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The Official Bug Identification Thread Starring Arch, Bugboy, and Fiendishrabbit

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    FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    edited June 2021
    Well. The general shape of it suggests, to me, some kind of thrip. The problem is that I don't know of any thrip with capitate (clubbed) antennae.

    Fiendishrabbit on
    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
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    RingoRingo He/Him a distinct lack of substanceRegistered User regular
    From wiki on Thrips: "Their identification to species by standard morphological characters is often challenging."

    So you're probably not alone there, Fiendish

    Sterica wrote: »
    I know my last visit to my grandpa on his deathbed was to find out how the whole Nazi werewolf thing turned out.
    Edcrab's Exigency RPG
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    IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator mod
    Hmmm looking at that photo, that looks like the right one! I'm guessing that a combination of it being small, my shitty eyes, and my shitty camera just saw the pattern on the antenna and interpreted the clubbed portion. It was very bright and so a bit blown out.

    We had just picked up a pot from the nursery, so these guys being a garden pest and ending up on my phone holds up.

    Thanks! Sounds like they are pretty common but I'd never seen one before!

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    ArchArch Neat-o, mosquito! Registered User regular
    That's definitely some kind of Thrips, although which one....who knows!

    Also, Thrips have one of the worst common names in the business, being both singular and plural. Just remember this helpful rhyme!

    One Thrips
    Two Thrips
    Red Thrips
    Blue Thrips
    Please help my onions have so many Thrips!

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    mccartmccart Registered User regular
    FHotcth.jpg

    My cat found this beetle today in my home. Inside it was very energetic and kept buzzing at the cat when he pawed at it, after it took it outside to photograph it it became completely still. I'm in Vermont, I've never seen large black beetles like this here, thought it was interesting. The ruler is in inches.

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    FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    That's a Hermit Flower Beetle (Osmoderma Eremicola).

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
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    RingoRingo He/Him a distinct lack of substanceRegistered User regular
    Beetle: I will battle this massive apex predator for the supremacy of this household!
    mccart: No you will not. You will go outside where it's safe
    Beetle: *pouts*

    Sterica wrote: »
    I know my last visit to my grandpa on his deathbed was to find out how the whole Nazi werewolf thing turned out.
    Edcrab's Exigency RPG
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    see317see317 Registered User regular
    Ringo wrote: »
    Beetle: I will battle this massive apex predator for the supremacy of this household!
    mccart: No you will not. You will go outside where it's safe
    Beetle: *pouts*

    mccart has denied the beetle a glorious death in battle, and barred it forever from the gates of beetle Vahalla.

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    EnigmedicEnigmedic Registered User regular
    e353ob37etkm.jpg

    Is this just some regular ant or is it a termite? It's different (bigger) than the other little ants I've seen around. I've seen the little ants fighting these bigger ones outside too.

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    FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    That waist says ant. It's the easiest way to tell the difference, because ants are wasp-waisted while termites are more michelin man.

    Based on proportions I'm going to say some kind of field ant (Formica), but I really can't say more than that.
    7u2khou.jpg

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
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    EnigmedicEnigmedic Registered User regular
    i have a pixel 4a and it doesnt really seem to take much better pictures than my old iphone5... i dunno

    there are so many bugs around my house. i just mostly want to prevent infestations of stuff like termites and cockroaches.

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    FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    You can't really take a good insect photo with a smartphone without a clip-on macrolens. So don't worry about it.

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
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    JedocJedoc In the scuppers with the staggers and jagsRegistered User regular
    edited July 2021
    It looks like a lovely little oakworm moth!

    https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/view/340

    I don't know why so many of the pictures on that page are of them bonin', seems rude.

    Edit: whoops, looks like there are a lot of very similar-looking oakworm moths, I think I was too specific there.

    Jedoc on
    GDdCWMm.jpg
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    FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    edited July 2021
    It's a pink-striped oakworm (Anisota virginiensis). Or Anisota pellucida (southern pink-striped oakworm). Or Anisota discolor (Texas pink-striped oakworm).

    I'm not good enough with moths to tell them apart and on top of that entomologists are discussing if it's actually one species (Anisota virginiensis), three subspecies of the same butterfly (Anisota virginiensis ssp.) or three different species.
    Their caterpillars are a bit more distinct. But all their caterpillars look like "what if a galaxy pooped a caterpillar? And then made some of them black-green sludgy with a bit of red, some of them green-sludgy with a bit of red and some of them grey-green sludgy with pink".

    P.S: If you're wondering what I mean by "galaxy pooped a caterpillar"?
    virgx.jpg

    Fiendishrabbit on
    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
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    RedTideRedTide Registered User regular
    Hello big friends.

