Insect Picture of the Day

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James R. Newman perfectly captures the saw-toothed wheel on the back of this wheel bug,which is one of the largest species of assassin bug. He has this to say:

I was out in the back yard, playing with the new camera (you know:
“Shiny!”) when I caught a hint of movement on the dog’s old water bowl.  It
was this assassin bug, which had apparently decided that if it moved slowly
enough, I wouldn’t notice.  It didn’t move any faster as I got closer, but
the antennae did move a bit more, like it was trying to figure out what the
large circle in front of it was.

Great shot, James! Thanks!

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Andrew Lin stops time for a moment with this great picture of a bee in flight.

Ready for some gratuitous science? Order Hymenoptera contains ALL of the stinging insects: ants, wasps, and bees. Other insects may bite or pinch, and many have venom, but Hymenoptera contains all of the ones that inject venom with a stinger.

(I guess scorpions also inject venom with a stinger, but ah-ha! They are not insects!)

The next bit surprised me, though: ants, wasps and bees all have completely different venoms. Bees inject a peptide molecule containing 26 amino acids. It’s a complicated molecule, but it’s very pretty in its own right. Check it out: it’s called melittin. The molecule is even shaped kind of like a stinger….

Melitten, like acetylcholine in wasp venom, is a neurotransmitter agent. It’s not a neurotoxin; its doesn’t poison or damage nerves. What it does is cause pain receptors to fire uncontrollably. This part of the venom is literally liquid pain. Bees and wasps also inject copious amounts of histamine. That part of the venom is literally liquid allergic reaction.

You know antihistamines? Histamine is the stuff that antihistamines fight. When you get around something that causes allergies, your body produces histamine which causes flushing, swelling and itching. Antihistamines prevent the production of histamines, which in turn makes life bearable for people with hayfever like me. When a bee or wasp stings you, it injects histamine directly into the skin, causing an immediate allergic response.

Great photo, Andrew. Thanks!

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Everyone give an extra special InsectPOD welcome to Kristie Belding, who sent in this picture of stick bugs that are… ahem… racing. You knew that, right? They’re racing. If you leaned in real close to the small male on top, he’d say “Oh yeah, you wouldn’t believe what this baby will do in the quarter mile.”

Walkingsticks are a bit like earwigs in that they’re not related to anything besides each other. You go up from Order Phasmatodea, the walkingsticks, and bam! You’re at Class Insecta.

This pair are Anisomorpha buprestoides, or two-striped walkingsticks. I arrive confidently at this identification because there are only two species of walkingstick in North America, and Anisomorpha buprestoides is the one that has stripes. Oh, and it’s also the one that occurs in Texas, and I happen to know Kristie lives in Houston.

Thanks, Kristie!

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You thought we were all done with butterflies, didn’t you? Well, silly you. They’re still out in force and Jesse Moore is still photographing them.

I need to sit down and learn a general guide to butterflies, see what the major groupings are among them. A brief review of bugguide shows that they all belong to Superfamily Papilionoidea. At this point, I don’t even know what papilions are, or what a bad case of papilionoids looks like. More research ahead!

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Now this is a refreshing change: these are not european paper wasps! Jesse Moore sends in today’s photo. He says he apologizes, but this is as close as the telephoto lens could get him and there’s no way he was going to actually get himself near those bugs. I blame him exactly this much: not at all.

Yellowjackets belong to genus Vespula, and though I do not know the species yet there is some very telling behavior here: hornets collect sugars during Spring and Summer for the quick energy it gives them to fuel their foraging and explorations. Later in the year, they’ll switch to a protein-based diet because they want to stock up on slow-burning fuel to make it through the Winter. From this we know the picture was taken in the first half of the year. You can try this experiment at home (or, at least, at your next picnic): When the hornets show up to pester you, watch what foods they go for. At your Memorial Day picnic, they’ll be getting in everyone’s soft drinks. At the Labor Day picnic, they’ll be all over the hamburgers and hotdogs.

