small bug infestation
Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
January 18, 2011 8:55 pm
Over the last 2 months, we’v e been finding these little critters dead on our floors. Looks like they’re getting in via cracks under door, or through flyscreens, etc.
We’ve never seen a living one – they’re always dead (we get the house sprayed every year) – but we can find up to a hundred dead on the floor every few days. (more close to a door, thinning out futher into a room). They are up to a centimetre in length. What are they ??
Hope you can shed some light.
Cheers,
Andrew.
Signature: Curious.

Lawn Shrimp

Dear Andrew,
These are known Lawn Shrimp or Househoppers, Arcitalitrus sylvaticus, a terrestrial Amphipod that is native to Australia.  They are not usually noticed until they enter homes in large numbers and promptly die.  According to BugGuide, the natural habitat is:  “Moist soil and organic matter within 13 mm of the surface, often among ivy or other ground covers, mostly eucalyptus. Their exoskelton has no waxy coating to keep moisture in, so they can’t survive dryness. They drown in water, though, so they need continuously moist, but not waterlogged conditions.“  The torrential rains and flooding in Australia we are reading about is causing the Lawn Shrimp to flee the landscaping around your home.  They are just coming in out of the rain.  BugGuide explains:  “These are rarely seen except when flooding or lack of moisture forces them to abandon their home in the soil in search for suitable conditions. At such times they often end up dieing on pavement or in homes and become a nuisance. Once they start appearing, there’s not much that can be done except to sweep them up- pesticides are pointless, bcause by then they’re already dieing or dead.  The best solution is to keep the numbers down the rest of the year by keeping the soil from staying too moist- in California, especially, they’re a sign of overwatering. Physical barriers like weather-stripping can also help to keep them out of homes, but their bodies are flat and narrow, allowing them to slip through surprisingly narrow cracks.“  Interestingly, we found more written about Lawn Shrimp on North American websites than on Australian websites.  You can read more about them on the Museum Victoria website where they are called Land Hoppers.

Lawn Shrimp

wow – thats fantastic. Thanks very much for tracking that down.
Now that I know what they are, it all makes sense and I know what we’ll need to do to help reduce their numbers.
Much appreciated, and many thanks Daniel.
cheers,
Andrew.

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jesus help me idenitfy this
Location: Orlando, Florida, Downtown.
May 29, 2011 12:31 pm
what is this? I live in orlando fl. this is the second wave of insects I find in my sun room. they’re always dead, and they appear overnight all over my floor.
I’ll make a donation if you can identify this.
Signature: guillermo navarro

Lawn Shrimp

Hi Guillermo,
Our earthly staff is at your assistance without any divine intervention.  You have Lawn Shrimp or House Hoppers, Arcitalitrus sylvaticus.  These terrestrial Amphipods are native to Australia, but they have been accidentally introduced to Southern California, and apparently Florida as well.  Lawn Shrimp are found in moist soil and organic substrate and they breed in well-watered landscaping.  They cannot tolerate flooded soil though, and when it rains, they often seek shelter indoors where they promptly dessicate in the drier conditions, causing them to die indoors in large numbers.  Reducing the amount of water you provide for you landscaping may help to reduce the population of Land Shrimp.

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shrimp beetle???
Location: Milford, CT
June 25, 2011 11:08 pm
I live in Connecticut and found this guy crawling on my floor. It was also making flipping movements like a shrimp! Never seen one before. Help!
Signature: freaked out

Lawn Shrimp

Dear freaked out,
This sure looks to us like a Lawn Shrimp or House Hopper, a terrestrial Amphipod native to Australia that has become established in California gardens and more recently, Florida gardens.  It is especially associated with gardens that are well watered and have eucalyptus trees and if conditions are right, they can become very plentiful.  See bugGuide for additional information. We doubt you will experience much of a problem in Connecticut with Lawn Shrimp, and it is our theory that perhaps you recently did some landscaping or purchased some plants from a nursery and that those plants may have originated in California, or possibly Florida.  It is doubtful that Lawn Shrimp will be able to survive your severe winter and we doubt they will become established.  This is most likely a single sighting and you should not be alarmed.

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Damselfly and a… Skipper?
Location: Parksville, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
November 27, 2011 4:05 am
Hi Bugman! Just wanted to let you know how much I love your site. I was reading your NRAs and was thoroughly amused by how little patience people have. Why, I didn’t get a response from my inquiry 4 years ago, and I’ve never ranted about it! Unfortunately, I’ve lost the pictures, but they were small, grey larvae with casings that were stuck to the wall. The casings were made of… lint and dust, if you can believe that. Could they have been resourceful bagworm larvae that found novel building materials?