    Vacationing by the lake up here in Western Michigan and we came across a swarm of these fellows (They were moving around en masse) and were wondering if y'all could suss out who they are (Identification apps were inconclusive)
    qy606gyd3g43.jpg
    z6ul12e6gvl6.jpg

    RedTide#1907 on Battle.net
    Come Overwatch with meeeee
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    38thDoe38thDoe lets never be stupid again wait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered User regular
    You can't really take a good insect photo with a smartphone without a clip-on macrolens. So don't worry about it.

    Are there good clip on macrolenses for iphones that you would recommend?

    38thDoE on steam
    🦀🦑🦀🦑🦀🦑🦀🦑🦀🦑🦀🦑🦀
    
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    a5ehrena5ehren AtlantaRegistered User regular
    coin10562zhd.jpeg

    Saw this in my back yard?

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    FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    38thDoe wrote: »
    You can't really take a good insect photo with a smartphone without a clip-on macrolens. So don't worry about it.

    Are there good clip on macrolenses for iphones that you would recommend?

    Probably the Apexel 3080 or 100mm lens. Insects are rarely cooperative if you shove a lens within 3cm (like many macrolenses want you to), and the Apexel lens can give you up to 7-10cm working distance.

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
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    FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    a5ehren wrote: »
    coin10562zhd.jpeg

    Saw this in my back yard?

    I'm going to say Eastern Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) although it could be an Ozark Swallowtail (Papilio Joanae). The Black Swallowtail prefers open landscapes while the Ozark Swallowtail prefers woodland.

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
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    ArchArch Neat-o, mosquito! Registered User regular
    RedTide wrote: »
    Hello big friends.

    Vacationing by the lake up here in Western Michigan and we came across a swarm of these fellows (They were moving around en masse) and were wondering if y'all could suss out who they are (Identification apps were inconclusive)
    qy606gyd3g43.jpg
    z6ul12e6gvl6.jpg

    These are some kind of juvenile Barklice (order Psocoptera). It might be the adorably named "tree cattle", Cerastipsocus venosus, but I'm not confident enough to say.

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    JedocJedoc In the scuppers with the staggers and jagsRegistered User regular
    I had no idea tree cattle were a thing, but I'm very happy to learn that they are.

    GDdCWMm.jpg
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    NEO|PhyteNEO|Phyte They follow the stars, bound together. Strands in a braid till the end.Registered User regular
    edited July 2021
    I just remembered about a bug I saw yesterday that looked kinda neat but I didn't have my phone handy at the time and it'd scurried under things so it would have been a lot of effort to try and find it again. Assuming my memory can be trusted, it was shaped/colored about like this, and was around the size of a thumb.

    dNx9DPX.png

    Central Iowa for location.
    :Edit: a bit of looking says that carrion beetles can look about right.

    NEO|Phyte on
    It was that somehow, from within the derelict-horror, they had learned a way to see inside an ugly, broken thing... And take away its pain.
    Warframe/Steam: NFyt
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    FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    edited July 2021
    Could also be a Tumbling flower beetle (although they're usually a lot smaller, like the size of a fingernail)
    large.jpg?1562023514

    Fiendishrabbit on
    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
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    RedTideRedTide Registered User regular
    Arch wrote: »
    RedTide wrote: »
    Hello big friends.

    Vacationing by the lake up here in Western Michigan and we came across a swarm of these fellows (They were moving around en masse) and were wondering if y'all could suss out who they are (Identification apps were inconclusive)
    qy606gyd3g43.jpg
    z6ul12e6gvl6.jpg

    These are some kind of juvenile Barklice (order Psocoptera). It might be the adorably named "tree cattle", Cerastipsocus venosus, but I'm not confident enough to say.

    Tree cattle seems like a pretty likely call since their behavior was super close to what was described and obviously the look is there

    RedTide#1907 on Battle.net
    Come Overwatch with meeeee
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    see317see317 Registered User regular
    RedTide wrote: »
    Hello big friends.

    Vacationing by the lake up here in Western Michigan and we came across a swarm of these fellows (They were moving around en masse) and were wondering if y'all could suss out who they are (Identification apps were inconclusive)
    qy606gyd3g43.jpg
    z6ul12e6gvl6.jpg

    I don't know bugs very good, but I want to say that that second photo is amazing.
    Did you get that with a phone camera?

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    MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain? ChicagoRegistered User regular
    see317 wrote: »
    RedTide wrote: »
    Hello big friends.

    Vacationing by the lake up here in Western Michigan and we came across a swarm of these fellows (They were moving around en masse) and were wondering if y'all could suss out who they are (Identification apps were inconclusive)
    qy606gyd3g43.jpg
    z6ul12e6gvl6.jpg

    I don't know bugs very good, but I want to say that that second photo is amazing.
    Did you get that with a phone camera?

