Recently I got an “ask an entomologist” question that both stumped me and I got wrong. Not only did I get it wrong, but so did the two different colleagues I asked for opinions from too.

Tim wrote:

What in the WORLD is this? I found it in the toilet water after I urinated. I’m dead serious….is this from my toilet, or from my OWN BODY??? I can’t get a straight answer from ANYONE. PLEASE HELP!!!

Thanks.

So, if it tells you how tunnel-visioned my mind is about insects right now, my first thought was it was some kind of funky mite I had maybe never seen before. I forwarded on the picture and description to two other entomologists. One responded and said I needed to take a better invertebrate course ( ) because it was a planarian (flat worms). The other responded saying it might be a walking stick, ahem, just kidding… he had the same thoughts about it being a mite.

So, after looking at pictures of planarians, I thought sure, maybe it is just constricted and thats why it looks a little off. Or maybe it just isn’t a good enough picture. I wrote Tim back saying I thought it might be the flat worm.

Turns out that was a louse-y response. Tim wrote back saying he found out what it was…an Argulus, which is a gold fish louse. He said he remembered that they flushed a dead goldfish down the toilet (”burial at sea” tradition). So he checked their fish tank and what do you know…fish lice.

I’m no expert on crustaceans, so according to Wikipedia, Argulus belongs to Branchiura, which is a subclass of Crustacea that are entirely parasitic “lice” on fish. They are not a true louse (insect) since they are a crustacean. They attach themselves behind the fish’s operculum using modified mouthparts/antennae to form “a hooked, spiny proboscis armed with suckers”. They apparently feed on mucus, scales, and the internal fluids of the fish.

Tim was kind enough to send along some more pictures of the fish lice and their hosts:

Tim also said,

The black Mollie (the small, skinny one off to the left) is the ONLY one that is not infected with the fish lice. For now, anyway. I treated my tank with these tabs that look like alka-seltzer, and they fizzle on the bottom, and supposedly kill the parasites. I have a 40 gallon tank, so I had to drop 4 tabs in, and repeat again in 48 hours for a total of 3 treatments (12 tabs). Then I have to try to remove the critters with a pair of tweezers. I don’t want to kill the fish if I don’t have to.

I learned something new, even if I missed that part during my invert classes. Not going to lie though, I always fancied the Insecta much more than Crustacea.

I’m tempted to take a poll and see how many other of my colleagues would fail at answering this question correctly.

What is the scientific difference between a grasshopper and a cricket? We live in Beijing and they have this “Guoguo” of giant grasshopper which makes a very significant sound. Please look it up at you tube they have a video.

Do grasshoppers and crickets hibernate?

Thanks Anita in Beijing

Well, to me, the Guoguo looks like a katydid and not a grasshopper. Grasshoppers, katydids and crickets all belong to the order Orthoptera, which has variable body size, chewing mouthparts, well-developed compound eyes, and most have 2 pair of wings. The orthoptera can then be divided into two groups, one which is the grasshoppers (Caelifera) and the other contains the katydids and crickets (Ensifera).

Grasshoppers have short antennae, short ovipositors, less than 3 segments on the tarsi and the tympana is found on the abdomen. Crickets and katydids have really long antenna, more than 3 segments on the tarsi, long, sword-shaped ovipositors, and the tympana found on the forelegs.

Whether they hibernate or not would depend on where and which species you are talking about. Generally though, no, the adults die when the freezing temperatures come and it is the eggs that over winter and then hatch in the late spring/summer.

Well I got scolded by my little sister saying I haven’t been updating regularly on the site. I’ll admit, I’ve been busy with work and trying to buy a house in the current market. Haven’t been keeping my camera on me lately.

But, some of you have kept your cameras with you and have steadily been sending ‘Ask an Ento’ questions. A lot of the questions have been about bug identifications.

Lisa wrote:

Hi I was just wondering if I could send a picture of this bug I found on my windshield the other day. It looked like some sort of bee/wasp except it was very long(2 or 3 inches). It was black and yellow with wings, and its stinger had to be an inch or so long. I was in the VA Beach area, and I’ve seen nothing like that before. I’ve looked on many websites, and I cannot find an insect like it.

I really like that photo and its of a megarhyssa parasitoid ichneumon wasp. They use those very long ovipositors to drill into trees to lay their eggs on developing woodwasp larvae. Kind of funny pic because you usually see those bugs in the woods…and from the pic it looks like this little lady got a little lost.

Another reader, Annie, asked about the following:

I found your blog by googling “ask an entomologist” haha. I’m one of those “what is this bug in my house?” people. I found some sort of unusual beetle (I think) and was wondering what it was as I’ve never seen it around here before (here being NJ). I took a picture of it after putting it on our porch. I am just curious what it is and hoping they don’t take over my house. I’ve only seen a few over the past couple
months but they don’t seem dangerous, just slowly strolling along.

