Can you help us identify this crazy, creepy bug we found on the front porch today? It was about 2" long with antennae included.Update: Awesome Aunt Pat is working on this for us! We forgot...Uncle Bob is a bird guy, not a bug guy! Good thing we have such smart, talented aunties and uncles!!
The verdict: According to Aunt Pat, it appears to be a Giant Spine-headed Bug (Acanthocephala Diclivis)! How cool is that?! Thanks Aunt Pat!
7 comments:
I'm working on an ID of your bug - and I believe it is a true bug (Hemiptera). Insects are not Uncle Bob's thing - though he did help me collect insects when I took entomology at Cornell. What a guy.
More later, I hope.
Your other Aunt Pat
OK - I think I've got it. It's the 4th instar of the Giant Spine-headed Bug (Acanthocephala diclivis). By the time it reaches full adulthood, those eyespots on the back will disappear.
Aunt Pat...if you could come back with stories about how these are super dangerous, maybe even deadly, bugs it could make me look pretty tough!
Thanks, Paul
I'll check, Paul. Am I to assume you did the poor bug in as you defended hearth and home?
I did some investigating. Sorry, Paul. They're plant-eaters. Our bugs are much more interested in nibbling on your zucchini than your children.
However, in your defense, how could you have known that?
Oh, and Uncle Bob was a fish guy at Cornell. If you need any fish identifications, he's your man.
:)
XXOO
Aunt Pat
No harm came to the bug...after all I might come back as a Acanthocephala diclivis :) I did pick it up with a piece of mulch.
Oh good ... I'm so glad to hear our Acanthocephala will progress to adulthood.
Did you have a good visit with Jack and Penny?
Pat
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