Arctic Skipper

The pictures I’m posting are ones that I took spring/summer 2009, on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, in Parksville, B.C. The first is a damselfly (a blue?) I found casually devouring a sand flea. It was quite confident, and only departed one perch before deciding I could watch it finish its meal. The next two are of a Lepidopteran, which I’d really like an identification of. From its appearance and its flight pattern, I thought that it might be a skipper. The pictures really are as close as you might think; it let me get almost up to its face, and even graced me a few lovely poses before darting off. The photos are just a tiny bit blurry; my camera’s not good with closeups. If you’d like, I have more pictures to send!
Signature: Geoff

Arctic Skipper

Hi Geoff,
We have so many things to address in your letter.  First, we are happy to hear you are not holding a grudge regarding an unanswered email from four years ago, and even though there is not photo, we believe you are describing Case Bearing Moth Larvae, common insects found in homes.  We are very excited about your photos, as we believe they are the first submissions we have ever posted of an Arctic Skipper, Carterocephalus palaemon, which we identified in Jeffrey Glassberg’s excellent book Butterflies Through Binoculars The West where it is noted they are:  “marked rather like a miniature fritillary.”  BugGuide lists the range as:  “Central Alaska south to central California, south in the Rocky Mountains to northwest Wyoming, east across the Great Lakes states to New York and New England. Eurasia” and the habitat as:  “Glades and openings in heavily forested woods, moist meadows, and streamsides.”  We cannot determine the species identity of your Damselfly, but it makes a nice addition to our Food Chain tag.

Damselfly eats Sand Flea

Hi Bugman!
Thanks for your quick reply. It pleases me greatly that I was able to provide something new to your site.
I’m attaching 3 more pictures: the first is a full profile shot of the damselfly (hopefully, it might help with the identification); the second one is a close up of a cluster of spiderlings, probably of Argiope aurantia? The final one is of a jumping spider. Not technically bugs (or even insects!), but I thought I might send it in. All pictures were taken the same place as the skipper, along a rocky beach.
By the way, regarding the proposed case bearing moths, it was in Hong Kong that they were found (my friend took those original photos).
Geoff

Geoff,
please just one species per submission.  Also, could you use the standard form?
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/ask-whats-that-bug/
I wreaks havoc with our system to continue a dialog through email if that dialog requires a new posting.  We like to keep each post as a unique species.
Thanks
Daniel
P.S.  Case bearing moth larvae are found worldwide

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weird jumping bug
Location: UK (Cornwall)
March 17, 2012 8:54 am
Seen this in the garden for the last few years (once disturbed, they jump about, somewhat clumsily). As you can see, they look almost marine-like.
Signature: Ant

Lawn Shrimp

Dear Ant,
Your terrestrial amphipod, Arcitalitrus sylvaticus, has many marine relatives.  The species was accidentally introduced to various parts of the world from Australia, including “New Zealand, the British Isles, Florida and California” according to BugGuide.  These creatures proliferate in well watered gardens and they are commonly called Land Shrimp or House Hoppers.  The frequently enter homes during heavy rains, though they quickly dry out and die indoors.

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What bug is this?
Location: Sydney Australia
April 9, 2012 2:44 am
We found hundreds of these on the floor of our family room (all dead) next to two walls – from corner to corner.
Shiny gold/brown with a soft shell. Look like a giant flea.
Climate – warm. Fairly dry after 2 years of wet.
Signature: Mike of Epping

Land Hoppers

Dear Mike of Epping,
These terrestrial Crustaceans or Amphipods are native to Australia and they are known as Land Hoppers.  Most of our reports come from California and occasionally UK and Florida where the species has been introduced at the beginning of the twentieth century, or perhaps even earlier, most likely with the introduction of Australian plants that were imported to grow in foreign gardens.  In North America, Land Hoppers are known as House Hoppers or Lawn Shrimp.  They live and thrive in damp soil where they generally go unnoticed due to their drab coloration.  After heavy rains however, they often migrate in great numbers to drier areas like garages and homes where they promptly die and turn pink or red in color.  You may read more about Land Hoppers on the Victoria Museum website and on University of Florida IFAS website where their dampness requirements are explained as:  “Terrestrial amphipods live on the surface (top 1/2 inch) of mulch and moist ground. After rains, large numbers of amphipods can migrate into garages or under the doors of houses. There they soon die. Amphipods do not have a waxy layer on their exoskeleton as do insects. They lose or gain moisture from their environment. Too much of a water loss results in desiccation while too rapid a gain is also lethal. This is why they migrate out of rain-soaked soil to drier areas where they usually end up dying anyway. Most species are active at night.”

