian Bug
Sun, Jan 4, 2009 at 4:25 PM
Hi There Bugman!!
I found your email address on a site and wondered if you could help with the identification of the attached bug he is 6 - 7″ long and very calm and happy to be on my porch - not sure if I like him there though!!!
Thankyou
Angie
Qld Australia

Goliath Stick Insect

Goliath Stick Insect

Hi Angie,
With not too much effort, we identified your Stick Insect as the Goliath Stick Insect, Eurycnemma goliath which feeds on the leaves of eucalyptus trees. We first located it on the Brisbane Insect Web Site, which incidates “Goliath Stick Insects are the master of camouflage. We notice that they have at least the following methods to hide themselves from predators;
1. Their bodies, colour and shape made them look like part of the plant.
2. When staying motionless, they always put their front legs in front of their head, to made themselves look more like part of the plant.
3. They usually feed at night, during the day time they just hang motionless on the plants.
4. They eat the whole leaf, usually they do not leave part of the leaf uneaten, like most grasshoppers do.
5. Even when they move, they simulate the swaying motion, like the movement caused by the wind blowing.
6. Their eggs, called ova, look like seeds, so the predators do not notice the insect by the seeds.
7. They discard their dropping, called frass, very far away so that the predators do not notice the insect.”
Then we found more information on raising it in captivity on the Microcosmos Website.  Also, we believe he is a she.

Posted 05 January 2009 § Walkingsticks ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Owl Moth from Gulf of Mexico

White Witch Moth?
Mon, Jan 5, 2009 at 12:38 AM
This specimen was a passerby on the ship Skandi Neptune in the Gulf of Mexico Jan4/09. About 60 nautical miles from nearest land, Mississippi delta. Ship hasn’t been in port since Dec.10th.
Greg Rivers
28°12′57″N 088°33′30″W

Owl Moth

Owl Moth

Hi Greg,
The White Witch is a massive specimen with the largest wingspan of any butterfly or moth. We believe your specimen is an Owl Moth, Thysania zenobia, which can be viewed on the Moth Photographers Group Web Site.  Some of the Owlet Moths, including the Black Witch, are powerful fliers and it is possible they may fly or be blown far out to sea.  It is possible your ship picked up an extra passenger while sailing and not while docked.

Posted 05 January 2009 § Moths ‡ Comments (0) °

Grass Skippers are Sachem Skippers

Help with skippers
Sun, Jan 4, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Dears Bugman:
Try as I might, I’m just not confident in my ID’s of all those pesky little orange skippers in my garden and lawn. I’m getting pretty good at the rest of the butterflies, but those skippers–yeeeshh!

Grass Skipper 1

Grass Skipper 1

I think I’ve been able to ID sachems and Peck’s skippers, but I wouldn’t bet my reputation on it (what little reputation there is). Wonder if you could take a look at the attached pics and give me a clue. I’ve also attached pics of a couple interesting moths I couldn’t ID. All these photos were taken summer 2008. Much obliged! (P.S. love your site!)
John Meredig
Spencer County, Southwest Indiana

Grass Skipper 2

Grass Skipper 2

Dear John,
Your letter is quite amusing, and we are quite certain the peskiness you mention has more to do with trying to identify the species than it does with the behavior of the Skippers. We too are quite frustrated when attempting to identify species of Skippers, and we generally just lump them all together as Grass Skippers in the subfamily Hesperiinae, which Jeffrey Glassberg describes in Butterflies Through Binoculars The West as: “Generally smaller than spread-wing skippers, most grass skippers have a rapid darting flight. When landed, theri wings are kept completely closed (often), or with the HWs [hind wings] more or less completely open but with the FWs [fore wings] only partially opened, forming a V or U. Males usually have a black ’stigma’ on the FW that contains specialized sex scales. The characteristics of the stigma are sometimes useful for identification.”

Grass Skipper 3

Grass Skipper 3

We are sorry we cannot assist you more with exact species identification and we hope our own reputation has not suffered adversely because of this. We are posting all of your Grass Skipper images in the hopes that our readership can assist in the identification, though we would not eliminate the possibility that they are all the same species. Your photos are quite excellent and we hope you consider sending us some other underrepresented butterfly species one at a time for possible posting consideration.

