Stump Stabber

Subject:  Insect
Geographic location of the bug:  East Greenville PA
Date: 06/30/2021
Time: 03:57 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Any chance you know what insect this is?
How you want your letter signed:  Heather

Stump Stabber

Dear Heather,
This is a Stump Stabber, the common name for the Giant Ichneumon Megarhyssa atrata.  Your individual is a female and she uses her very long, up to five inches in length, ovipositor to deposit her eggs in dead and dying wood that contains the wood boring larvae of a Wood Wasp known as a Horntail, which is the food for the Stump Stabber larva.

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Colonialism in Entomology: How a Historical Problem Persists Today | Entomology Today

This post Colonialism in Entomology: How a Historical Problem Persists Today appeared first on Entomology Today - Brought to you by the Entomological Society of America.

Historical and ongoing practices by scientists in the Global North have extracted scientific knowledge and resources from communities in the Global South, leaving scientists there at a great disadvantage to pursue their work—and their valuable perspectives absent from professional scientific discourse. A group of entomologists explain how colonialism impacts entomology and the actions that could work to more equitably distribute access to insect science.

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Ten LIned June Beetle

Subject:  Unknown bug
Geographic location of the bug:  Lancaster california
Date: 06/28/2021
Time: 11:14 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  This bug was found in our front yard tonight.  Its the same size as a june bug, but i have never seen anything like it.
Lancaster is in the high desert.
How you want your letter signed:  Scott

Ten Lined June Beetle

Dear Scott,
This is a “June Bug.”  This is one of Daniel’s favorite summer sightings, a Ten Lined June Beetle, Polyphylla decemlineata.  Daniel first encountered a Ten Lined June Beetle in the eighties hiking in the Angeles Forest.  Then when he began teaching at Art Center in 2002, he would see them attracted to lights at the hillside campus during the summer, but it was not until 2015 that he first encountered one in the Mount Washington offices of What’s That Bug?  Since then there are yearly sightings of multiple individuals.  Your individual is a female.  The male Ten Lined June Beetle has much more According to BugGuide:  “Larvae live in soil.  Adults are attracted to lights at night.”  According to Wiki Bugwood:  “Eggs are laid in soil and larvae of the tenlined June beetle feed on plant roots. They have a wide host range and are known to chew on grasses, perennials, trees and shrubs. (On rare occasion they can cause significant damage to roots of woody plants, with pines being most often injured.) In fall, grubs preparing to overwinter move deeply into the soil, returning near the soil surface with returning warm soil temperatures in spring. In the spring of the third season after eggs are laid pupation is completed and the adults emerge. Although the tenlined June beetle causes little plant injury it is an impressively large, well-marked insect that commonly attracts interest. Furthermore, adults when disturbed can produce an impressive defensive display, hissing loudly by forcefully expelling air from their spiracles. This may also be accompanied by male beetles spreading and fanning out their large clubbed antennae. However, the insects are harmless.”

Ten LIned June Beetle

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Bug of the Month July 2021: Western Poplar Sphinx

Subject:  Moth question
Geographic location of the bug:  Orondo Wa
Date: 06/29/2021
Time: 01:19 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman :  Can help identify this creature
How you want your letter signed:  Gilbert

Western Poplar Sphinx

Dear Gilbert,
We believe this impressive Moth is a Western Poplar Sphinx, Pachysphinx occidentalis, which is pictured on BugGuide. According to BugGuide:  “Larvae feed on leaves of cottonwoods, especially Populus freemonti and Populus sargentii, also willow (Salix spp.). Adults do not feed.”  According to Sphingidae of the United States of America:  “This is a large moth, forewings are between 51-71mm in length (2). The large scalloped forewings are light yellow-gray and brown with a white reniform spot. In the similar Pachysphinx modesta, the forewings tend to be a grayer color, and overall darker.”  Butterflies and Moths of North America lists a Spokane, Washington sighting.  Because of the timing of your submission as well as the impressiveness of the Western Poplar Sphinx, we have selected it as the Bug of the Month for July 2021.

