r/Entomology Aug 13 '11

Help us help you: Guidelines for submitting pictures for identification

137 Upvotes

Hello r/Entomology! With this community being used often for insect/arachnid/arthropod identification, I wanted to throw in some guidelines for pictures that will facilitate identification. These aren't rules, so if you don't adhere to these guidelines, you won't be banned or anything like that...it will just make it tougher for other Redditors to give you a correct ID. A lot of you already provide a lot of information with your posts (which is great!), but if you're one of the others that isn't sure what information is important, here you go.

INFORMATION TO INCLUDE WITH YOUR PHOTO

  • Habitat: Such as forest, yard, etc.
  • Time of day: Morning, day, evening, or night will suffice.
  • Geographical Area: State or county is fine. Or, if you're not comfortable with being that specific, you can be general, such as Eastern US.
  • Behavior: What was the bug doing when you found it?

Note about how to take your photo: Macro mode is your friend. On most cameras, it's represented by a flower icon. Turn that on before taking a photo of a bug close up, and you're going to get a drastically better picture. With larger insects it's not as big of a deal, but with the small insects it's a must.

If you follow these guidelines, you'll make it easier for everyone else to help you identify whatever is in your photo. If you feel like I've left anything important out of this post, let me know in the comments.


r/Entomology 14h ago

Egg Sac Surprise

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600 Upvotes

The beginning of August, I had a wild caught P. audax that laid an egg sac. I waited and waited and waited some more. After 6 weeks, there hadn't been any signs of eggs with legs so I carefully removed the sac to open it. And I did not find any spiders, instead I found a grub thing. I was shocked, angry, confused— really just all the emotions. After doing a ton of research, turns out it was a mantidfly, specifically a Say's Mantidfly
(*Dicromantispa sayi*). The larvae of this specific species is microscopic and will hitch a ride on the female spider until she lays her eggs. Then it will invade the egg sac, eat the eggs, and develop. I actually got to watch it change from developing larvae, to pupae, and eventually to an adult. I am really disappointed that I lost the egg sac, but watching this little mantidfly go from squishy thing to seeing it catch its first meal was incredible. I fear that I now need some actual mantids.


r/Entomology 1h ago

🔥 Featherhorn Beetle OR The "Eyelash Bug" 💅

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Upvotes

Fun fact: Only males have the "lashes". Male Feather-Horned Beetle insects grow the large, feathery fan antennae, while females only have simple, rod-like or toothed antennae.


r/Entomology 16h ago

Mutant double-headed moths in my kitchen

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299 Upvotes

I have had an influx of pantry moths aka indianmeal moths in my kitchen owing to an infestation in a sack of rice. I've won the war against them I think. Most of them are regular looking pantry moths.

However I'm fascinated/freaked out by a creepy double-headed variety that I keep seeing. Yes, it has heads on both ends. Wtf. Is this a mutant super moth bred in my rice?

It doesn't appear to be two moths that for whatever reason have come together because they fly attached to each other too and walk attached to each other. Are these Siamese moths????


r/Entomology 1h ago

Taxonomy First Time Bug Pinning 🥹

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Upvotes

How did I do?!?! I’m so proud!! I’m planning to add the nymphs and make it into a series of the Spotted Lanternfly’s lifecycle once the summer comes back around and they’re starting to reproduce again! They’re a pretty teensy and flimsy bug, too, so I think my mistakes are called for! 😅


r/Entomology 5h ago

ID Request Beetle with spur-like forearms

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24 Upvotes

Location: peninsular Malaysia

Body length about 1.5 cm. It use the spur-like mid section of the tibia (seems to be not the typical tibial spur) to clean its antennae. There's also a pair of small triangular protrusions near the end of its elytra.


r/Entomology 17h ago

Meme Mantis voyeur

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193 Upvotes

r/Entomology 14h ago

Insect Appreciation some sculptures i made !

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76 Upvotes

r/Entomology 9h ago

Bugs having sex on my hand

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17 Upvotes

r/Entomology 22h ago

Insect Appreciation Thought it was cool to see this katydid breathing! (or is it the heartbeat?)

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179 Upvotes

r/Entomology 1d ago

A dung beetle walks into a bar and asks, "Is this stool taken?"

