Technically, “longlegged fly” describes the family, not this individual species, but that’s the common name for Condylostylus longicornis. This small, iridescent green fly with red eyes is tiny — about 5mm (I need a better measurement, I describe everything as 5mm) — and fast! This individual really, really wanted to sit on that plant, but…
Category: Insects
June Bug / May Beetle
Technically, this is neither a June bug nor a May beetle as I found this individual in April. It is not a true bug; it is instead a scarab beetle, Phyllophaga sp. Alas, further identification would require me becoming very personal with this little guy, and, as always, I prefer not to damage my photo…
Omolicna Joi
The identification here makes me nervous, since Omolicna joi was only recently discovered (2014) and the pattern on the wings on this little dude/ette really reminds me of the much more common citrus flatid planthopper, Metcalfa pruinosa. I always try to assume that I’ve found the more common/boring species, because who the hell am I…
Palpada Pusilla
Another fly with no common name. Do I make a “hoverfly” page which will eventually have 6,000+ photos in it, or a separate page for each species of hoverfly? Decisions, decisions. Meet Palpada pusilla, a fly in the family Syrphidae. Syrphid flies, (or flower flies, or hoverflies), are generally beneficial pollinators as adults, eating primarily…
Grizzled Mantid
Also known as the lichen mimic mantid or Florida bark mantid, Gonatista grisea is very well camouflaged — I would never have noticed this 10mm baby if it had not moved! (When it’s grown, it will only be about 35-40mm long.) Their coloring resembles that of lichen, and they are practically invisible on tree bark….
Bothriocera Cognita
This tiny, black and white spotted cixiid planthopper does not seem to have a common name. Bothiocera cognita is about 3-5mm long, and appears to range through the southeastern US. Other than that, it’s a nondescript little planthopper, without even a Wikipedia entry. Planthoppers, in general, live on, and eat plants, eating the roots as…
Flatoidinus punctatus
How do these crazy little bugs (these are true bugs, too) not have a common name? Flatoidinus punctatus is one of (it feels like, having looked for this guy on bug-guide.net for hours) hundreds of very similar, but not identical, hopping insects in the family Flatidae. Hoppers generally have a strong, pointy proboscis hidden under…
Oak Beauty Caterpillar
There is a surprisingly large number of moths in the family Geometridae whose caterpillars “look like a stick”. Beyond that very general description, the caterpillars have huge variation: little pinstripes, big, bold black markings, warts and bumps and protuberances, and generally it is very difficult to pin down just which Geometrid moth caterpillar, or inchworm,…
Episemasia cervinaria caterpillar
Ordinarily I prefer using the common name as the title for the post, but this caterpillar, and the moth it will become, has no common name, and unfortunately “Geometrid Moth Caterpillar” does not narrow it down far enough. Its scientific name is Episemasia cervinaria. For those who follow Hodge nomenclature, this is Hodge #6714. When…
Blue-Winged Grasshopper
This photo was taken in Costa Maya in 2019. (I’m walking around visiting ancient ruins — Kohunlich, for the curious — and taking photos of insects. I know, I have problems.) These little red-and-black insects are juvenile (probably about second instar) blue-winged grasshopper nymphs (Tropidacris collaris) clustering together. As adults, they’ll be huge — up…
Slender Meadow Katydid Nymph
This is not an adult; it’s a mid-range instar (aka nymph, aka baby). You can tell because it has no wings — adults have long, reddish wings which extend past the end of their body. In a couple more molts/instars, the wings will emerge! This tiny little creature (about 5mm long) took a ride on…
Acrobat Ant
I love encountering entirely new species! I had never heard of an acrobat ant before I got a photo of this little (3mm!) lady. Acrobat ants get their name from their ability to raise their abdomen over their thorax and head when disturbed (you can kind of see this one lifting her butt at me…
Eastern Green Grass Springtail
This is an entirely new genus for me — and family — and class! These tiny little insects (only about 2mm long) are very common, but also extremely small, and they like to hide under decaying plant and animal matter so we don’t really see them much. This is the eastern green grass springtail, or…
Asiatic Garden Beetle
This 8mm long brownish scarab beetle is the Asiatic garden beetle (Maladera castanea). It is native to East Asia, but has established itself through most of the eastern United States as well. (Of interesting note is that it took nearly 100 years from first being spotted in New York to make its way down to…
Plant Bug Nymph
The only species in the genus Coccobaphes, Coccobaphes frontifer is an unassuming little bug — so unassuming that it doesn’t have a common name beyond “plant bug”, which actually encompasses the whole family, Miridae. Coccobaphes comes from the Greek for “berry colored”. This is a very small, probably first or second instar, nymph; the adult…