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Monarchs are breeding in Elyria Canyon Park

Subject:  Monarch Caterpillar and Chrysalis on Indian Milkweed
Geographic location of the bug: Elyria Canyon State Park, Mount Washington, Los Angeles, California
Date: 06/29/2021
Time: 8:30 AM PDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Dear Readers,
As part of physical therapy rehabilitation for knee surgery, Daniel has begun hiking again, and this morning he was pleased to find first a Monarch Chrysalis and then a Monarch Caterpillar feeding on Kotolo or Indian or Wooley Milkweek, Aesclepius eriocarpa, in Elyria Canyon State Park.

Monarch Caterpillar

Monarch Chrysalis

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Hardwood Stump Borer

Subject:  BBB – Big Black Beetle
Geographic location of the bug:  Upper part of South Carolina
Date: 06/28/2021
Time: 12:09 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Found this bug on my back porch at night under a light. Had some scary looking chompers. Can you identify?
How you want your letter signed:  Anthony Kozakiewicz

Hardwood Stump Borer

Dear Anthony,
We feel confident that this is a Hardwood Stump Borer, Mallodon dasystomus, which is pictured on BugGuide.  According to Beetles of Eastern North America by Arthur V. Evans:  “Mandibles nearly horizontal” while of the similar looking Live Oak Root Borer, Archodontes melanoplus, the author writes:  “Mandibles nearly vertical.”

Hardwood Stump Borer

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Unidentified Asilid from Idaho

Subject:  Bugged Birder
Geographic location of the bug:  Pocatello, Idaho
Date: 06/28/2021
Time: 04:03 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Dear Bugman, While out birding in the disc golf course behind my house, this bug landed at my feet. It is about 1.5 inches as I recall. The furry legs caught my eye. I can find nothing on the internet that resembles it. The area is high desert with sage brush and juniper. I took this picture on June 26. Thanks.
How you want your letter signed:  J. Shipman

Unidentified Robber Fly

Dear J. Shipman,
This magnificent predator is a Robber Fly in the family Asilidae and we believe it is in the subfamily Asilinae.  There are numerous similar looking individuals on BugGuide.

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It’s Complicated: Mitochondrial DNA and the Future of Insect Ecology | Entomology Today

This post It’s Complicated: Mitochondrial DNA and the Future of Insect Ecology appeared first on Entomology Today - Brought to you by the Entomological Society of America.

A team of researchers reviewed the status of mitochondrial DNA as a molecular marker in insect ecology studies, given recent evidence that mitochondrial DNA may be more complicated than once thought.

The post It’s Complicated: Mitochondrial DNA and the Future of Insect Ecology appeared first on Entomology Today.

Virginia Creeper Sphinx

Subject:  What is this bug
Geographic location of the bug:  Eastern Pennsylvania
Date: 06/27/2021
Time: 07:15 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  What is this
How you want your letter signed:  Thank you

Virginia Creeper Sphinx

This is a Virginia Creeper Sphinx, Darapsa myron, and you can compare your individual to this BugGuide image. 

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Tailless Whipscorpion in British West Indies

Subject:  What ARE you?!?
Geographic location of the bug:  Montserrat, British West Indies
Date: 05/26/2021
Time: 10:58 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  We are a tropical island. It’s almost 8 inches across from antennae, end to end. Discovered on my kitchen floor in the middle of the night.
How you want your letter signed:  Gretchen Hosbach

Tailless Whipscorpion

Dear Gretchen,
We are catching up on some unanswered requests and we decided to post your submission.  This shy, nocturnal hunter is a Tailless Whipscorpion.  They do not have venom and they are not considered dangerous to humans.  Because they will hunt and eat spiders and cockroaches, they are often tolerated indoors.

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Small Eyed Sphinx

Subject:  Is this a Blinded Sphinx Moth?
Geographic location of the bug:  Western PA
Date: 06/05/2021
Time: 05:58 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hi.  This guy has been hanging out on our garage for a couple days.  I think it is a Sphinx moth – specifically a Blinded Sphinx moth. Am I correct?
How you want your letter signed:  Thanks, Cheryl

Small Eyed Sphinx

Dear Cheryl,
This is a Small Eyed Sphinx, not a Blinded Sphinx.  The two moths are in the same genus, so they are closely related and share physical characteristics.