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Subject: green salt water beetle
Location: Strait of Juan de Fuca – Dungeness Spit
June 26, 2012 4:27 pm
We saw this bug under some rocks and it seemed unusual to us because we have never seen it in our area before. There were several colors ranging from the bright green to almost black.
Signature: Zak

Gribble

Hi Zak,
This is a type of Crustacean known as an Isopod and there are Isopods that are found on land as well as the marine variety.  Our favorite bit of information we learned upon doing additional research on your request is the common name Gribble on the E-Energy Market website which states:  “Once the scourge of the seven seas because of their appetite for wooden sailing ships, gribbles could hold the secret to turning wood into biofuels. British researchers say the enzymes in the guts of the tiny marine isopods could lead to a chemical process that can covert woody plant fibres into usable fuel.”  We continued to search and found the Feeding at Eagle Cove website that identified this green Isopod as Idotea wosnesenskii.  The Racerocks website of Pearson College has a wonderful page of information including:  “You can find it under rocks, under cobble at the edges of tide pools, in blades of seaweed, attached to floats and on eelgrass. Hangs onto holdfasts stalks, worm tubes and other objects. But the most common place is under rocks on the shore.”

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Subject: Rollie Pollies
Location: Caldwell, Idaho
October 29, 2012 7:51 pm
Dear Bugman,
I’m doing a bug collection for school, What is the scientific name for Rollie Pollies?
Signature: Kaesha

Woodlice

Dear Kaesha,
Your photos are so nice.  We wish they were of higher resolution.  Rollie-Pollie is a common name used for Woodlice or Pill Bugs, Crustaceans in the suborder Oniscidea.  You can see the taxonomy breakdown on Bugguide.

Ed. Note: We did a bit more research and as we suspected, these images were pilfered from the internet.  Our submission form contains a disclaimer:  “Also, you swear that you either took the photo(s) yourself or have explicit permission from the photographer or copyright holder to use the image.” We will be writing to the author of The Sweeting Spot to request permission to reproduce the photograph.  Plagiarism is an issue that we take very seriously.

Erika from The Sweeting Spot responds
Subject: Re: Rollie Pollie photo
Website: The Sweeting Spot
October 30, 2012 10:17 am
I received a message from Daniel a few moments ago about photo usage for a rollie pollie photo that I used on my personal blog a few years ago. I’m a bit embarrassed to say that I don’t own the photo – I thought I got it from a free stock photo website, but I could be wrong. It’s possible I may need to take it down as well! Sorry I couldn’t be more help.
Signature: Erika

Thanks Erica,
We looked at the metadata in the digital file and it does not exist.  I think we are both safe at this point.

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Subject: Did Santa Leave These?
Location: Glendora, California
December 26, 2012 3:31 pm
Dear Bug Expert,
Yesterday (December 25) we found 100 small specimens in our salt water swimming pool. They were crawling up the sides of the pool, but would lose traction and fall back down to the bottom. Today there are only a few left. They are more active when fished out of the pool and jumped around and scurried off. And so did we…
They are small shrimp-like creatures with legs under their bodies and antennae-like feelers. We saw light and dark colored specimens (light attached). Oak trees, a lemon tree and crepe myrtle trees are next to the pool. The specimens look somewhat like silverfish. Thank you!
Signature: Freaked Out Family of Bug Sighters

Lawn Shrimp

Dear Freaked Out Family of Bug Sighters,
You have Lawn Shrimp or House Hoppers, terrestrial amphipods that live in damp landscaping.  Interestingly, their exoskeletons absorb water, so if it is too wet, they will drown, but if it is too dry, they dessicate.  They are not native to Southern California, but they have naturalized in the well watered landscaping we support in Southern California.  They are generally not even noticed until there is a heavy rain and they seek shelter indoors.  Then they quickly dry up and die, leaving reddish carcasses.  Other than being a nuisance, they are not considered to be pests or dangerous.

Dear Bug Expert,
Thank you very much for answering our Christmas wish! So very prompt too. I called my adult children that had just left here and were on their way back to their own homes and they were relieved. My son in law actually was the one that Googled you and went into the very cold water to retrieve our specimen this morning. We have had a lot of rains lately, so assume that is why it happened, sorta freaked us out
Happy New Year to you and thank you for your help,
Not so Freaked Out Family of Bug Sighters

We are happy that we were able to clear up the mystery for you.

