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Update:
Reader Wants Book Thrown at Us!!!
(04/05/2008) Nasty Reader Award
For being educated women, your behavior in giving and posting
your abusive rant against a reader who made an insulting comment
is reprehensible. It was immature and spiteful. Inviting
other viewers to contact the women you are angry with is vengeful
and abusive. You should be charged for your violation of
these women's privacy. I hope they contact the police and
your internet provider and although you are providing a valuable
service, I hope your site gets shut down until the two of
you grow up or learn some mediation skills. Shame on you
for abusing your position.
Hi Terah (name taken from email address but not signed
on anonymous email),
We will not be posting your email address to sic our readership
on you directly, but we want to come to our own defense in
this matter. It seems you want the book thrown at us and feel
the judge should show no mercy. We never invaded anyone's
privacy. We did not seek out any random person to have an
"abusive rant against." People who write to our site do so
with the understanding that letters are posted. If someone
writes to us, we feel we have the right to respond, and our
forum for response is an online posting. We are not cyber-stalking
anyone, merely responding to a letter. We doubt that the cyber-police,
the LAPD in our local station, nor our internet provider will
find anything illegal in what we have done. We are providing
a free and entertaining service, and we resent being attacked.
People who want their privacy maintained should not be sending
virulent emails to websites, and if they do, they need to
accept the consequences of FREE SPEECH, our first amendment
in case you are not educated enough to know about it. Regarding
our maturity or lack thereof, we have always believed that
a certain amount of immaturity is the key to youth.
Mysterious Unrelated Web Search Results in New Reader!!!
(03/28/2008) hat's off
Hey there,
I found your site so randomly, that if I were to tell you
what was being googled to lead me to your page, you
would never believe me, however, this being two days ago,
I have yet to get over how great your site is, Not only is
it informative, It's just fascinating the amounts of insects
that roam the earth. I have always taken an interest in the
varying types of insect life around me, so It's refreshing
to see an internet presence that not only respects such diversity
in nature, but also promotes further understanding of often
misunderstood creatures. Thanks for the hours of informative
fun I've had browsing your site, keep up the excellent work.
best,
eduardo
Hi Eduardo,
Thank you for your most kind letter, though we must say, our
curiousity is quite peaked. What web search, pray tell, led
you to What's That Bug? We have stated repeatedly, that though
we try to confine our postings to things that creep and crawl,
out world view and worldliness both do tend to be much more
expansive.
Insect Enthusiast turned Professional Photographer
(09/20/2007) For the love of bugs.
Greetings!
Your site is one of the most enjoyable places I find myself
coming back to over and over again. As a bug lover from
the time I could stand on two feet, I have marveled at the
incredible shapes, sizes and color variations of nature's
most abundant, yet often maligned creatures, the insects.
As an adult, I continue to be awed by new discoveries,
and find that your superb website brings an intelligent option
to those who might otherwise have simply ignored or eradicated
life forms they previously misunderstood. Growing up in New
York City, my parents encouraged me to study insect life to
a point that I joined a club of young entomologists which
met monthly at The American Museum of Natural History, in
Manhattan. That was many years ago, though my membership took
me on some amazing summer field trips to places like Arizona,
Florida, The U.S. Virgin Islands, and even Trinidad, in search
of insects and their relatives. To this day I think
of how very lucky I was, especially to have had parents like
mine, who paid my way to go. After my teen years, which consisted
of collecting and mounting insects, as was the method of preserving
them to teach others, I began to see the light. That
light was the one that was necessary to capture insects on
film. With my first camera, a Kodak Instamatic, I began
trying to photograph my insect specimens on pins. Soon
afterwards, on my first overseas trip, to visit an insect
collector pen pal in Czechoslovakia, I purchased a 35mm SLR
camera capable of taking macro photos. At age eighteen
I began photographing every insect I could find, realizing
that this was the way I wanted to remember these incredible
creatures I came upon, without ever again doing harm to them.
Today, I am a professional photographer, due to my love of
insects. I travel throughout upstate New York, where I now
reside, giving upwards of 100 slide lectures per year, about
all sorts of wildlife that I have accumulated in photographs
, over a span of three decades. My programs are
illustrated with everything from mice to black bears, but
when I include an insect close-up, as I often do, I always
stress the importance of these basic building blocks of our
natural world. Without the little things, there would
not be the bigger things, like us. Once again, thanks for
bringing awareness to the masses, of our wonderful world of
invertebrates. "Everything you wanted to know about
insects, but were afraid to ask", might be another name
for your site, although What's that bug works great. Dr.
Ruth would be impressed! Yours truly,
Gerry Lemmo
Hi Gerry,
What a fabulous letter for us to read so early in the morning.
Your success story is wonderful. We are posting your letter
to our fanmail page where we put general letters we love that
are not accompanied by photos. You sound exactly like the
type of person we would love to have on our professional advisory
board at the photography department at Los Angeles City College.
We assist employee at a Nature Preserve
(08/13/2007) Don't want to ask, want to say.....
THANK YOU - for your awesome website, and the wealth of info
- I work for a Park/Nature Preserve in Frankfort, KY - finding
your site has made my job 10x easier - and more fun!
Only problem is - I can't quit scrolling..........Keep up
the good work,
Debbie Bramlage
Read about us in Sunset Magazine
(08/10/2007) Love Your Site
Hi!
I always thought I was odd because I love bugs (Well, mostly
anyway, except for cockroaches and silverfish. Oh!