Grass Skippers 4

Grass Skippers 4

Update
Re: Help with skippers - Jan 4, 2009
Happy New Year Daniel:
Indeed, the little orange grass skippers can be frustrating. However, John’s excellent photos clearly show the very large, squarish, black stigma that is characteristic of a male Sachem (Atalopedes campestris). There’s always room for some uncertainty when dealing with grass skippers, but I am reasonably certain about this one. Regards.
Karl

Posted 04 January 2009 § Skippers ‡ Comments (0) °

Red Spot Assassin Bug from Tanzania

Mystery Tanzanian bug
Sun, Jan 4, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Mystery Tanzanian bug
Dear WTB,
I’m hoping someone can help me identify this splendid black and red specimen that was given to me as a Christmas present (yes really!) last week by the manager of the Sable Mountain safari lodge in the Selous game reserve, eastern Tanzania. He didn’t know what it is either, but he thought I might like it (!).
It was about 2 inches long in the body and has a strange curved mouthpart. Sorry the photo is blurry as it was camera shy and kept moving!
Sally
Selous game reserve, Tanzania

Red Spot Assassin Bug

Red Spot Assassin Bug

Hi Sally,
Your strikingly beautiful insect is a Red Spot Assassin Bug, Platymeris laevicollis, which we located on the Saint Louis Zoo Website, or a closely related species.  If mishandled, Assassin Bugs will deliver a painful bite.

Posted 04 January 2009 § Assassin Bugs ‡ Comments (0) °

Argiope protensa from Australia

female Argiope protensa
Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 2:43 PM
Found this lovely lady in my vegetable patch. Thanks to Ron Atkinson (University of Southern Queensland) and Peter Chew (Brisbane Insects website) for ID of this member of the St Andrews Cross family. The orange stripes are generally not as pronounced as on this specimen but colour variation is apparently common amongst this species.
aussietrev
Capricornia region, Queensland

Argiope protensa

Argiope protensa

As always Trevor,
Thanks for your wonderful submission and identification.  The abdomen on this Argiope protensa is significantly different from that of most Argiope species.

Argiope protensa

Argiope protensa

Posted 04 January 2009 § Orb Weavers ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Horse Fly from Patagonia

horse fly from Patagonia, in Argentina and Chile
Sat, Jan 3, 2009 at 1:09 PM
Hi!
I´m sending a couple of pictures of a real nightmare in the forest of Patagonia during summer´s days. Its scientific name is Scaptia lata and the females are longer than one inch.
Local names are tabano negro or colihuacho
I must confess your site has been addictive to me since I discovered it and sent you my first message asking about a tiger? moth almost one year ago.
Happy New Year and many new bugs for you!
Mirta in San Antonio Oeste, Rio Negro. Argentina
Patagonian forests in Argentina and Chile

Horse Fly from Patagonia

Horse Fly from Patagonia

Hi Mirta,
Thanks for sending us these beautiful images of a gorgeous, but blood thirsty Horse Fly. Thank you also for including both the scientific name and local names. We don’t get many submissions from Argentina or Chile. Thanks also for your kind words regarding our humble site. That is a brave individual handling this female Horse Fly. Male Horse Flies do not bite, but the females will readily bite warm blooded creatures including humans.

Horse Fly from Patagonia

Horse Fly from Patagonia

Hi Daniel!
Thanks for your message
The brave one is me… but I need to tell you that the horse fly was a little dizzy after I punched it with my hand… So I took the picture while giving her time to recover and start flying again. Their bites are really painful, and it is impossible not try  knocking them when you are hiding quietly  to photography an elusive bird and you are pursued by almost 10 of them! Hope you don´t  think it was an unnecesary carnage… :)
I´d wish more websites like yours plenty of southamerican bugs. As you know, it is difficult to find places online  to ID our bugs. I will try to submit more when the pictures or the bug deserve it, if it is OK to you.
Hugs
Mirta

Posted 03 January 2009 § Horse Flies and Deer Flies ‡ Comments (0) °

Grain Weevil

tiny black bugs
Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 10:43 PM
These bugs recently appeared in a house that we have been living in for the past 11 months. We have seen them in the washer and dryer room and our bathroom. They are mostly seen crawling on walls. We use a quarterly pest control service and the last time they came they sprayed in the attic. I am calling them to come back for a “call back” but I was hoping to know what they are sooner.
Thanks, bugged out in Texas
Houston, TX

Grain Weevil

Grain Weevil

Dear Bugged Out in Texas,
This is a weevil, possibly a grain weevil.  Is there stored pet food nearby?