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Subject: What’s this bug?
Location: Drumheller, Alberta, Canada
February 10, 2013 8:43 pm
This bug was in the basement where I home brew my own beer. There is a lot of grain sitting around but all in sealed containers. Just wondering what kind of bug this is?
Signature: Neil

Woodlouse

Hi Neil,
This Woodlouse and its relatives were probably living in your basement long before it became a home brewery, but you probably didn’t notice them because you didn’t spend as much time there before.  Woodlice are terrestrial Amphipods that are classified as Crustaceans.  According to BugGuide:  “Woodlice need organic matter, which can be found in most soils, and they need cool moist conditions. Many places that might seem too hot and dry have cool hiding places where they can wait out the dryness and heat. Woodlice hide during the day anywhere cool and dark, so they’re easily when the items they hide in are moved. They can be found anywhere humans live and cool, moist conditions exist.”  BugGuide also notes that they eat:  “Plant material, usually dead. If live plants are soft and moist enough on the outside, they will eat them and sometimes do damage.”  Woodlice are also known as Pill Bugs and Rollie Pollies.

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Subject: aquatic bug
Location: Central Kentucky
March 22, 2013 2:53 pm
I found this bug in a small woodland stream today. I am located in Central Kentucky. The bug is alive and moving around and the current temp is 40 degrees. It has been below freezing at night for the past week.
Signature: A.Selter

Freshwater Isopod

Hi Guys,
I think I may have identified the bug via an old book I have, “Pond Life”, and BugGuide.net. I’ll call it an Aquatic Isopod Asellus. I didn’t locate a photo of this particular bug on your website so you can use mine if you like.
Thanks, Angela~

Hi Angela,
We didn’t realize you already found the identification.  Here is our response:
Dear A. Selter,
This is a Freshwater Isopod, a type of Crustacean that is distantly related to marine lobsters and crabs as well as terrestrial Pill Bugs or Rollie Pollies.  It seems to resemble the genus Asellus which is represented on BugGuide.

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Subject: Unidentified, Unusual Egg Case
Location: Southern Michigan
April 27, 2013 7:39 pm
Dear Bugman:
I found this unusual looking egg case, while hunting for fossils. It was in a crumbly, sedimentary boulder, along with dozens of sow bugs, which were exposed when I split the rock open. The eggs are visible as round bumps through the papery/silky covering. Was wondering if some type of spider made this, or another kind of arthropod such as the sow bugs?
Signature: Chris O

What’s That with the Sow Bugs???  A Spider Egg Case.

Dear Chris,
We do not recognize this thing, but we would not rule out a fungus.  We are posting this as unidentified and we hope that either we or our readership might find and answer for you.

Dear Daniel:  After looking all over the internet for similar photos & an answer, I found a link on Bug Guide which has an almost identical photo of this type of egg sac.  It appears to be the creation of a type of ground spider.  Species mentioned during my searching are gnaphosid, zelotes and corrinidae.  Here’s a link to the pic on Bug Guide:  http://bugguide.net/node/view/181688/bgpage

Dear Chris,
Thanks so much for following up on this posting.

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Subject: What is this bug?
Location: Wyoming
October 20, 2013 6:04 pm
I live in wyoming, the season is fall and these little bugs keep appearing in my basement bedroom. They almost look like flat pill bugs. Very tiny bugs, but there are so many of them.
Signature: Grossed out girl

Terrestrial Isopod

Dear Grossed out girl,
This is some species of terrestrial Isopod, and it is classified in the same Crustacean order as Pill Bugs, and that order is Isopoda.  See BugGuide for additional information.  Isopods tend to favor damp conditions, and perhaps climactic conditions in your area favored a surge in populations this season.

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Subject: House Bug – Is it a Bed Bug?
Location: Washington DC
November 13, 2013 9:00 pm
I found this on my wall, and poked it with my finger. It left a lot of liquid on the wall, making a stain. It is smaller than my smallest nail, maybe 4 mm.
Signature: DC Bugsy

Sowbug

Hi DC Bugsy,
This is a benign terrestrial crustacean commonly called a Sowbug.  You can read up on Sowbugs on Texas A&M Agrilife Extension.

Awesome, thank you for the reply! I love this site, and will donate tonight

The post Sowbug appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject: BUG IN MY NEW APARTMENTS
Location: scarborough, Ontario, Canada
December 15, 2013 2:40 pm
Hi guys!!
Okay so I moved into a new basement apartment yesterday (its December and quite cold) When I first walked in I saw about 4 of these bugs dead in a small spider web. so I just cleaned it up and thought of nothing since the apartment had been vacant for about a month. Then last night I saw about 4 more of these bugs walking. I killed them. I didn’t see any this morning, but then after I had breakfast I saw 3 more in the bedroom. One of which was crawling out from under the baseboard. I need to know what this is. Im afraid I have an infestation and I just moved in. I don’t know what this is though. I hope you can help.
Signature: Tania

Woodlouse

Hi Tania,
This is a Woodlouse, and we believe we have correctly identified it as Porcellio spinicornis thanks to photos posted to BugGuide.  According to BugGuide, these Woodlice are found:  “wherever cool, dark, moist places are available to shelter woodlice from dryness and heat during the day.”  Your basement apartment fits that description.  Woodlice are benign and they will not harm you, your pets, your apartment or its furnishings.  They may be a nuisance if they are plentiful, but they are basically benign creatures.