And Jerusalem crickets freak me out). As a girl, I kept
an old lunchbox full of snails and frequently played with
them. In my house, I am the resident get-rid-of-this-spider
person and promptly capture and release the offending beast
outside (my husband's a big baby about bugs). I am trying
to instill that same reverence for bugs in my children --
and they (my children) are turning out to be non-squashing
creatures as well (yay). I live in San Diego and found your
site via Sunset Magazine and fell instantly into a mesmerized
state while perusing it, much to the chagrin of my five-year-old
who has been yelling at me about wanting a sandwich for the
last 10 minutes. I wanted to tell you about this little, beautiful
jumping spider (Eris?) I encountered up near Lake Cuyamaca.
It was a pretty, bronze color and seemed so smart. She
(he) followed my movements, something I discovered that these
particular spiders do. It would move from one finger
to another proffered finger with no reluctance at all.
The spider didn't seem to want to leave me and actually would
not get off my hand to be returned to the base of the tree
at which I found it. Strangely, it seemed quite tame
and I had to scrooch (is that a word?) it off my hand with
my finger. Are jumping spiders (Eris anyway) always
so friendly. I hate to be anthropomorphic, but, well,
she was sooooo cute and such a cool spider! Thanks for taking
the time to maintain your site! What a wonderful thing
you do. I have bookmarked your site and you are now
one of seven of my bookmarks! What an honor!!!
:-D
Denise
Hi Denise,
We are happy you found us in Sunset Magazine and like our
site. Jumping Spiders have excellent eyesight and seem to
be fearless. As to their being friendly, we suppose friendship
is in the eyes of the beholder.
Pop Culture Alternative Insect Identification Website
for the Layman
(07/24/2007) just a little fan mail, for now
I am the kind of person who, when I find a bug in my house,
scours the internet for hours, looking for the animal in question.
But the Internet, with regard to bugs, is good at identifying
a handful of nasty pests (roaches, bedbugs, ants, etc.), and
good at providing giant webs of super-scientific information
that are impossible for a layman to navigate. Your site is,
therefore, a revelation, and totally a thrill. It is also
a public service, for both the human and insect publics. In
the past hour, for example, I have gone from thinking I had
silverfish to knowing I have house centipedes (and wishing
I hadn't squashed one), and from thinking I might maybe have
bedbugs (sort of, though I don't have a big bite problem,
which confused me, but now makes sense) to thinking I probably
have carpet beetles. I wish that instead of bringing my yogurt
container full of dead bugs - which I keep in the freezer
- to the exterminator for inspection, I had taken pictures
and sent them to you. I will do this from now on, though I
don't have a good digital camera. In any case, this is one
of the best sites I've seen on the internet, and I will be
a frequent visitor and sometime user from here on out, till
the internet stops working (and the bugs keep on keeping on).
Many thanks,
Judd
Hi Judd,
Thank you so much for your thoughful letter. We haven't posted
a letter to our fanmail page in over a month. That is strictly
for letters about insects generally and without accompanying
images. We have always though of ourselves as a pop culture
alternative to the heavily scientific insect sites. We have
art degrees, and do not have backgrounds in science, but there
is a wealth of knowledge available on the internet if one
knows how to search effectively.
Adult Content link on What's That Bug?
(06/03/2007) ANOTHER WEBSITE IS HACKING INTO YOURS
please read this for your own sake!!! on your centipedes page
on the bottom of the page there is a link to a porn site that
you should get rid of before someone else (little kids, families,
schools, ect) see it. the link is hamburgerla and it is discusting
sincierly,
RP
Dear RP,
Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention. We were
once affiliated with hamburgerla.com, since our friend was
reviewing eateries in LA that served burgers. He obviously
let the license expire and his site was purchased by an adult
content site. We are mortified that we did not know of this
sooner. Thankfully, the link was only on our two centipede
pages and the millipede page. The problem is now corrected.
Holistic Viewpoint
(04/25/2007) Fan mail
I have a desk job and one of the highlights of my day as a
receptionist is checking out for new bugs on your webpage.
I used to have a severe arachnophobia but since learning about
spiders and looking at the pictures of them on your webpage
I have become tolerant of them. I no longer squash them when
they wander near me. As I work in a holistic health care office,
often I have patients complain about a supplement "its
too big for me to swallow" or "I don't want to eat
kale it's gross" or even "I hate fish" what
frustrates me about these statements is that what is being
prescribed is necessary for the body to work in unison with
it's organs and where I am going with this is I notice on
your page often people ask, "will it hurt me?" and
I am in awe of your patience with these people. Earth needs
everyone of these insects, no matter how frightening to function
and I find that question so ignorant, instead of being concerned
with the dust mites, be concerned with the amount of bees
disappearing or the amount of creatures displaced by our need
to expand into their homes to build more homes and businesses.
Here I am rambling when I just wanted to drop a note to say
"I love your webpage!".
Thanks,
Amanda from Canada
Dangerous Pesticides
(04/21/2007) pollinating bugs dying
Dear Bugman,
I have been researching the bees dying and thought it would
be a good idea for you to add this information on your site.
Although beekeepers cannot name any products, I have been
informed by beekeepers that a group of pesticides called neonicotinoids
was introduced 3 years ago by Bayer Crop Science. These neonicotinoids
are, I believe, nicotine derived. I am told they cause loss
of memory, loss of appetite, disorieinted behavior and weakened
immune system in bugs. I called Bayer customer help and was
told the names of the products they sell which contain neonicotinoids.
These are Admire, Provado, Calypso, Poncho, Gaucho, and TriMax.