You’ll probably need the larger version to really differentiate the species, but yellowjackets have straight black antennae while epw’s have bent yellow antennae. There is also a specific pattern to the black and yellow bands, but I can tell you from experience that you can’t just be told what banding patterns mean what. I confidently identified every flying yellow thing as Vespula germanica for several months after seeing pictures in a guidebook. My wife made me stop when she tossed me a banana and I screamed.

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NOM NOM NOM

This zebra spider, Salticus scenicus, enjoys a midmorning snack on the side of my house. She’s eating one of the gajillion midges that plague my subdivision.

You can tell she’s female because she’s so fat, which just goes to show how insensitive you are. I, on the other hand, can tell she’s female because she is so very, very pregnant.

Leave her alone already. She’s eating for two.

…hundred.

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Taking a cue from my buddy Earl I took the shot while on vacation at Disney World.   Actually, I took lots of bug pictures while on vacation in Florida, because it seems they grow them bigger down there.  Much bigger.

Aren’t the markings on this dragonfly absolutely awesome?  She was just sitting there in the stairwell as I was heading out for a swim.  I brought my camera with me everywhere since I’m the consummate tourist while on vacation, and I was so glad that I did!  It’s not often I get this close to such a big bug!  Here in Delaware, most dragonflies are about 2-3 inches long, and pretty skinny.  This dragonfly was easily bigger than that, and thick around as a pencil!  Amazing!

I usually try to give in-depth information about the insects that I put on the site, but I think this time around I’m just going to let the picture speak for itself.  Click on it and see it full-sized to see all the really neat detail in its patterning and wings!

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Guys, meet Jerry Armstrong. Jerry, meet the rest of the InsectPOD readership. All of you, meet one big freakin’ moth.

Jerry reveals the secret of this amazing photo:

Rich Jakiel and I were taking images of insects that were clinging to my patio glass door. A very large Imperial moth flew up and settled onto the glass. From inside, I was able to take this ultra close-up with a macro lens attached to a Nikon D40. The trick was using a manual setting to get the best depth of field. The photo was taken from Winston, GA on July 27, 2008.

Wow, Jerry. Just… I mean… wow.

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This picture was taken by Andrew Lin as he tried to feed his son to a robberfly.

I have to give you full marks for creativity, Andrew, but I’m not really sure you thought this one all the way through. It’s a simple question of weight ratios, really.

Andrew also says that the stain on the pants was probably there before the fly even landed, but since the picture was taken “while we were doing the diaper thing” it does present a rather amusing coincidence of position.

I find this fly’s willingness to approach humans interesting. What was he thinking? (I’m pretty sure it’s a he: the abdomen ends in a tufty bit rather than  slender ovipositry bit.) Was he thinking ahead, and hunting the flies that would be attracted to the fresh smell of “the diaper thing”? Was he really thinking ahead, and cruising for the lady robberflies who would be thinking ahead and hunting those flies?

Or was that coincidental stain not a coincidence at all? Maybe it was just too far to the next robberfly rest stop, so he figured he’d land by the diapered kid and nobody would be the wiser, because, you know, gigantic human making a huuuge mess right here already? Ha! It’s the perfect crime! No one will ever know—

…except that there’s Andrew, with a camera.

Ahh, I see it all now, Andrew. You weren’t trying to feed your son to the robberfly! Perish the very thought. It was all an elaborate sting operation. And you got it all on film, right there. In the act, as it were.

Hey, they got the mafia Dons for tax evasion, right? No less brave is Andrew here, catching robber flies for vandalism!

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Jesse Moore went back out looking for those bugs later, and found this assassin bug. He has this to say:

This time, I have some good shots of what I am fairly sure is a Bee Assassin Bug (Apiomerus crassipes).  I was definantly hunting in the time I observed it.  Unfortunately, it did not catch anything though.

He also tracked down yesterday’s bug and identified it as  a wheel bug nymph. (”Wheel bug” is a common name for one of the largest species of assassin bugs.)

Jesse included this awesome phrase in one of his emails: “if you decide not to use these I would appreciate some critique on how I can improve.”

Yes, I have some advice: Keep doing what you’re doing. It’s working.

Thanks, Jesse!