That is not a beetle, but a stink bug. They have glands in their thorax that produce the ’stink’ part of their name. The liquid they produce is part of their defense mechanism against predators. They use a long piercing-sucking mouth`part to feed on plant juices.

Wesley wrote:

We recently had an infestation of fruit flies in our apartment in New York City. I understand it has something to do with the time of the year. But when I squashed some of them (I eventually killed them all, dear me), I noticed they had red blood. Question: do they have red blood or were they somehow feeding on us?

The red stuff wasn’t blood from the insect or the humans…it was likely the red pigment in the eyes of the flies, and as you know, fruit flies often have red colored eyes. Didn’t know bugs had pigment in their eyes, did you??

Randy Asks:

“This past weekend, while insect collecting in Reidsville NC, I came across ants carrying other ants. Now each of the ants appeared to be about the same size. All appeared to be carrying other ants and they were all heading in the same general direction. Given my curious nature, I took a stick and separated a few of the sets. Each of the two ants quickly found each other again and one of the two assumed a fetal position while the other picked it up and then went along its way. I read a little over the weekend about slavery especially in a pupa state and slavery with other ants but the size difference was expected to be greatly different. Each appears to be the same species but, at my age vision isn’t great. I did go back two days and the frenzy continued. Pretty neat! Anyway, I was able to collect several sets. Maybe you could identify or direct me to where I can learn more? I am going to take these to work and see if I can identify using the scope and by book by Fisher & Cover.”

Ant behavior is actually very complex and way cool. You may have observed slave maker ants. Slave making ants oppress other species of ants and make them sustain their own colony. Slave makers use 2 different methods to take over another colony. They either raid the colony and take the eggs and pupae or the slave making queen will go into the other colony and kill the resident queen and take over.

The slaves support their masters by providing food, tending to the queen, and raising the young. The slaves literally do all the work…even carry their masters if they move the colony. This may be what you observed, Randy. The literature I have read suggests that captors make slaves out of closely related species of ants. So, I don’t know that there would always be a size difference like what you read about.

Photo by Alex Wild at Myrmecos.net

Now if they were indeed the same species than it could be ants of the same colony engaging in nestmate transportation. Alex over at Mrymecos.net may be able to add his two cents to this post as I am sure he is much more knowledgeable in ant behavior than I am.

Well this week I thought the apocalypse was happening after we had a really bad lightening storm and the morning after I awoke to find a snapping turtle in my driveway. Turns out the snappers are laying their eggs right now. So no apocalypse.

The bugs are really popping this week since it has been in the 80’s. Below is a handsome American carrion beetle (Necrophila americana).

A tortoise beetle

I am strangely entertained by insects that eat other insects. I think insects that prey on other six-legged creatures are grossly overlooked when thinking about things that eat bugs or control populations.

Next is a milkweed beetle. When I put her in my jar she must of got the hint of her impending doom because she starting laying eggs on the side.

And finally, I can’t pass up a moment with a pretty flower.

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*edit*
Almost forgot a picture from this week…a male scorpionfly

Tristan:

I am trying to figure out what is going on in this picture which shows wing expansion in a Conopid fly - do you have any idea what the structure on the head is?

That is an excellent photo and you found a fly that just eclosed from it’s pupal case. That structure is called the ptilinum, it aids the adult from breaking out of the pupal case. That structure is only used at the time of emergence from the puparium and is membranous sac that inflates and is pumped up with hemolymph using special muscles. After emerging, the fluid and the sac is retracted back in the head and the muscles degenerate.

You got to admit it, flies are pretty darn cool. Or I might just have an affinity towards them…

No one in particular has asked this question yet, though I have received a lot of emails from people asking how to control different insect pests in their homes. I figured some of you might be curious as to what I battle and how.

My own woes come from flies and those darn lady bird beetles that I am sure many of you wage war against in your own homes.

They have been EVERY WHERE in my house lately, driving me nuts, which is hard to do for someone who loves bugs. At first, I had just been ignoring them and letting them be. But it has gotten out of hand now…Im stepping on them, they are in the cat’s water bowl, UGH! Too much…

The one thing that almost anyone can tell you about insect behavior is that insects are attracted to light. For that reason, I went out and bought sticky traps that you place on your windows.

And what do you know…they work great! And, they only cost about a buck or so for a pack of 4. How do you beat that?

William asks:

My Friend and I were curious as to why bugs were getting smaller as time goes on. His theory was that the bugs required more oxygen as they pull it directly into their pores and that since the purity of oxygen has changed, they have gotten smaller as a result. I obviously disagree saying that standard evolution shows we get smaller and smarter as time progresses. Let me know what you think.

I had a post in the very beginning of this website that briefly touched on this question. There were several comments from different readers who offered other theories.

The reason I posted this question was to reopen the discussion for people to comment on. That way, you are not just getting my opinion, but hopefully others too.