Admire is promoted as a pesticide for flowers. Tell everyone
there is a possibility that this product is killing the pollinators
which obviously means the Sphinx moths. Three years ago where
these products were introduced to the environment bees showed
failure to eat and disoriented behavior and then days later
abandoned the hive, queen and larvae, just disappearing. Logically
I find that if there is even the smallest possibility that
these 6 products are killing the bees, then it is imperative
to immediately halt the use of these products. After all,
what sane farmer would ever desire to kill off all the bees?
Another frightening aspect is that it is not only the bees
that are disappearing but also all other polllinators, wasps,
hornets, hummingbirds and even bats that eat the bugs. We
may be looking famine in the face in only 2 years if this
is not stopped. 50% of the bees in California are gone. A
bee keeper with 10,000 hives lost all 10,000 this year. For
moe information there is a highly respected beekeeper you
may contact, David Hackenberg of Hackenberg Apiaries in Pennsylvania.
His cell number is 813-713-1239. Also the website Maarec has
information. Bee Alert is another resource. So far I seem
to be the only one who is crying out for sanity. How much
time will pass getting testing and proof that it really is
the neonicotinoids? I have talked to my senator's office,
my congressmens aides, my state representative and everyone
I can think of to stop the use of these neonicotinoids while
there is still time. Please contact your local agricultural
college or university student union and let the students know
what about this disaster.
Thank you,
Sharilyn Wood Stalling
Hi Sharilyn
While we can neither confirm nor deny what you have stated,
we are creating a special Pesticide page for your letter.
We do not use pesticides in our garden and we have never endorsed
extermination. The decline of bee populations can be traced
to other problems as well, including hive mites. Thank you
for championing this cause.
Caterpillar
Pureé: Tent Caterpillars in a Blender as method of Biological
Control
(11/21/2006) Reducing Bug Carnage
What a truly interesting site. I came here attempting to identify
a critter I found in the house that I was unable to identify.
Things like that worry me a bit now because my son lives in
a group home that recently had to be fumigated for bed bugs.
My wife was outraged that I would not allow him to spend overnight
here while this task was undertaken. Her attitude quickly
changed when I provided a mountain of information showing
how insidious and infectious these creatures are and how easy
it is to become infested with them. The bottom line was that
within 30 seconds I had my sinister beast positively identified
as a sow bug. I imagine you heard the sigh of relief all the
way there. What blew me off my chair though is who you actually
are.graphic designers. Is there no rock that remains unturned
or mayhem we won't commit in the name of creativity? I just
roared until the tears ran down my cheeks. I think my pants
need changing now too. Well done! I've been pretty creative
too, but nothing like this. The only complaint I can lodge
is that some of the pages are rather long, so it might be
a good idea to insert a "back to top" link so that one does
not have to scroll forever to get back to the other links
at the top. It's easy enough to do with some quick coding
in simple HTML. After the first one it's simple copy and paste
in the coding until you go insane. Either that or you write
a CSS style sheet that will do it automatically on every page.
And now, the real reason I'm emailing is to provide you with
a very effective (although rather ugly) way of dealing with
tent caterpillars and their ilk. This REALLY works, but it's
not for those who are squeamish. You're not gonna like this...but
it really works for these and other creepies like tent worms,
army worms and cabbage worms. First of all you need to go
to a garage sale and find a blender. You'll get killed if
you use the one in the kitchen for this. Collect a cup of
the critters from your tree when they clump up in the tree
for overnight warmth. Dump them in the blender and add 2 cups
of water. Turn it to "puree" and leave it run for about 30
seconds. The water will turn green. Strain the resulting liquid
through a coffee filter into a jar with a tight fitting lid.
You'll get about 2 cups of this delightful cocktail. It can
be frozen for up to 6 months without any loss of potency.
Mix at a ratio of 10 parts water to 1 part concentrate. Add
a couple of drops of dish soap to make it stick to the leaves
better. This can now be put in a sprayer and the afflicted
plant sprayed. Aim at the leaves that are being eaten. Kills
the worms dead and it won't hurt anything else! Why does this
work? Well, apparently they are not immune to their own gasto-intestinal
gut bacteria and it is poisonous to them. Cheers!
Otter Brighteyes
www.members.shaw.ca/otterlimits/home.html
(This site addie will soon change as I have bought my own
domain and private web space. The entire site is being rebuilt
in proper XHTML Transitional. Does this matter?)
Dear Otter,
While we are happy to post your Pureé recipe, we don't quite
understand how it is reducing carnage. We are also linking
to your site. Be sure to let us know when your new location
is active and just put Fanmail in the subject line since that
is where your letter is posted.
Daniel and Lisa Anne
Wheel Bug
(11/03/2006) THANK YOU!!
Dear Lisa Anne and Daniel,
Thank You so much for helping us solve an insect mystery that
has perplexed us the last couple of weeks here at home. When
it's nice outside we open our upstairs bathroom window where
our cat likes to hang out. We never noticed that there was
about three inches of loose screen until I walked in there
one day and saw her poking her arm out to pull in a bug from
the windowsill outside. We had been wondering how the heck
all those huge beetles found their way indoors! Though we
immediately fixed the screen we are still finding dead bugs
that Lucy must have brought inside and hidden until she felt
like playing with them again. This latest bug was so weird
that we couldn't decide where to start researching. We looked
at it with a flashlight and magnifying glass, just to be sure
we were seeing right. The bug is dark colored, almost 1 1/2
inches long, has wings, legs that look like they jump, a funny
long "nose," and a strange half-circle on its back
that had teeth, like on a gear. I decided to try your web
site which I visit a couple of times a month when I have time.
