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Yay, new Critterquest thread  I'm an entomologist and decent at ballpark identifications for insects and other land inverebrates. If you want a critter identified, you need to provide a location. Doesn't need to be detailed, just something like "I found this weird bug in Pleasant Hill, MO last July, anyone know what is is?" bugguide.net is a great resource for all kinds of US/Canada insects. Happy Critterquesting, everyone!
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Feb 27, 2017 14:17
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| # ¿ Apr 16, 2024 13:22 |
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ExecuDork posted:
Some kind of Diptera, maybe a larva of a soldier fly. Somethink like this: http://bugguide.net/node/view/333680/bgimage
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May 8, 2017 08:13
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poverty goat posted:
Used to see them swarm around park benches and anything made of wood when I lived in Ohio. The ones patrolling and buzzing around are males, and they don't have a stinger. Impress your friends by acting like a moron and catch one in your hand.
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May 15, 2017 22:29
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Falukorv posted:Finally spotted a spider that I have always wanted to see IRL. Not in my native Sweden but on vacation in Germany. I wanted to send you a pm, but it looks like you don't want to support Lowtax's extravagant lifestyle. Go join the facebook groups" Entomologiska föreningen i Stockholm" and "Insekter i Sverige". The Stockholm entomologists are having an excursion for everyone in a couple of weeks, and have seen Agriope bruennichi a couple of times where we're going. You are very welcome to join!
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Jul 31, 2017 19:39
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Desert Bus posted:OK, I know this thread is for critters, and I apologize, and I hope you will forgive me when you see what I've got here. I was down at the pond by my place earlier feeding the stunted bluegill and hanging out with an old friend I hadn't seen in a year. Me, being on the spectrum, never really wandered far from my normal feeding spot since the fish require a consistent spot. My friend is an adventurous woman and while checking deep into the hard to access area abutting the pond she noticed a pink plant in the water. Finding it neat and knowing I keep aquariums with live plants, she pointed it out to me and used a stick to gather some. Now I have it in vases with some snails that will eat any dead plant or animal matter. Anyway, I cannot figure out what it is. I live in Valparaiso, Indiana, which is about an hour and 15mins from Chicago. Looks like Myriophyllum. It can turn red sometimes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myriophyllum
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Aug 7, 2017 13:58
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Jesus Christ posted:Does anybody know wtf these things are? I found a ton of them along some huge deposit of dead coral on the shore line along with a bunch of other little snails. Chitons, a kind of mollusc. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiton
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Aug 16, 2017 07:42
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Over There posted:
Are you in the US? Then it looks like a Virginia tiger moth, Spilosoma virginica .
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Aug 21, 2017 06:36
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Alpenglow posted:Guessing this is a Brown Marmorated Stinkbug? Ayup. That's the dreaded Halyomorpha halys. It's established here in Europe too, but only a few specimens found yet here in Sweden. The leafhopper is eating plant juices and needs to get rid of excess fluids. Poop.
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Aug 28, 2017 07:54
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Asiina posted:Was waiting for the bus when this giant nightmare bug started flying around. I watched it as it landed and then proceeded to dig a hole. Upon further inspection there were many of them in this little hill by the bus stop, all doing some sort of hole maintenance. It's a digger wasp, familiy Sphecidae. They feed their larvae other insects, but are in the strict sense not parasitic.
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Sep 20, 2017 09:28
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the yeti posted:Found some neat stuff out this past weekend! Looks like Lycidae larvae. Very similar to the European species Dictyoptera .
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May 18, 2018 12:11
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Alpenglow posted:
Alaus oculatus. Nice! 
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May 28, 2018 11:56
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ExecuDork posted:
This is a velvet mite. The early stages are parasites on insects, and later stages are predators that live in soil and leaf litter.
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Jul 21, 2018 08:27
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The beetles in the log are Bess beetles. They appear to be red, since they are newly hatched. Later they turn a glossy black. https://bugguide.net/node/view/2864/bgimage
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Aug 8, 2018 11:38
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Beetles doesn't make silk cocoons like butterflies and moths, but they sometimes make a pupal chamber of chewed up wood.
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Aug 8, 2018 11:41
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free hubcaps posted:we have a hydrangea bush outside that has been swarming with all sorts of bees and flies and the like this summer, but the other day I saw a fly(?) that was cool looking and that I hadn’t seen before. It was a good size since I thought it was a bald faced hornet at first, but when I looked closer I noticed it was a blueish-black fly or bee. Do a GIS for Mydas fly.