Hi Daniel,
Thanks for the quick response.  The pest control (Truly Nolen) is here and you “nailed it”!  It is a weevil.  He showed us a book with insects and to be exact it is a rice weevil.  They were infested in a bag of bird seed that we have in a cabinet in our dining room.  The bag contains milo, millet, cracked corn and sunflower seeds.  The corn is what it looks like it was after.  The strange thing is that we have had the plastic bag of seed since the summer and never noticed them until we came back from my grandparents house in Oklahoma.  We brought back a back of nuts and had them in the same cabinet.  Two days later we noticed the bugs.  Not sure if that is it but we can draw a pretty good conclusion that is were they came from.
WE can’t thank you enough for helping identify these pesky things!  I’ve included a link that shows what they look like in our bird seed.
Have a Happy New Year!
John and Melissa Roschal

Grain Weevil

Grain Weevil

Posted 03 January 2009 § Pantry Beetles, Grain Weevils, Spider Beetles, Meal Worms and Carpet Beetles § Weevils ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged:

Conifer Aphid

Found on the Christmas Tree
Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 10:28 AM
EEK! I went to take down my Christmas tree, which we cut from a tree farm in Florida. Crawling all over my angel at the top of the tree were these bugs, ranging in size from tiny (rice-sized) to one or two about the size of a fine-point Sharpie head. It has six legs, three on each side. One set appears to protrude from nose, like antenna. The next, slightly larger set is a bit further back, and the third set is still on the middle part of the body, but much longer. It is tear-drop shaped, and the butt seems to have a bit of a point to it. It’s dark gray. I thought they were ticks, but it only seems to have 6 legs. They were ALL over the angel, and moved very quickly. I am trying to decide what to do with the tree, my first inclination is to pitch the whole thing but of course it has my most expensive decorations and lights on it.
Beverly J.
Orlando Florida

Conifer Aphid

Conifer Aphid

Hi Beverly,
We wanted to check with Eric Eaton before we misidentified your insect and caused you undue alarm.  According to Eric:  “The insect is a conifer aphid in the genus Cinara.  They tend to be gray or brown rather than green, and they are quite large for aphids, too.  So, no worries.”

Posted 03 January 2009 § Aphids, Scale Insects, Leafhoppers, and Tree Hoppers ‡ Comments (0) °

Spotted Tortoise Beetle from Viet Nam

Um… what’s this bug?
Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 7:04 AM
OK, so I know there are more types insects than any all the other types of creatures put together, and asking you about an insect from ASIA is asking a lot, but I went on a trip through Vietnam and found this little guy on a sign near a beach close to Danang and it’s so weird! I can’t find anything like it. I live in China and see weird bugs all the time, but can usually put them in some sort of category of the bugs I know back home in the states. (okay, so I live in an urban jungle of 20 million people, but I still see crazy insects)
This thing had some sort of CLEAR shell over a more normal looking shell. It was probably 3/4 of an inch long and didn’t budge. I now wished I would have poked it a bit to see how it moved, but I wanted to leave it alone. Probably the nice choice. It looks like a beetle, but I thought it might even be some sort of true bug in a stage of metamorphoses? Heck, I dunno. But I’ve googled all sorts of combinations of transparent, clear, and beetle, and can’t find much more than tricked out Volkswagons.
Help me, Whatsthatbug! You’re my only hope!
ajg
On land by a beach, near Danang Vietnam, in the rainy season.

Spotted Tortoise Beetle

Spotted Tortoise Beetle

Dear ajg,
This is a Spotted Tortoise Beetle, Aspidomorpha miliaris.  There are related species found in North America.

Posted 03 January 2009 § Leaf Beetles ‡ Comments (0) °

Locust with Mites from Australia

Locust infected with mites?
Thu, Jan 1, 2009 at 8:48 PM
Hi guys,
This locust was very well disguised by colour and textures to fit in with the semi arid landscape and I only spotted it when it jumped out of my way. After processing the shot I noticed the little red attachments. Would they be some type of mite or some other parasite?
aussietrev
Capricornia region, Queensland

Locust with Mites

Locust with Mites

Hi Trevor,
Your Locust is in the suborder Caelifera and probably one of the Short Horned Grasshoppers in the family Acrididae.  We are not certain if the Mites are parasitic, but that is quite likely.  There are some mites that infest insects, but they are not parasitic.  Rather, they use the insect for transportation purposes, a phenomenon known as phoresy.  We are currently experiencing problems with images going live and hope to resolve this very soon.