I say "when I have time" because I usually wind
up spending at least an hour looking at the new entries. WOW!
Right there on the front page was a picture of Lucy's bug,
the Wheel Bug sent in by Carrie. This is way cool, I'll have
to tell my entire family because I've been describing this
bug to them over the phone and asking if they've ever heard
of such a thing. The half-circle of "teeth" on the
back really had everyone going! Your web site is a wonderful
place to spend time, both fun and educational. I tell people
about it frequently, both in real life and in cyberspace.
Thank you again! Take care!
Sincerely,
Ralphine Laughman
Hanover, Pennsylvania
Hi Ralphine,
Thank you so much for the wonderful letter. Our own little
feline rascal Mathilda also brings critters into the house.
In addition to the Gray Bird Grasshoppers which are huge,
we find an assortment of lizards, birds and rodents.
Preying
versus Praying?????
(10/29/2006) so how is it really spelled?
Help! I just bought a "bug" book for my 5 year old
nephew and the spelling is different from what I learned.
I was taught to spell: Preying mantis in my entomology class
but on your web page it is spelled both ways and there is
even a site that says although the insect does prey, it is
pray. I really don't want to give the little guy a book that
is wrong so I really need to know. Thanks
Neither is truly correct as this is a common name. Scientific
binomial names are the only true correct identifications.
Having taught comparative anatomy for over 25 years, I am
well aware of scientific binomial names. You, however, do
allow both spellings (which you now tell me are incorrect!)
on your web site. I assumed that you would be able to tell
me which (for a 5 year old!) would be the correct or preferred
spelling for a common name. I will have to seek advice from
another source.
Pam Rhyne, PhD
Professor Emeritus of Biology
There is no need to get snippy Pam. As you noticed, we
use both spellings on our site. You didn't even bother to
ask if mantid was correct or if mantis is correct. When it
comes to common names, as you are well aware because you teach
comparitive anatomy, every language on the planet has a different
common name for a creature and Eskimo people have over 200
words for snow, hence the reason for the scientific binomial
system. In Norway, they call the preying mantis a "kneeler".
In a language as complex as English, and in a country as diverse
as America where there are multiple dialects, one state might
have a different name for the same object. In certain parts
of the country, soda is called pop. We would hate to have
to decide which is correct. At some point, preference must
take precedance. We prefer "preying" because we like to distance
ourselves from the religious connotation and believe it is
more accurate to say that the creature does, in fact, prey,
and without a question, does not pray, even though it appears
to pray. The same might also be said of many of our religious
leaders who merely appear to pray. When it comes to mantis
over mantid, we make arbitrary decisions based on the other
words in the sentence, most notably the word immediately following,
and we base this decision solely on the audible sound. Not
being parents, we hesitate to give parenting advice, but perhaps
it is best to use this as a lesson in diversity or as an explanation
that sometimes there is no one correct decision. Have a great
day.
BBC Collective Web Column
(10/23/2006) bbc collective link
Hi
I'm just writing to let you know that whatsthatbug.com is
featured in BBC Collective's web column this week. You can
see it, and link to it if you like, here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A16411899
Best wishes
Rowan Kerek
Content Producer
bbc.co.uk/collective
Controlling Boxelder Bugs
(10/18/2006) Great Treatment for Box Elder Bugs
Hello, I saw a comment on your True Bugs page about laundry
detergent ("Soap against Boxelder Bugs"). My family
home and yard was once infested with these bugs. I've found
that both Murphy's Oil Soap, which is sometimes thought to
be good for the veggitation, in a hose sprayer works very
well. Any liquid soap and water mixture will do. Finances
forced me to simply use dish soap in the sprayer this season.
As long as I get the bugs in their spring and fall hatchings,
they are kept well under control! Apparently, the soap removes
a coating on their bodies. They are then left to the forces
of nature and will thus perish rather rapidly. On another
note, thank you for your service! My 4 year old son and I
love to look for different critters on your site! We visit
often!
Angela
Detroit Area, Michigan
Thanks for the tip Angela.
Bug
Love Poster
(09/12/2006) Bug Love
Hi Guys...Love your site! Showed it to my 17 year old who
is thinking about art school for college to show him how an
art degree can parlay into anything you want as long as you
are passionate about it! He's 17, but I think he was impressed,
but who knows, he is 17!!! I wanted to forward a copy of a
poster that my friend Rick and I made featuring bug love based
on my photos. We thought up the idea one day at the beach
after way too much beer and finally got it together after
about 3 years of "talking about it". So, without a doubt,
we will have sunk some hard earned money into this poster
with no real desire to make any money, and of course no real
chance, but at least we hope to have some fun at it!!! And
we are donating a portion of the proceeds (yeah right, like
there will be any!) to insect conservation, maybe the Xerces
Foundation or NABA or some such entity....I guess once we
actually make some money we can figure out where to send it...
So I know you guys are incredibly busy starting school etc...
(my wife teaches too and September is insane!) but I wanted
to see if we could chat about featuring the poster on your
website. I really think your viewers might enjoy it and we
can make some kind of arrangement so that you get the benefit
as well of any sales. But I do want to stress that Rick and
I are not really looking to make money on this only to have
fun and hopefully not to lose the money we have already put
into it! I think the poster is perfect for your website! I'd
love to send you a hard copy, or if you want I can send you
25 or so to try out and see what happens, I just need a mailing
address. The poster is printed on high quality stock and is
18" x 24" . Well, I hope reading this wasnt as painful as
some freshman essay on "what I did for my summer"! ps....since
you guys are obviously bug freaks, you may have seen some
stories about my research with my colleagues at Rutgers and
Princeton on strapping tiny radio transmitters on Anax
junius and following them in migration...I'm a bug freak
too! Anyway, I hope to hear from you, feel free to reach out
for me via email...
