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

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  • 38thDoe38thDoe lets never be stupid again wait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered User regular
    ceres wrote: »
    That seems like a huge number of them for there not to be more around.

    Found another three clusters and knocked them in the lake. Maybe fish will eat them? Even if they eat all the leaves this thing won’t die right? It’s probably 5 feet across and six feet tall.

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  • Bliss 101Bliss 101 Registered User regular
    I hope this question is acceptable in this thread, because it doesn't feel deserving of its own thread either. Is there a bee-safe method of exterminating aphids and spider mites? I ask because I have a small flower garden on my balcony that's been infested with aphids and spider mites this summer, and I don't want to use insecticides because lots of bumblebees frequent the garden and I don't want to risk poisoning them and their nests. I've considered getting some ladybug larvae because apparently you can buy them online, but how likely are they to actually stay on my balcony and not just randomly wander off? Are there any chemical treatments that would be more or less bee-safe? Google finds a lot of options but I have a feeling that most of them are likely to be bullshit, so I'd rather ask people who know about this stuff.

    MSL59.jpg
  • ArbitraryDescriptorArbitraryDescriptor changed Registered User regular
    edited August 2018
    I would trust the farmer's almanac people:

    https://www.almanac.com/pest/aphids

    Many interesting non-toxic pesticide tricks there. They note that DE is harmful to pollinators, so I presume the other 'pesticide' methods are not.

    They also suggest lady bugs and wasps to control an infestation, planting catnip to repel them, or mustard to draw them off.

    (I assume the predator methods would be more effective for a large garden, if not an orchard, than a few plants on balcony)

    ArbitraryDescriptor on
  • SixSix Caches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhex Registered User regular
    I was walking my property this morning and came across this neat, which I assume are wasps of some kind. I’m not a fan of them so I didn’t feel like getting too close, but any idea what they are? We’re in central NJ.

    2PRmmCCl.jpg


    can you feel the struggle within?
  • RingoRingo He/Him a distinct lack of substanceRegistered User regular
    Looks like a paper wasp nest to me

    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
  • JaysonFourJaysonFour Classy Monster Kitteh Registered User regular
    We've got a bit of an ant problem ourselves. The difference here is that it's an outside problem- they've been infesting our mailbox for what seems like the last few months. It's to the point where we have to have even the smallest packages delivered to the door because if there's any kind of hole in the package, they have no problem diving right in. I'm tired of knocking ants off our mail.

    Our mailbox is a wooden post set in the ground with a plastic mailbox on the top. We don't know if these are carpenters or just amazingly placed regular black ants. What kind of pest control should I go with to kill these damn things off?

    There are a bunch with wings we've been knocking off the mail, so they might have just started to establish new colonies, if that means anything.

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    I can has cheezburger, yes?
  • XaquinXaquin Right behind you!Registered User regular
    put a couple terro packs in there

    costs maybe $4 or $5 for a 6 pack

    you'll have some for next year and it'll knock em dead in a week

  • Drake ChambersDrake Chambers Lay out my formal shorts. Registered User regular
    JaysonFour wrote: »
    We've got a bit of an ant problem ourselves. The difference here is that it's an outside problem- they've been infesting our mailbox for what seems like the last few months. It's to the point where we have to have even the smallest packages delivered to the door because if there's any kind of hole in the package, they have no problem diving right in. I'm tired of knocking ants off our mail.

    Our mailbox is a wooden post set in the ground with a plastic mailbox on the top. We don't know if these are carpenters or just amazingly placed regular black ants. What kind of pest control should I go with to kill these damn things off?

    There are a bunch with wings we've been knocking off the mail, so they might have just started to establish new colonies, if that means anything.

    +1 here for Terro. It's been really effective for us, generally ending what we refer to as "ant parties" within two days once placed.

    The other thing we've found that helps is using Clorox wipes along the path of their little caravan, if you can find it. I think it's curious that they give a shit about your mail. I wonder if some time in the past they found something to eat in there and now they're just following the pheromone trail left by previous traffic. If you can wipe out that trail it might also put a stop to things. Not sure how effective Clorox wipes would be on a wooden post.

  • 38thDoe38thDoe lets never be stupid again wait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered User regular
    Does plain water not disperse the trail? My knowledge of ants comes from sim ant.

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  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    Throw some diatomaceous earth on the ground surrounding the mailbox. Fuck em.

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
  • So It GoesSo It Goes We keep moving...Registered User regular
    edited August 2018
    ps6ve2Fl.jpg

    How bout this bug? Husband was afraid it was a cockroach at first ha. Naw that's a beetle...of some kind...