Posted 03 January 2009 § Grasshoppers § Mites ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Milkweed Grasshopper from South Africa

What’s this?
Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 8:49 AM
Hello,
The colourful little (well not so little) grasshopper in the picture and three of his friends/family have decided to make a plant outside our gate their home. The rest of the family appears to have moved on. We thing it is a Milkweed grasshopper. Please confirm this. Also can you tell us how to remove them without 1) getting hurt/poisoned ourselves and 2) hurting the grasshoppers.
Regards,
Nelspruit, Mpumalanga

Toxic Milkweed Grasshopper

Toxic Milkweed Grasshopper

We first did a google search to substantiate that Mpumalanga is in fact in South Africa because your image matched a photo taken in January 2000 that we received back in February 2006. That specimen was eventually identified as Phymateus leprosus , one of the Toxic Milkweed Grasshoppers or Gaudy Grasshoppers in the family Pyrgomorphidae . This species is also called a Bush Locust or sometimes Bushlocust.  The toxicity, if our information is correct, results in ingesting them, not from handling them. You should be able to just catch them and release them to a more suitable location. Your specimen is an immature nymph as adults have fully developed wings.

Posted 03 January 2009 § Grasshoppers ‡ Comments (0) °

Mexican Unicorn Mantis

Mantis
Wed, Dec 31, 2008 at 12:15 PM
Greetings, this perfect little creature was encountered in Southeast Az in September.
Crowfriend
Chiricahua Mountains

Mexican Unicorn Mantis

Mexican Unicorn Mantis

Dear Crowfriend,
This positively delightful mantis is a Mexican Unicorn Mantis, Phyllovates chlorophaea.  According to BugGuide, it is a rare native species.  BugGuide reports sightings from Arizona and Texas.  BugGuide also indicates:  “This species is becoming popular among captive breeding enthusiasts, not only for its distinctive appearance and large size, but also because its preference for smaller prey means that cannibalism is much rarer than in most other mantid species. Captives have been reported using a defensive posture in which they raise the forelimbs, spread the wings, and expose the brightly marked abdomen.”  This represents a new species for our site, which always excites us.  We are also quite impressed with the quality of your photograph, the details of the specimen that are visible, and the wonderful facial expression you have captured.

Posted 31 December 2008 § Praying Mantis ‡ Comments (0) °

Water Scorpion pummelled to death

What is this thing?
Wed, Dec 31, 2008 at 7:26 AM
Found this bug by the open overhead door at the metal shop I was working in. It was September I believe. I kept it alive and scooped him up with a piece of paper and took it outside, however the owners son proceeded to smash it repeatedly with a 5 lb dead blow hammer, of course I was wroth with him for it. He smashes all the weird bugs that seem to show up in large numbers around the shop also. Found a luna moth that had been knocked down by a robin, and I saved a praying mantis that was over 4 inches long this fall! Don’t know what this thing is, had small hooks on the end of it’s strange mantis like front legs. Some damage to it in the picture, probably as a result of flying into the stockroom of a metal shop! if you could identify it, I would be grateful.
Matt
Western NY state, USA

Water Scorpion smashed to death

Water Scorpion smashed to death

Hi Matt,
We are very sorry to hear that this unfortunate Water Scorpion has been pummelled to death by an insensitive insect hater.  The Water Scorpion in the genus Ranatra is a predatory aquatic insect that can fly and is sometimes attracted to lights.  Water Scorpions get their name from the painful bite they will deliver if they are mishandled, but the species does not aggressively bite humans.

Posted 31 December 2008 § Toe Biters ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Unidentified Sluglike Mystery Organism and Fungus Gnat Larvae

slug-like creature
Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 3:02 PM
Hi,
I found this little guy under a log at my aunt’s house in central Oklahoma this summer. I see these guys pretty often, but have no idea what they are. They leave a trail of slime like a slug, but don’t have any eye-stalks, and they make little “webs” out of their slime. Any help you can provide would be much appreciated. Thanks for the great site, and happy holidays.
Josh Kouri,
Oklahoma City , Ok.