Dave
Ruminations on Cohabitation
(09/03/2006) Unnecessary killing of living things
Dear Bugman,
I totally sympathize with the family who killed bugs they
thought might harm someone. Unfortunately, their philosophy
is harming their children. Children need to learn how to live
with, not how to kill, other living things. I have been in
the education field for over 30 years and worked with children
and animals in a Science Museum for many years, and I saw,
daily, people who grew up with phobias about animals. It wasn't
pretty. We teach children how to look both ways before crossing
a street--we don't teach them to kill cars. Children can be
taught how to live with animals, not kill or be afraid of
them. I agree that on very rare occasions we must protect
and defend our own. 2 weeks ago my husband violated our no-kill
policy and shot a copperhead that was about 6 feet from our
front door. (I didn't even know we had a gun!) We live in
the woods of the NC piedmont area with skunks, foxes, brown
bats, black widow spiders, poisonous centipedes, etc., and
this is the only animal I felt truly threatened us. The point
is, our education policy worked, because my son was able to
identify the snake for his father ( I wasn't at home) and
did not panic. My son has been taught to deal with the animals,
including what to do if you or someone else is stung or bitten.
We have found out over the years that the best thing to do
is learn to live in their environment. We don't wear heavy
scents like perfumes, scented deodorants, etc when outdoors,
we don't swing at and make animals defend themselves by hurting
us, We also don't use pesticides and insecticides unless a
wasp or hornet nest is near house entrances. We also use nature
to help us. Every time we find a praying mantis egg case,
it goes in my herb garden. It's much healthier to use my mantis
army to prey on harmful insects than to poison my family with
insecticide laden food. In short, if you don't want animals
around, go back to the city and live in a condo. But in the
meantime, stop the lazy parenting ( a cheap blow, I know,
but I'm tired of the "kill" policy of these people)
and educate yourselves and your families. Use this most excellent
website, visit your local science museum, and take a walk
through the woods with your child and a nature book. Also,
look for natural ways to deal with problems. One great idea
I was given by a naturalist was about yellow jacket nests.
We have many in this area. Instead of spraying with poisons
which stay in the environment and will ultimately prove more
harmful to our children than the bugs we are trying to kill,
we sprinkle dry cat food near and if possible on top of the
nest. Skunks will come out at night, eat the cat food and
be led to the nest, where they treat themselves to the larvae
"dessert" in the nest , ultimately destroying the
nest. If you have bats in your house and want to remove them,
make sure you correctly mount bat houses outside before removing
them from your current home. Remember, one bat consumes a
few thousand insects (including mosquitoes) each night. We
need bats. Last comment, and I may as well discuss religion
since I'm sure many people at this point would like to burn
me at the stake anyway. God also gave us "dominion"
over our chidren. That means we love and protect and nurture
them. It doesn't mean we have God's approval to destroy them.
God made everything in nature, and it is beautiful. Every
animal God made has a purpose - it has a job to do. All we
need to do is leave the animals alone and let them do their
job. Please continue to love, protect, and nurture nature.
Thanks for letting me vent. Please feel free to contact me,
use my name on your web site, but do not release contact info
to the public. I don't need the hate mail. Thanks.
Jan Glenn
Praise from Georgia in New York!!!!
(09/02/2006) Thank you
Hello, I have a spider and am so delighted - a teensy Jumping
one. I am enjoying him/her even more having discovered your
site. I live in NYC (an art person - your "About WTB"
photo is fabulous) and your site allows me to live vicariously
elsewhere, through people's insect stories, in places that
are not so perversely devoid of nature (roaches, house centipedes
and real-estate investors don't do it for me). I grew up in
Oregon, living with/learning about/deeply respecting all forms
of nature, including insects, except mosquitos (my father
is an acarologist - GW Krantz). So I look at your site every
day and it brings me such unadulterated joy (including, needless
to say, endless bursts of laughter). One more thing. Tears
come to my eyes when I read about people who have come to
their senses about their senseless slaughter of harmless/indeed
beneficial critters. You are doing a great thing, and through
such a beautifully ordinary mode of exchange (I use the word
"ordinary" with the utmost respect - just casually
talking to people about stuff that is actually important -
no hype, no in-your-face, no bs, no Hollywood - wow, a jaded
NY'er speaks). Anyway, thank you sincerely from the core of
my soul. Evidently-in-parenthetical-remark-mode,
Georgia
Ps. After finishing this note I found my little spider in
the toilet. Happily he/she is fine.
Moths easily located
(08/24/2006) Awesome!
Hey bugman, just wanted to drop a line saying what an awesome
site Whats That Bug is! I found you guys while trying to ID
the Wood Nymph moth...funny thing was that the picture I found
first of it described it exactly as I had thought of it....bird
poop. Anyway, since then I have been using your site to help
me ID all kinds of moths, and you haven't failed me yet. I
never realised how awesome moths are, and how varied and beautiful
they are. I'm trying to get a good macro lens for my camera,
so I can send you some shots of some of the odder ones I find.