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Aug 25, 2018 09:07
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Falukorv posted:Found two wasp spiders (Argiope bruennichi and A. lobata I believe). I’m rarely afraid of spiders but these guys scare me more than tarantulas. A gut thing, I know they’re harmless. Still in Portugal? Argiope bruennichi is common in certain places in Sweden now. I have seen it near Stockholm and on Öland. If you see a female in her web, always look for the male too. He's tiny and usually hiding in a corner.  Image from here: http://www.mikethurnerimages.co.uk/_photo_11772222.html
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Aug 29, 2018 09:57
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Chinston Wurchill posted:Had a great time in Utah last week and quested some good critters! The bee with the impressive antennae is probably the male of the species. Another hint is the large eyes. The reason male bees are called drones is that they contribute nothing to the community except sperm. They don't collect nectar or pollen or help tend the larvae. Fancy wasp is an Ammophila digger wasp or close relative. They dig a burrow in sand, then stuff it full of stung and paralyzed caterpillars to feed the larvae.
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Sep 23, 2018 21:42
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shits given: exactly one
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Sep 26, 2018 20:30
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^^^ That's a European hornet. It's the only true hornet (genus Vespa) found in North America. It was introduced accidentally in the 1800s by European immigrants. It's actually a pretty docile species, they won't sting unless squashed. They are attracted to light and show up around porch lights and similar places. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_hornet
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Oct 5, 2018 09:14
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ExecuDork posted:This pretty lady was hunting for something under my hammock among the pine-needle-litter and lichens on the island we camped on in July. North-western Ontario, White Otter Lake. Ichneumonid parasite wasp. Looking for insect larvae to lay eggs in.
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Oct 12, 2018 08:29
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Captain Invictus posted:Your beetle looks to be a darkling beetle of some sort, I think. Not sure exactly where you were but I wager you can narrow it down by locale if you really want to, there's a lot of the bastards though. Ayup, that's a tenebrionid. The can look pretty much like anything, but nearly all of them have a distinct chemical smell.
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Oct 24, 2018 19:21
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It's a nymph (immature) of a mirid bug, but not the one in Captain Invictus' post. Tiggum's bug has a red pronotum, and CI's is black. Miridae is a very species rich family, and nymphs can be quite hard to identify.
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Jan 28, 2019 09:53
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poverty goat posted:Funny looking dragonfly. At first glance I thought his wings were messed up Looks like an Eastern amberwing, Perithemis tenera. Very nice!
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May 23, 2019 14:24
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Zernach posted:While on our way to our summer cottage, I spotted this fellow hitching a ride with us on the boat. Once we arrived, I picked it up on a stick and since it was perfectly fine just chilling there, I took pictures. Argyroneta aquatica, diving bell spider. The hairs trap an air bubble and they hunt and spend most of their time under the water surface. Common in lakes and pond in our part of Europe.
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Aug 3, 2019 13:54
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Squalid posted:It looks like a water beetle from the family Dystiscidae, which probably explains why it crashed into you. I'm sure it's a much better swimmer than flier. They’re excellent fliers and do fly long distances. Terrible judges of what’s actually water and tends to land on anyhting dark and shiny like cars and lawn trampolines.
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Aug 24, 2019 21:47
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Captain Invictus posted:
Your weevil is a Curculio or very something close to that genus. Don't know the American specis, but check the descriptions and distributions and you could probably nail the species. https://bugguide.net/node/view/6682/bgpage
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Sep 17, 2019 15:44
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Diving beetles are strong flyers, are attracted to lights and many species winter on land. Go sweep that pond with a net and you might find some the diving beetle larvae, they're huge and voraciuos predators that sometimes even catch tadpoles and small fish.
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Mar 12, 2020 10:34
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This is an owlfly, genus Ululodes. They are a kind of lacewing. Very cool find!  https://bugguide.net/node/view/4130/bgpage
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Jun 29, 2020 12:39
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BIG TIT LIL NIP posted:thank you!!! it looks so much like a dragon fly, they have to be related. Lacewings (Neuroptera) are about as far from dragonflies as you can get among insects. Dragonflies are one of the first groups to split off from the rest and lacewings are actually more closlely relateed to beetles. One easy way to tell them apart is that all dragonflies have tiny tiny antennae. Pretty much just a bristle.
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Jun 30, 2020 15:35
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Cardiovorax posted:Excuse the doublepost, but today is a good day for question. Here's a striped leafhopper: Check put the genus Graphocephala. If it was on a Rhododendron bush it was probably G. fennahi. https://bugguide.net/node/view/364155
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Jul 7, 2020 22:15
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Here’s a neat thick-headed fly, Sicus ferrugineus snacking on nectar on a field scabious that I saw today here in Sweden. Their larvae are parasites on bumblebees. 
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Jul 7, 2020 22:20
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Chows posted:I think this is a fall webworm? I dunno but it's pretty and fuzzy Tiger moth, Genus Spilosoma
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Aug 17, 2020 06:35
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El Burbo posted:anyone know who this fella could be? What's the location?
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Sep 28, 2020 20:33
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Chinston Wurchill posted:
This is a meadowhawk, genus Sympetrum. They are on the wing until they freeze or get eaten.
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Nov 5, 2020 08:22
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| # ¿ Apr 16, 2024 13:22 |
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The huge horseflies rarely bite people, they are specialized in feeding on large animals like cattle and horses.
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Jun 5, 2021 14:28
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