    About an inch long

    So It Goes on
  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    That's a tough one.
    It's not a click beetle, because it doesn't have the characteristic thorax horns.
    It doesn't look like a borer beetle because it seems to have pretty tiny jaws and a very defined waist.

    Some kind of longhorned beetle?

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
  • RendRend Registered User regular
    Saw this little guy on the kitchen floor today. What is?

    q1syv8e1pmru.jpg

  • 38thDoe38thDoe lets never be stupid again wait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered User regular
    I'm tempted to say a young House Centipede. Particularly if it moved very fast. Eats harmful insects and terrorizes my wife.

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  • RendRend Registered User regular
    I've definitely seen at least one house centipede around so that would be very unsurprising.

  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    If that's a house centipede then something has done some serious munching on its backside (taking off most of the rear legs). Because larva do not typically have such long antennae.
    Although if you have a cat that would explain it. When they attack centipedes they focus on the rear.

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
  • FryFry Registered User regular
    Coloration looks about right for a house centipede, but yeah, they tend to have legs or leg-like appendages pretty much 360 degrees around, so I'm not sure that that's what the above picture is.

    My house has...a lot of house centipedes. My roommate claims he has seen as many as nine at one time in his room. Fortunately I've only ever seen at most one at a time in my room, and rather infrequently.

  • RendRend Registered User regular
    I do have two cats so that's another "would make a lot of sense"

  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    Mystery solved. Chewed on american house centipede.

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
  • Captain InertiaCaptain Inertia Registered User regular
    So I’m this thing is hanging out above my patio door. When it lands on my head and bites me while I step outside to grill, will I become Spider-Man or die?98fdzwihgtyj.jpeg

  • CambiataCambiata Commander Shepard The likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered User regular
    I didn't take this video, but I'm curious as to what sort of caterpillars these are?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPWYPkpGaSU

    "If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
  • JaysonFourJaysonFour Classy Monster Kitteh Registered User regular
    The spider, hmm... I think it might be an orb-weaver of some kind, at least from the coloration.

    Our ants made another appearance- my sister got a package in the mail, and a handful found thier way inside it before we could get to it- we ended up opening the box outside and turning the hose on it once it was empty to kill the ants still in there. They're carpenter ants- we tracked them into the post holding the mailbox up- and they're aggressive as all hell when packages end up in the mailbox- we dunno why they want to get in there, or why they stay in there, but we hit the nest with ant spray and are looking for some traps or something to kill them all.

    I don't know if the special earth would work; it's been raining here for a few days and anything that might just sit on the nest or around it would just wash away before it could kill all the ants.

    We've also asked the post office to bring the mail to the door until all this is sorted out.

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  • VeeveeVeevee WisconsinRegistered User regular
    Fry wrote: »
    My house has...a lot of house centipedes. My roommate claims he has seen as many as nine at one time in his room. Fortunately I've only ever seen at most one at a time in my room, and rather infrequently.

    Tell your roommate to stop leaving food in his room and he will have less bugs and therefore less house centipedes in his room.

  • FryFry Registered User regular
    edited August 2018
    Saw this friend a few nights ago while I was out getting frozen custard:
    5ZyqsOtl.jpg

    I noticed it because it was kinda flopping around weirdly on the ground. Maybe it bumped into one of the many nearby spiderwebs and got a wing a bit tangled? As I stood nearby watching, it flopped over to me and landed on my shoelaces and sat there for about a minute, then it flew over onto this nearby bench. I like the feathery antennae, as well as the downed-leaf camo!

    Fry on
  • mtsmts Dr. Robot King Registered User regular
    Just a giant grasshopper, but it amused my 2 year old for a long time. Also it pooped on my finger.

    YTw1Nlh.jpg
    MivL2fx.jpg

    camo_sig.png
  • ArbitraryDescriptorArbitraryDescriptor changed Registered User regular
    edited August 2018
    I will raise you one praying mantis acting like a two year old, by swaying whenever my dumb cellphone camera tried to focus on it.

    (Linked for "no idea how large that is")


    ArbitraryDescriptor on
  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
    I will raise you one praying mantis acting like a two year old, by swaying whenever my dumb cellphone camera tried to focus on it.

    (Linked for "no idea how large that is")


    I really feel like that should be a meme for something.

    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • italianranmaitalianranma Registered User regular
    edited August 2018
    Ok I've got two!

    First is this terror who has her web over the window preventing my escape.
    loe15as1rw5c.jpg

    And the second is this guy who is hunting me where I hide.
    ylmm2xk6fskz.jpg

    I think I've identified the first as Ithaqua who can control snow and ice and walk on air as easily as if it were land.

    The second I'm not as sure of, might it be Shub-Niggurath black goat of the woods and mother to a thousand young?