I was taking some with my digital camera, but they weren't
very good, and in most cases you already had excellent pictures
of the same moth. Anyway, just wanted to say thank you for
all the work you must do to keep this site as excellent as
it is, keep up the great work!
Ryan
Compliments from a Tiger Beetle expert!!!
(08/22/2006) hello again
Hi, did you receive my email from Aug 8? I sent you a lot
of information concerning your website on that date, and I
would just like to know if you ever received it. I've attached
the email again below.
Hello Lisa Anne and Daniel,
I recently came across your website and I was pleased to see
such a vibrant (and well-done) site. I'm an entomologist and
evolutionary biologist (specializing on the systematics, taxonomy
and evolution of tiger beetles and their close relatives)
and I have to say that I'm impressed with your accuracy rate!
It's much, much better than other comparable sites I've come
across over the years. The two of you must really love insects.
In any case, I noticed that you are open to information from
specialists, so I thought I'd give you a few ID's of species
that I came across on your pages. I was having trouble sleeping,
so I went through all of the tiger beetles, scaratines, etc
and checked them out. Hope that helps. I thought there would
probably be a lot of sexguttata photos, and it looks like
there were. The name confuses so many people, especially in
the midwest where they are usually immaculate (I've got some
really weird variants as well, since I'm completing a revision
of the entire clade that that species falls within). I'll
bookmark your site and check it out when I'm having trouble
sleeping again!
Daniel P. Duran
Dept. of Biological Sciences
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
Earthlink Newsletter
(08/20/2006) What's that Bug is in Earthlink Newsletter
Hi There Bug People,
I thought I would let you know if you don't know all ready.
I just opened my earthlink newsletter and you guys are feautured.
Here is the link.
http://www.earthlink.net/elink/issue103/home.html
Way to go! Once again thanks for all your hard work keeping
us "bug people in training" updated with the latest
bug information. Today in Palm Coast, FL I seen a clearwing
"hummingbird" moth. Didn't get a pic, but what a
beautiful bug! :-) Also, I laugh my butt off each time I read
about your candle. Your candor (is that the way it's spelled?)
and wit is hilarious. I hope you are making a ton of money
off the advertisers because you deserve it! Take care
Audrey
Thanks for the notice Audrey. We hope the folks at the
LA County Fair think we are amusing when we do a lecture on
24 September. We promised to be funny.
War
of the Sexes
(08/08/2006) thanks & love the site
I came across your site while trying to settle an argument
between me and my boyfriend. He said the red velvet ant we
saw was a fire ant, I, having lived in an area in southern
arkansas, know exactly what a fire ant is and proceded to
tell him. He was sure he was right...as all men are...so i
of course went to the computer and proved him wrong. Thanks
for the help with that..score one for the ladies. While i
was here i got tangled up in your wonderfull insect world
and stayed for over an hour looking and reading. Great website...keep
up the good work. i plan on showing this site to my children
who are like me, terrified of insects. Somehow having this
knowledge has helped me understand the critters a little more.
Thanks again
Carla Knapp
Ozark Mountains, Arkansas
Ento-Porn???
(07/24/2006) Not a bug question
Honestly, I have been waiting for a site like this for a very
long time. Your WTB is like ento-porn. I may have some pictures
in my portfolio that I will be either matching to your archives
or sending to you for identification. I really appreciate
your site. Good luck.
-Randall
Hi Randall,
We guess being called Ento-Porn is a compliment, but please
don't breath a word to the homeschool moms and elementary
school teachers who write to us.
Wooly
Aphids
(06/26/2006) "Angelflies"
Dear What's That Bug,
Thanks a bunch! For the past three days, I've been obsessing--
even losing sleep-- over a mystery insect that seems to have
flourished this year. I've known about them for the majority
of my life, but always by the name angelflies. Being a zoologically
obsessed fifteen year-old, I realized though I knew their
name, I knew nothing else. I quickly asked my lover, Google,
more. Absolutely nothing useful popped up for the entry "Angelfly".
This puzzled me. Why has Google failed me? So, then I asked
my mistress, Jeeves (Jeeves can be a mistress if I want him
to be). He also could come up with nothing. I then went to
Wikipedia... again. Nothing. So, now angry at the world I
viciously attacked the line of "X"s on the top,
right hand corner of my screen and stomped off to bed. I then
sulked around the house all day, quite distraught on the lack
of knowledge I had on such a seemingly basic creature. Today,
we went on a walk. As we walked I saw one flit by, as if the
wind was the choice medium of steering. I gently cupped my
hands around it and then tormented the simple minded creature
for the sake of observation. I noticed that the white-furred
little pixie had four wings... evidently not really a fly.
As I paid more attention to everything under the fur, I saw
that it had dark, blue-gray skin. Sort of like ash. But what
startled me the most was that it looked a lot like an aphid.
Bingo! As soon as I got back home, I pounced on your site
and searched under the only section I seemed to miss on my
hunt amongst your site... the aphids. The entry that caught
my eye was that of the wooly aphids, sent by Ryan. I then
went back to Google and did an image search and got a very
spiffy photo of a "Wooly Apple Aphid". An exact
match to what has plagued my dreams for so long! Well... three
days... but let's not split hairs. So, again, thanks for your
help in clearing my thoughts! These are truly beautiful little
bugs... with maybe not quite as delicate of a name as I'm
accustomed to (leave it to West Virginian's to screw up a
perfectly good Google search query!).
Thanks a bunch,
Justin Caruthers
Hi Justin,
What a fabulous letter. Sadly, as it is without an image,
we have placed it on our Fanmail 2 page. We hope you are planning
to go to college as a wit like yours would be wasted in a
factory or Walmart. Let us know if you ever need a letter
of recommendation.