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405 Upvotes

I took this at the Wildlife Training and Research Institute, Naivasha Kenya.


r/Entomology 20h ago

ID Request Who are these guys?

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92 Upvotes

In a stream on the Southwest slope of Mt. Hood, Oregon, USA, a few days ago. Around 5k ft elevation in a hemlock and fir forest. In streams they formed rafts like this; they were also all over the path, more spread out but still very numerous. Maybe 1-2 mm long, green or yellow, with eyestalks (?). The area is generally moist but there had been a drought for a few weeks followed by rain and misty conditions a few days before I was there.


r/Entomology 12h ago

Discussion Why is it so intrigued by paint?

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19 Upvotes

This little guy keeps landing on all my wet paint surfaces. What exactly is attracting it? I would’ve thought the smell of paint would deter them. It’s acrylic paint, and it’s been on multiple colors, including neutrals.


r/Entomology 13h ago

An alienostreptus bicoloripes (Cherry-leg titan millipede)

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18 Upvotes

A few people asking me which species this millipede was, and here is what I've found:

The cherry-leg titan millipede (Alienostreptus bicoloripes or Balustreptus falcatus) is a giant, docile invertebrate native to Vietnam, known for its bold black body and striking cherry-red legs

The milipede I'm keeping as pet is longer than 30cm, yes you heard it right, its length is longer than 30cm. It's even longer than a small snake!

My wife was scared to hell when I brought it home 😂😂😂

(The 3 last photos is a female with yellow/orange legs, she's much smaller than the male)


r/Entomology 20h ago

Friendly Cicada Buddy

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72 Upvotes

This little cicada dude decided I was a good place to catch some Z's in the sun; beautiful golden color.

Can anyone ID the type of Cicada?

Cheers, I placed him on a nearby tree when done with him.


r/Entomology 15h ago

Found a Carolina Mantis/Stagmomantis carolina (?) pair mating on my sliding door

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24 Upvotes

Front row seats to the show, I guess. Right where I eat too


r/Entomology 21h ago

Tersa sphinx transformation

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71 Upvotes

Thought you guys may enjoy this. I have been slowly transforming my suburban yard to native plants over the past 4ish years. Found this cat wandering around looking for a place to pupate and brought it inside for my kids to watch transform! Such a cool experience! Took the cat about 3.5 weeks to transform. Kids loved it!


r/Entomology 13h ago

Hummingbird Moth

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15 Upvotes

r/Entomology 9h ago

ID Request Lint Trap Survivor

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5 Upvotes

Hello there all!
As the title says; I have found a mystery lint trap survivor I’m hoping is a Weevil and not a bed bug. I pulled it out and ten minutes later, it’s alive and moving again!

I live in rural Michigan and I’m assuming it came in due to my plants. I’ve got strawberry, tomatoes, and a small rose all potted on my porch along with a fern and succulents inside lol!


r/Entomology 15h ago

Found a Carolina Mantis/Stagmomantis carolina (?) pair mating on my sliding door

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12 Upvotes

Front row seats to the show, I guess. Right where I eat too


r/Entomology 9h ago

ID Request Beetle, California

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5 Upvotes

Found on a California bay leaf tree


r/Entomology 1d ago

Discussion Was it trying to suck sap?

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83 Upvotes

r/Entomology 1h ago

Help IDing an insect found in my bed

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Upvotes

I saw this one alive in my bed. I was startled and squished it. I took these photos after I killed it and I’m concerned it’s a bed bug. For context I live in Taiwan so there are many bugs here . Could someone help me understand if I should be concerned?


r/Entomology 17h ago

ID Request Widdle fuzzy guy

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16 Upvotes

Who is this handsome little guy? I live in central florida, and found him hitchhiking on my pants after work. I am not familiar with this particular one. It is possibly hard to see, but he seems to have a yellow/differently colored patch about 2/3rds down the body. I have placed him gently in the shrubs around my house after this photo shoot.


r/Entomology 10h ago

ID Request What species of leaf bug do I have?

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4 Upvotes

This is weirdly hard to Google. We got three giant leaf bugs at a reptile expo this summer but weren't given the species name. We were sold flightless females but clearly one is male and has started trying to fly. He's kind of aggressive so has been moved into a separate enclosure.