    This is likely my final entry...

    italianranma on
    飛べねぇ豚はただの豚だ。
  • E.CoyoteE.Coyote Registered User regular
    Garden spider and thread-waisted wasp. =)

  • JedocJedoc In the scuppers with the staggers and jagsRegistered User regular
    edited August 2018
    The spider is an orb weaver. Yours looks like one of the many species called a zipper spider or yellow garden spider. They spin a hell of a web, but they're harmless to humans and eat a ton of bugs.

    The wasp looks like a mud dauber. She's probably building a number of clay tubes under the eaves of your house or a nearby structure. It's a relatively friendly parasitoid that doesn't bother humans much but is a Ridley Scott nightmare for spiders. She's going to spend the summer filling those tubes with paralyzed spiders and laying eggs in them. Your new zipper buddy up there might be big enough to be safe, but it seems like a bad neighborhood for any of her kids.

    Jedoc on
    GDdCWMm.jpg
  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    Ok I've got two!
    First is this terror who has her web over the window preventing my escape.
    loe15as1rw5c.jpg

    And the second is this guy who is hunting me where I hide.
    ylmm2xk6fskz.jpg
    I think I've identified the first as Ithaqua who can control snow and ice and walk on air as easily as if it were land.

    The second I'm not as sure of, might it be Shub-Niggurath black goat of the woods and mother to a thousand young?

    This is likely my final entry...

    It was good to know you, but, take some comfort in this fact as you're embraced in the gibbering madness of the old ones:

    Y͕̻ͯ̑ͧ̈́ͮͨͯo̦̰͈̼̘͔̿͐͛̃u ̯̯̹̟̰̹̓̌ͧ̍̄̿͗w͇͐̐̉͋e͔̹͑ͭ́r͉̭̺͔̖̋e͎̻̥̲̼͊͆ͪ̓͋͒ ̰̙ͫͤͦe̮͕͇̱̗ͪ̈ͦ̾̆a̙͓̍ͅt̠͈ͦ̔̚ĕ̖̜͓̭̽̾̚n͔̗̦̱͈̘̋̽ ̔́ͫf̮̘̈͌̉ͮͦi̥͈r̟̠͙͗͒͗̄͐ͪs͎̘̬̫͓̞͖̃ͫͦ̇̐͗t͎̖̗̱̗̓ͯͯ̔ͤͮ
    .

  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    edited August 2018
    The first is the common black and yellow garden spider, aka "The writing spider".
    The second is a mud wasp, a member of the thread-waisted wasps family.

    Your home has obviously been selected as the arena for this years duel to the death, since mud wasps favorite food is spiders (and armed with a paralytic venom she only needs a single sting to paralyze and kill spiders three times her size), while the writing spider has an ideal defensive strategy in her very strong web, which is capable of catching and holding a mud wasp easily.

    This is a match which will be settled by whomever gets the first good hit.

    Fiendishrabbit on
    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    edited August 2018
    You can tell that it's not a Golden orb weaver due to the zig zag pattern in the web. They're very similar, but of the two only the writing spider makes that web pattern.

    Fiendishrabbit on
    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    Ok. I'm off to wiki-edit. Because the wiki on writing spiders is a mess of misinformation.

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
  • italianranmaitalianranma Registered User regular
    This thread is fun. It makes me want to go pokemon-style hunting for photos of weird bugs nearby.

    飛べねぇ豚はただの豚だ。
  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    P.S: The names should have been switched. The writing spider should have been Shub niggurath, because while mud wasps lays perhaps a dozen eggs at most the writing spider can lay up to 5000 eggs. Shub-Niggurath and her thousand young indeed. While Ithaqua "walks the sky as easily as land".

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
    Spider. Save the spider. Generally speaking spiders good wasps bad.

    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    Eh. Mudwasps are in general very non-aggressive and an important part of controlling spiderpopulations.
    Besides, in general the deck i stacked in favor of the writing spider. Argiope spiders spin some of the stronger webs among spiders, and its web is strong enough to resist a mudwasp.

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
  • RendRend Registered User regular
    I mean as long as we've got this thread, what about this eight legged thing?
    Southern california. It doesn't look to me like it's anything dangerous but I wanted to be sure. Googling "red spider dark butt" didn't give me very much unfortunately. It was pretty small, maybe the size of a dime.
    z85qqwda6mvd.jpg

  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    edited August 2018
    Could be a young hacklemesh weaver? I can't see its pedipalps, but if it has clublike pedipalps it's a hacklemesh spider.
    If it instead has really long and narrow (almost scorpionlike) pedipalps it's probably a woodlouse hunter.

    Not sure.

    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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