Save the Bug!!!!
(05/11/2006) Bug killers
As I was going through this site, which by the way is very
informative.I couldn't help but get disturbed. Why is it that
people just kill things not knowing anything about it. I spent
2 hours the other night trying to save a great black wasp.Finally
it was free. I came in here to learn about the creature. As
you stated it is very non-agressive It practically let me
rescue it with my hand without me even being afraid.I think
your sight is great and to all the people who do not know
that it is wrong to kill anything, especially just to take
a picture of it,it is wrong. I will never understand!
Home-Schooling
Mom is Thankful
(05/02/2006) Not a ? BUT a Thanks
This is a really nice site. I am a homeschool mom and my children
and I are fasinated by creepy crawlies so when we found a
mass of Millepeds we wanted to know what for sure they were.
After a short search we found your site and imeadiately found
the answer to our question. I will be making your site a perminate
tool of teaching in our home. I also forwarded your site to
many of my homeschool freinds it will be a great benifit to
us. AND who knows as curoius as my children are I bet it will
not be long before we come up with a bug we can not ID with
out your help. A few years ago when we moved to this area
(middle of Iowa) I found Morman crickets and not recognizing
them took them to freinds at Iowa State University for ID.
Eventually finding out that these crickets are not normally
found East of Nebraska so that was really fun. We still frequently
see them in the fall when there is not drought conditions.
In our area we also see large praying manits, walking sticks
of serveral kinds and LARGE black millipeds here NONE of which
I had encountered growing up in Southern Iowa. Its been fun
learning about these bugs. Oh and the huge wolf spiders we
grow here DONT entertain us as much but we tolerate them.
:) Happy bug hunting and thanks for your incredible site.
Michele Kalsem
Edgar Allen Poe and the Death's Head Hawkmoth
(04/28/2006) Poe story featuring a Sphinx Moth
Dear Bugman,
I came across your wonderful site while looking for information
about the "Death's-Head" Sphinx moth. Are you familiar
with Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Sphinx"? Every
sphinx moth fan should read it (it's short, and great fun):
http://www.eapoe.org/works/tales/sphinxc.htm
Having been intrigued by the story, I wanted to learn more
about the moth, and was lucky enough to stumble upon your
site. Although none of the postings mentioned the death's
head markings that Poe describes in his story, the photo dated
6/25/2005 of a snowberry clearwing in flight looks just right
(see attached photo pulled from your site). Is the skull-like
form we see in the photo particular to this kind of sphinx,
or do they all have these markings when seen from this angle?
Is there, in fact, a particular sphinx moth that's commonly
called the "Death's-Head?" Presumably the moth that
Poe represents would have been common in the Hudson River
Valley in the 1840s. Thanks! I'm so glad to have stumbled,
in this roundabout way, upon your site.
Jennifer L. Roberts
Assistant Professor
Department of History of Art and Architecture
Harvard University
Hi Jennifer,
Please say hello to our dear friend and mentor, Stephen Prina
and tell him Daniel and Lisa Anne miss him in Los Angeles.
In answer to your question, we read The Sphinx many years
ago but should give it a re-read. We are also terribly fond
of The Gold Bug. The Death's Head Hawkmoth is an old world
species, Acherontia atropos. The thoracic markings do look
remarkably like a skull. The moth has been prominently featured
in several films including Silence of the Lambs and Angels
and Insects, the fabulous A.S. Byatt adaptation. Because of
its iconography, it has a long history of appearances in literature.
Here is a link
with images and some information.
Dear Daniel and Lisa Anne,
Thanks so much! I will say hello to Stephen just as soon as
I'm back within range (I'm currently on sabbatical up at Stanford,
so I won't see him until the fall). I'm sure we must have
a few other mutual acquaintances -- I specialize in post-wwII
stuff (recent book on Robert Smithson) and try to keep up
with the various critical personalities in LA. I've seen neither
of the Death's Head Hawkmoth movies (although I have /read/
Byatt's Angels and Insects). Sounds like a good excuse for
an Acherontia Atropos Film Festival. Keep up the great work
on the site!
Jennifer
House Centipede Spared
(04/13/2006) House Centepede Scare...
Hello There,
I just wanted to thank you for providing me with the info
I needed last night! I live in Western Massachusetts and with
the weather starting to turn, we are seeing signs of life
everywhere. Last night in our darkened living room my girlfriend
did the whole scream and run away thing. And this time it
wasn't even me. I had caught the movement across the floor
too. I asked her to please get me a drinking glass. (My preferred
catch and release tool.) She did, and I turned on the light
to find a 1" house centipede sitting patiently in the middle
of my living room. She got me the glass and I managed to move
quick enough (It was probably blinded by the bright lights)
to catch it. Now the fun began. Trying to convince my girlfriend
that it should live in the basement. I had read many times
on your site that these friends are beneficial. But she wanted
none of it. It was "Creepy" and she didn't want it in the
house. End of story. I didn't even tell her that it could
double in size... Well, I kept it around for a few minutes
observing it running around a Tupperware bowl I put it in,
but finally it was time to play outside. I released him in
the yard with a quiet invitation to come right back in, but
to try to stay out of the living room! We'll see if it takes
me up on the offer. Keep up the great work on the site. Without
your help and information I probably would have been screaming
right along with her! (They are pretty creepy looking after
all!)
Thanks,
Christopher
MFA Degrees
(03/19/2006) Credentials
Hi there.
