I’m trying to learn about centipedes, this chonky guy got ahold of my fingers while he was eating and I was cleaning stuff in his container… took me 5 minutes before this video, and then he turned to my hand. I slimed myself.
Chicago, IL, USA.
Fairly certain of the species, but I am not an entomologist.
This is my first time seeing one of these guys in action! Saw an insect perched on a plant ID tag on one of my pots and went to check it out, found this fella having a snack. A few minutes later, he flew away with the bee in tow.
First time seeing such interesting creature. It was really chill, tried to get it on my hand but it wasnt reacting much so i left it alone. This is in Lebanon
Found it on pance river, Cali, Colombia. Real stunning colors.
I know they have a painful pinch, it chose not to. It did choose to release some oil though, and it definitely smells like sour milk. I released it outside so that it may continue its search for caterpillars.
My dad found this guy in my hair the other night. I tried identifying it but can't for the life of me figure out what it is and i'm curious. I'm from Romania.
Texas Dallas. Area, half an inch long I’d say, I can get better pictures but I’m just freaking out
Took some pictures of this guy while trying to let him out the window. He came out and in a few times before we finally got him out, but he was a pretty chill guy, a very good hang lol. He is a katydid right? My pun was correct?
The pics aren't the best, but it looked like between the fuzzy parts it was blood red, and a greenish(?) face with a tiny horn? I've never seen this bfor. I only found it because it was making a fly buzzing sound behind the curtain. Live in South East Ohio
went to give my monstera a bath and this lil guy was enjoying hanging on a leaf, but then started to book it once I started taking video.
Found thousands of these thin small (~1mm) black bugs all over the house and in clothes. Haven’t identified a source yet. They can jump and appear to have wings but can’t get very far. I’m freaking out can anyone help identify what they are?
So this is what lacewing larvae look like at hatching!
Females lay eggs on top of thin, silken stalks. This unique structure suspends the eggs in the air. It protects them from crawling predators and hungry siblings.
Just before hatching, the eggs change color. They shift from a light green to a dark gray-white.
The larva uses a sharp head tool to cut the shell. It then emerges and climbs down the stalk.
Once on the plant, the larvae instantly look for food. They are highly aggressive hunters with large, sickle-shaped jaws.
These tiny predators devour aphids, mites, and thrips immediately. They inject venom to paralyze prey and suck out their fluids.
Now isn't that something?!
This is the amazingly cool Brown Wasp Mantidfly, Climaciella brunnea. Every year I go hunting for these amazing insects, and today I got super lucky and found almost 10 of these awesome insects amongst the milkweeds in a bluebird meadow in Short Hills Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada.
It was a bit tough amidst the heat, thistles and ticks trying to get video, but I still wanted to share a little of my encounter. I was so stoked to see so many mantidflies – in past years, seeing two or three was my total for the year!
You may ask why I titled this the "improbable" Mantidfly, but the why of that is what makes them so cool. In the larval stage, mantidflies wait for a spider to pass them by. Then they hitch a ride on the spider. If the spider happens to be a female that spins an egg case, the mantidfly larva will sneak into the egg case as the spider is spinning it. Then, safe in the silk enclosure, the mantidfly feasts on spider eggs. There, the mantidfly pupates, and emerges as an adult.
And what cool creatures the adults are! They look a bit like a cross between a praying mantis and a dark paper wasp (or other wasp in the Polistes genus) — they have the raptorial forelimbs of the mantis, and the colouration and general shape of the wasp. But they can't sting and they're totally harmless.
I often find them on milkweed, as they seem drawn to it. Perhaps it's that milkweed often attracts lots of insects, some of whom get stuck on the pollinia that the milkweed produces. Those stuck insects must prove an easy meal for the mantidfly. I've occasionally seen mantiflies with pollinia stuck to their feet — they must be strong enough to free themselves from those sticky pollen globs.
If food is scarce, like some other predators such as the ambush bug, the mantidfly can also eat a little nectar from the milkweed plants. However, that doesn't provide the complete nutrtition they need.
So, why improbable? Well when you think of everything about them — the mimicry (false aposematic colouration), the convergent evolution of the mantis-like forelimbs, their cool dietary options, the fact that to even get to adulthood they need to happen upon a female spider who happens to be about to create an egg case... I think the odds are against this odd but amazing little creature.
Sorry for the novel, but I just had to share cool facts about these awesome insects!