It is scientific tradition, when giving the Latin name of an organism, to follow it, in parentheses, with the name of its discoverer: hence, many Latin names are followed by, say, (Linnaeus), or even just (L), for Carolus Linnaeus, who named so many things. The shiny flea beetle, Asphaera lustrans, was formally named by George…
Tag: Cucujiformia
Neoclytus mucronatus
Alas, this gorgeous beetle (Latin name Neoclytus mucronatus) does not have a common name. It’s a longhorn beetle, but that really doesn’t narrow it down past the family (Cerambycidae). A bunch of its cousins have common names like “ash borer”, but this doesn’t. What this beetle needs to be called is a wasp-mimic beetle, because,…
Pennsylvania Flea Beetle
Flea beetles (as you may guess after seeing those big, folded, hoppy hind legs) are known for their prodigious jump. In general, they aggravate gardeners by making holes in leaves. This particular species, the Pennsylvania flea beetle (Disonycha pensylvanica) however, prefers wetland areas and not eating human crops. This ~5mm beetle has a black head,…
Flat-Faced Longhorn Beetle (Ecyrus dasycerus)
I’ve found a few of these strange little gray beetles in this odd position — with their antennae folded back, their front half braced on the top of the boardwalk railing and their back half dangling off the side — and I wonder if they aren’t just doing their best to pretend to be part…
Myrmex Floridanus
This handsome little black weevil (about 5mm long), with white setae and a white stripe along the outer edge of the elytra is Myrmex floridanus, without a common name. As you may guess from the lack of a common name, this poor little dude has Wikipedia Stub Syndrome. Weevils in general are vegetarians, sometimes to…
Asian Lady Beetle
I grew up calling these “ladybugs”, too, but, technically, Harmonia axyridis, and other lady beetles, are not true bugs. H. axyridis, also known as the harlequin lady beetle, Halloween lady beetle, Asian lady beetle, or multicolored Asian ladybeetle, is native to eastern Asia, but was introduced to Europe and North America in order to control…
Tumbling Flower Beetle
This beetle is so tiny (approximately 2-3mm long) that I wasn’t even sure it was an insect when I snapped its photo. This minuscule insect is a tumbling flower beetle, or pintail beetle, in the family Mordellidae. These beetles all share the long, pointed abdomen extending past the elytra, the bent-over posture with the angle…
Oak Leaf Rolling Weevil
Meet Homoeolabus analis, the oak leaf rolling weevil! These attractive little weevils (I love weevils) with black bodies and red elytra are named for their habit of rolling up oak leaves (a process called nidification — the rolls themselves are called nidi, singular: nidus) to protect their eggs and larvae. It’s actually a pretty complex…
Globe-Marked Lady Beetle
This little gray lady beetle with black spots is the globe-marked lady beetle, Azya orbigera. It’s found in North and South America, and in Oceania, and…that’s about all we know, which is kind of a shame. The larvae are fluffy little white things that look like mealyworms.
Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle
This globular, yellow creature is the larva of a swamp milkweed leaf beetle, Labidomera clivicollis. Leaf beetles, in the family Chrysomelidae, tend to be named after the plants on which they specialize; as you may guess, the swamp milkweed leaf beetle eats the leaves of the swamp milkweed plant, Asclepias incarnata. These larvae will grow…
Cottonwood Leaf Beetle
Meet the cottonwood leaf beetle, Chrysomela scripta. These charming little beetles are about 6mm long. They are red, orange or yellow with black spots/broken black lines on the elytra, and a reddish or yellow margin on the thorax. Both adults and larvae really love leaves, to the point of skeletonizing them, and are serious defoliators…
Blapstinus Fuscus
This petite (8mm) black beetle, Blapstinus fuscus, was late to a party somewhere on my driveway, but still paused to let me catch a photo. Ordinarily I’d refer to this by its common name, “darkling beetle”, but “darkling beetle” refers to the entire family, Tenebrionidae, and eventually this page would have 12 billion photos in…
Twice-Stabbed Lady Beetle
Although the common names for this kind of tiny round beetle include “ladybird” and “ladybug”, the correct term is “lady beetle”. This is neither a bird nor a bug (“bugs” technically refers to an order of insects, of which the lady beetle is not a member). The common name (“twice-stabbed lady beetle”) actually refers to…
Diaprepes Root Weevil
The gloriously iridescent diaprepes root weevil (Diaprepes abbreviatus) is, of course, an invasive species (native to the Caribbean) that infests crops — citrus, to be precise — and is therefore a pest, etc., etc. (I get so tired of reading that under every insect description! It’s not the weevil’s fault that it likes all the…
Mango Seed Weevil
A mysterious, 3mm sphere stuck to my front door turned out to be a mango seed weevil, Sternochetus mangiferae. I’m afraid I had to bother him to figure out what he was — his distinctive, weevil-ular “snout” is hidden under his body, making him difficult to identify. Apparently that’s standard for his subfamily, Cryptorhynchinae, the…
Sri Lankan Weevil
This diminutive Muppet is, unfortunately, an exotic, invasive pest which arrived in Florida around the year 2000 and is quietly eating its way through native, ornamental, vegetable and fruit plants. The adults eat the leaves; the larvae eat the root systems. Alas! Everything cute is terrible and evil. The Sri Lankan weevil (either Myllocerus undecimpustulatus…