I have enjoyed your site very much. Here is my problem. I
am a grad student in education at East Stroudsburg U. and
I would like to cite What's That Bug as a resource for a project.
I can't seem to find any infomration on who you guys are,
and how you know so much about bugs. I'm not asking for names
and addresses, obviously, just something I can include in
my paper? Please? BTW, the homebody site and knitting site
are cool too.
Thanks!
Sue Chew
Hi Sue,
Lisa Anne and Daniel both have Master of Fine Arts degrees
from Art Center College of Design. Daniel is the Chairman
of Media Arts at Los Angeles City College. Lisa Anne and Daniel
both teach Photography at Los Angeles City College. Daniel
teaches Design 1 for Film and Advertising at Art Center College
of Design. Lisa Anne teaches Photography at University of
Southern California. The truth is, the site is an art project.
WTB? on Click BBC!!!!
(03/16/2006) hey
Found your site after watching a BBC Technology Programme
called Click.
www.bbc.co.uk/click
You appeared on their web section on UK Television. Nice Site
you have
Chris
Hi Chris,
Thanks so much for letting us know.
Ed.
Note: Here is what Kate Russell has to say
What's That Bug
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet
sites.
If you have discovered some strange looking creepy crawly
while out monitoring your worms, take a picture of it and
send it to the lovely helpful people at What's That Bug.
As the name would suggest, this blog site's creators are offering
to identify any bug from anywhere in the world. This is great
news if you come across some strange oddity and do not know
what it is, but also great news for those of us that prefer
to stay away from the dark corners of the garden, as surfing
this website is almost as good as discovering the beasties
yourself.
Posted blog style, requests for help are displayed on the
main page with the response underneath and it is a proper
little sideshow of weirdness. Scroll down to jump to information
about bug specific categories on the left.
The other sections listed on the left are Carnage and Bug
Love, which pretty much speak for themselves.
I love the friendly editorial that goes with these images.
These people are clearly nuts about bugs.
WTB? on BBC!!!
(03/13/2006) your site
I was watching BBC World last night and your site is onethat
came up so I decided to see what it was all about and all
I can say is WOW!!!! You have fantastic photos and I shall
certainly be looking more closely in my garden from now on
and as I am a nature photographer, I hope to be sending you
some shots in the near future. I live in small village called
Canoe which is part of the City of Salmon Arm, in Beautiful
British Columbia, Canada. Thanks again for such a wonderful
site.
Peter Clarke
Hi Peter,
We are intrigued. Did you really see us on television? We
can't wait to get your photos.
PHOTO
CONTEST ON PESTIVAL
(03/13/2006) Pestival
Dear Bugman,
Please could you post our photo competition on your website.
...and check out our website at www.pestival.org
thanks ,
Bridget
FIRST INTERNATIONAL PESTIVAL
PHOTO COMPETITION
27th May -June 4th.
If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate
back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand
years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would
collapse into chaos. E.O Wilson The First International Arts
Pestival is dedicated to raising awareness of the integral
role insects play in the global ecosystem and in all animal
societies. Many of those insects are increasingly endangered
through human action. Through appreciation of insects in art
and the art of being an insect, the Pestival aims to create
positive PR for this 400- million-year-old, highly evolved
taxon that has had thousands of years of bad press. We are
building up a fantastic programme of talks, demonstrations,
workshops, art installations, films, music and performance,
fusing art and science to reach out to a broad, interested
audience of homo sapien adults and children. We're looking
for your photographs of life in the insect world. They can
be documentary or impressionistic, just as long as they reflect
our theme of insects in art, and the art of being an insect.
You are actively encouraged to seek out local wildflife, but
if \ you are lucky enough to have been, or to be going, on
holiday, now's your chance to impress us with exotic insect
life! We're running two categories, one for photographers
up to the age of 15, the other for ages 16 and up. The Prize
for the winning photo in the up to the age of 15 category
is a QX3 computer microscope and the prize for the adults
is a CS2. Each photographer may submit only one image, taken
in the last five years. They can be prints or digital files.
PRINTS: Should be no larger than A4 (210mm x197mm). Please
do not send originals or negatives as we won't be able to
return images to you. Please send prints to us at our snail
mail address. DIGITAL FILES: Should be in RAW format, or uncompressed
TIFF files at 300dpi or the highest possible save setting.
Images should be no larger than A4 print size. Please label
them with your own name. Please either email them to our contact
email, or post a CD to our snail mail address.
PESTIVAL
PO BOX 51339
London, N1 3XY
UK
Every image should be accompanied by a note containing its
title, the photographer's name and age, plus any other relevant
information, such as the species and where it was photographed.
The deadline for submissions is Monday 17 April 2006. The
IAP photo competition is kindly sponsored by 2005 Wildlife
Photographer of the Year prize winner Mr George Duffield.
Please note that by entering the competition you agree to
have your image displayed both on this web site and at the
2006 International Arts Pestival.
Nabokov
popularized the term Nymphette
(03/02/2006)
what immature insect has no pupal stage? it was something
that starts with an N and it was made popular by Nabokov?
Amateur entomologist Vladimir Nabokov created a new word
for the English lexicon when he wrote the earth shattering
novel Lolita. Entomologically as well as Etomologically, the
term Nymph refers to the immature phase of an insect that
undergoes incomplete metamorphosis. The Nymph looks much like
the adult, but often without wings and mature coloration.
Nabokov coined the term Nymphette to describe the pubescent
Lolita in his novel with the same name. |
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