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Eyed Elater

Subject:  Please ID Insect
Geographic location of the bug:  Powell, Ohio
Date: 06/12/2021
Time: 09:21 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I found this on my hat On June 1. I’m on 3 acres of mixed woods – maple, black and honey locust, black walnut, lots of dead ash, some sassafras. Can you identify this for me? Thanks!
How you want your letter signed:  I have no idea what you mean by that. My name is Molly.

Eyed Elater

Dear Molly,
This magnificent Click Beetle is called an Eyed Elater.  What appear to be big, black eyes are actually markings on the thorax called eyespots and they are thought to fool predators into thinking the Eyed Elater is a large predator.

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Black Corsair

Subject:  Potential invasive?
Geographic location of the bug:  Palouse WA
Date: 06/26/2021
Time: 01:53 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Found three of these in my house, was looking online to see if they were a native species but the only bugs I could find that resembled them were native to the southern states (texas, arizona etc)
How you want your letter signed:  Problems on the Palouse?

Black Corsair

This is a Black Corsair, Melanolestes picipes, and it is a native species, but Washington does not have any sightings according to BugGuide, however, that is only an indication that there have not been any submissions from Washington.  Exercise caution with the Black Corsair.  It can bite and the bite is reported to be painful.  According to BugEric:  “Be careful that you don’t ever mindlessly swat one of these insects if it lands on you.  the defensive bites of assassin bugs in general are excruciating, and the odds of being bitten go up when the Black Corsair comes to town.  Because they are attracted to lights, and run and fly with great speed and afility, the males may find their way indoors.”  According to BugGuide:  “Can inflict a painful bite but does not feed on blood and does not transmit diseases.”

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Yellow Soldier Flies

Subject:  long-bodied yellow-orange fly
Geographic location of the bug:  Buffalo NY, USA
Date: 06/27/2021
Time: 04:34 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hi. I’ve never seen anything like these before. Dozens of them hovering over a patch of leaf litter with white fungus in a heavily shaded corner of our yard. They move around constantly and were not seen to land. Body length about 2.5cm.
How you want your letter signed:  JR

Yellow Soldier Fly

Dear JR,
These yellow flies reminded Daniel of some flies he saw in Ohio several times in June that he believed were Soldier Flies in the family Stratiomyidae, and a web search led to Red Worm Composting and an article entitled Yellow Soldier Flies Revisited where it states:  “As if this wasn’t cool enough, today when I walked by a bag of (compostable) used cat litter material – waiting to get added to my new litter vermicomposting system – I noticed a bunch of these large, yellow flies hovering around the bag.”  Eventually Dr. Stephen Marshal, at the University of Guelph identified them as probably Ptecticus trivittatus.  We located a matching image on BugGuide.

Yellow Soldier Fly

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Oleander Caterpillar

Subject:  Caterpillar
Geographic location of the bug:  Jensen Beach, FL 34957
Date: 06/27/2021
Time: 09:50 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  These suddenly appeared on my ornamental trees. Are they harmful?
How you want your letter signed:  Kathraine

Oleander Caterpillars

Dear Kathraine,
We verified the identity of your Caterpillar as Empyreuma pugione on BugGuide, and the adult is the Spotted Oleander Caterpillar Moth, and since we do not want to call this the caterpillar of the Spotted Oleander Caterpillar Moth, we are going to call it the Spotted Oleander Caterpillar.  We will let you decide if they are harmful.

Oleander Caterpillar

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Crowned Slug Caterpillar Stings Woman in Massachusetts!!!

Subject:  What’s that bug?
Geographic location of the bug:  Gulfport ms
Date: 06/26/2021
Time: 06:50 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  This bug was in my mother’s house and stung her.  She said it felt like a bee sting.
How you want your letter signed:  S. Rea

Crowned Slug

Dear S. Rea,
This is a Stinging Slug Caterpillar in the family Limacodidae, more specifically the Crowned Slug, Isa textula, which is pictured on BugGuide.  According to BugGuide:  “Caution! This is a stinging caterpillar. “

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