    Until your said this I thought that was one, with the single insect overseeing the herd.

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    FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    MichaelLC wrote: »
    see317 wrote: »
    RedTide wrote: »
    Hello big friends.

    Vacationing by the lake up here in Western Michigan and we came across a swarm of these fellows (They were moving around en masse) and were wondering if y'all could suss out who they are (Identification apps were inconclusive)
    qy606gyd3g43.jpg
    z6ul12e6gvl6.jpg

    I don't know bugs very good, but I want to say that that second photo is amazing.
    Did you get that with a phone camera?

    Until your said this I thought that was one, with the single insect overseeing the herd.

    Tree Cattle overseen by the Lone Bug Ranger.

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
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    RingoRingo He/Him a distinct lack of substanceRegistered User regular
    *runs off to write a City Slickers/A Bug's Life mash up fanfic script*

    Sterica wrote: »
    I know my last visit to my grandpa on his deathbed was to find out how the whole Nazi werewolf thing turned out.
    Edcrab's Exigency RPG
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    DisruptedCapitalistDisruptedCapitalist I swear! Registered User regular
    Found this little fella on my shoulder in West Virginia last week. I'm not familiar with inch worm species there. Any idea who it is?

    ko206g78hhyv.jpg

    "Simple, real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time." -Mustrum Ridcully in Terry Pratchett's Hogfather p. 142 (HarperPrism 1996)
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    FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    Well. It's the right season and place for Blackberry Looper moths and Bruce Spanworm Moths. But those are just the geometer moth species that I know are green, lack a bulbous hump near the head and have active moths in late july in West Virginia.
    This particular example seems to be getting ready to pupate since he appears to be shifting to brown (which a lot of caterpillars do just before pupating).

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
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    DisruptedCapitalistDisruptedCapitalist I swear! Registered User regular
    edited July 2021
    Ah! I was wondering what the brown spots meant, thanks! Seems like it was probably the Spanworm.

    Up in Massachusetts, i usually assume something like this is a winter moth (invasive) and i usually squash them but apparently the two species are related!

    DisruptedCapitalist on
    "Simple, real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time." -Mustrum Ridcully in Terry Pratchett's Hogfather p. 142 (HarperPrism 1996)
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    NEO|PhyteNEO|Phyte They follow the stars, bound together. Strands in a braid till the end.Registered User regular
    HxFRDLW.jpg
    The wind blew this husk onto my car as I got home from work today, I have no clue if it is enough to try and identify the previous occupant by but it was neat so I got a picture.

    It was that somehow, from within the derelict-horror, they had learned a way to see inside an ugly, broken thing... And take away its pain.
    Warframe/Steam: NFyt
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    JedocJedoc In the scuppers with the staggers and jagsRegistered User regular
    edited July 2021
    It's definitely a praying mantis skin! Not sure whether we can get more specific than that, I only know the one kind.

    Jedoc on
    GDdCWMm.jpg
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    FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    Definitely a mantid. The shape of the tibia (forelimb) and femur with that hook and neat double rows of spines makes me think it's a Praying mantis (mantis religiosa).
    Many species of mantids (like the tenedora genus, which includes chinese mantis) only have a single row of spines, and on genus like Stagmomantis (with species like florida mantis and california mantis) the femur spines aren't nearly as neat.

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
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    VeeveeVeevee WisconsinRegistered User regular
    74o9k3357u22.jpg

    Any clue what this is? That's my pinky on the right, and we are in central Wisconsin.

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    FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    edited August 2021
    Wooly Aphid (aphids belonging to the Eriosomatinae subfamily).

    P.S: While the adults themselves are almost impossible to differentiate, if you want to find out the exact species, look at nearby trees. They form galls (outgrowths, normally on leaves and leaf-stems) and each species normally only have a single host species (According to inaturalist Wisconsin has species parasiting on elm, poplar, sumac, beech, cottonwood, crab apple and maple).

    Fiendishrabbit on
    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
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    VeeveeVeevee WisconsinRegistered User regular
    Awesome, thanks!

    Now, how about this guy?

    Spoiler'd for bug horror
    qspxgqneb95z.jpg

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    FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    Mexican grass-carrying wasp

    a. Definitely a Thread-waisted wasp.
    b. Since it's carrying plantmaterial we can narrow it down to two species (Elegant and Mexican grass-carrying wasps). Digger and Muddauber wasps do what their name implies. Dig or make their nests out of mud.
    c. Since it's pure black it's not an Elegant grass-carrying wasp.
    Ergo, Mexican grass-carrying wasp.

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
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    ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    Is it carrying plant matter? I thought it was eating a mantis.

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