Big Mystery

Big Mystery

Hi Josh,
We are not certain how to classify your mystery organism. We don’t believe it is a mollusc, so would rule out that it is a slug. We also don’t believe it is an insect, though some larval insects are very uninsectlike, including many larval flies, commonly called maggots. This might be a fly larva. It also doesn’t seem very wormlike or leechlike to us. For now, we would say perhaps this is some type of fly larva, but we are far from certain. Perhaps our readership will come to our rescue. Meanwhile, is it possible for you to tell us how large this organism is?

The ones I’ve seen range in size from about 1/4 inch to one inch. The one
pictured was about 3/4 of an inch. Hope this helps. I’ll see if I have any
other pics.

Identification: December 31, 2008
Daniel:
Well, the description of the behavior is more helpful than the image in this case. You are quite right about it being a fly larva, most likely that of a fungus gnat in the family Mycetophilidae. Some species are known to build mucous “webs,” most notably the bioluminescent ones in Waitomo Caves in New Zealand. This one sure ‘looks’ like a slug….
Eric Eaton

Update:
January 1, 2009
Hi,
I was looking at some of my older pictures today and realized that the slug-like creature is not what makes the “webs”, and the one pictured is the only one I have seen. The creatures that make the “webs” are more worm-like, and the lengths I gave you are for the worms, as I have only seen one of the slug-creatures. I still don’t know what either of the creatures is, and I hope you guys can help. Sorry for the mistakes. Thanks for the awesome site, and happy New Year.
Josh Kouri

Fungus Gnat Larvae

Fungus Gnat Larvae

Hi Josh,
Eric Eaton wrote in to say that based on your written description, your creature was a Fungus Gnat larva in the family Mycetophilidae. That would mean that your original image is still a mystery and the new photo which shows the webs would be the Fungus Gnat larva.

fungus gnat larvae update
Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 11:31 AM
Hi,
When I saw that you guys identified the “worms” as fungus gnat larvae I decided to look for better pictures on the internet.
The pictures I found looked a lot different from what I have been seeing. Is it possible the “worms” are some other type of fly or gnat larvae, or even something completely different? Thanks again for all you do.
Josh Kouri

Update: January 5, 2009
Daniel:
Saw the update that the image is not what is making the mucous webs. Well, I would say that the image is that of a slug, then, and it shouldn’t be that hard to ID. It is probably an introduced European species that has spread via commerce, ship’s ballast, etc.
Eric

Posted 31 December 2008 § Gnats § Maggots ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

possibly male Giant House Spider

spider
Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 6:24 PM
I send this photo in during a very busy time for you, so I am not surprised
that it received no attention.  Now that it is the middle of the winter,  you
might have less e-mail, so I thought I would try again.   I am still very
curious whether I have correctly identified the  (very scary to me) spider.
I took the photo in early September, in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
The black dots are spaced 1in apart, so the critter is about 2 inches.
Brief research has led me to believe it’s a Giant House Spider,
as described on this website:
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Glade
You will be glad to know that despite of frightening me nearly to death when
it suddenly appeared on a floor next to me, it has been left alone.  We never
saw it again; I am guessing our small apartment is not a very spider-friendly
place, having no dark undisturbed corners to build a spider web.
What do you think?
Joanna

Giant House Spider

Giant House Spider

Hi Joanna,
We  believe this might be a male Giant House Spider, Tegenaria duellica, based on some images posted to BugGuide.  We are sorry you had to wait so long for a reply, but summer is a very busy time for us.

Posted 31 December 2008 § Spiders ‡ Comments (0) °

Earwig from Israel

Identifyi a bug
Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 4:20 AM
We have this bug in our garden and sometimes in our house.
It is about 2 cm long, has 6 legs, 2 tails and 2 front antenas.
It is brown/black in color and has 4 yellow spots/dots on its back.
I have seen it lays many white eggs.
What is its name and is this bug dangerous?
Sorry the pictures are not that focused.
Actually, I think this is the bug you have illustrated on your site.
Thank you
Israel

Earwig

Earwig

Your insect is an Earwig in the order Dermaptera.  Earwigs are harmless to people but they are not completely benign in the garden.  They generally hide during the day in leaf litter and other places, and by night they feed on plants, organic material and small insects.  We often find several inside the blossoms of roses in our own garden and they chew holes in the petals of the flowers.  Though they damage some blossoms, we tolerate them in the garden and do not consider them to be a pest insect.

Posted 31 December 2008 § Earwigs ‡ Comments (0) °