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Subject: Wood roaches?
Location: South Central Kansas
March 17, 2014 11:02 am
Hi there!
I found these guys under an old wood-pile I was moving. It’s pretty cold out still here in my part of Kansas (highs in the 50s-60s F, but lows in the 30s F lately) and they were under the lowest level of the pile, in the leaf litter and bark at the bottom. I’ve also found a few random specimens in my basement since last fall, but they die quickly, I think because it’s too dry. Am I right in guessing these are Parcoblatta sp. (aka wood roaches) of some sort?
P.S. I know the gray/silver ones are isopods. There were thousands of them under the pile, too… made catching the roaches interesting.
Signature: – Angela, amateur bug nut

Wood Cockroaches and Woodlice

Hi Angela, amateur bug nut,
Thanks so much for sending us your gorgeous photo of Wood Cockroaches in the genus Parcoblatta and their wood pile roommates, terrestrial isopods commonly called Woodlice or Sowbugs.  It is not possible to identify your Wood Cockroaches to the species level.  According to BugGuide:  “in males, wings cover the abdomen; adult females typically have small wingpads (tegmina). Older nymphs may also have prominent wingbuds. Nymphs of different spp. are impossible to tell apart based on known characters; identification of adult females is difficult or not possible, depending on the species and geographic location. Only the adult males have the characters that can definitively identify the species in this genus. Unfortunately, the characters needed are covered by wings, and so identification of living males is not usually possible.”  Your observation that they die quickly in the home is supported by BugGuide which states:  “indoors, they wander aimlessly during the day (rather than congregating in a particular room and being active at night), do not breed, and will die within a few days due to insufficient moisture.”

Wood Cockroaches

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Subject: Carpet Moth/Beetle
Location: United Kingdom
April 14, 2014 2:16 am
Good Morning, Please see photos of bugs collected from carpet with rice like cocoons?? Can you identify what the bug is and what the rice bits are. There are areas of carpet which have clearly been eaten and we need to identify the problem.
Many thanks
Signature: Ashley Clarke

Casemaking Clothes Moths and Woodlice

Hi Ashley,
The “bugs” are Woodlice or Pillbugs, and though they might be a nuisance indoors, they are not eating your carpet.  They are attracted to damp conditions.  The rice like cocoons appear to be the cases of Casemaking Clothes Moths, Tinea pellionella, a species that will eat wool rugs and clothes and we believe that is the source of the damage.  According to BugGuide, the larvae feed on:  “Feed on wool, feathers, fur, hair, upholstered furniture, leather, fish meals, milk powders, lint, dust or paper.”  The larvae, not the adult moths, are responsible for the damage.  It appears that one of the cases in the center of your “collection” is a different species in the same family, a Household Casebearer Moth case, Phereoeca uterella, which according to BugGuide:  “feed on old spider webs; may also eat woolen goods of all kinds if the opportunity arises.”  BugGuide also notes:  “Larval cases can be found on wool rugs and wool carpets, hanging on curtains, or under buildings, hanging from subflooring, joists, sills and foundations; also found on exterior of buildings in shaded places, under farm sheds, under lawn furniture, on stored farm machinery, and on tree trunks.”

Many thanks really helpful
Regards,
Ashley

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Subject: Raining shrimp?
Location: Fairhope, AL
April 19, 2014 4:19 pm
I emptied the water out of a large bowl I had left outside the other day, but since it rained again yesterday I went to empty it again today and found about ten of these baby shrimp in the bowl. I live about 5 miles from Mobile Bay, but I still thought that was kind of weird… then I found your page and concluded they might be lawn shrimp. The antennae fell off before I took the picture.
Signature: Ray

Lawn Shrimp

Hi Ray,
You are correct that this is a terrestrial amphipod known as a Lawn Shrimp.  They are also known as House Hoppers because they sometimes enter homes in large numbers after a rain.  Lawn Shrimp are native to Australia, but they have been introduced to North America, and most of our reports come from California.  We have also gotten reports from Florida, but we believe your account from Alabama is a first for us.  Lawn Shrimp can proliferate in great numbers in gardens, but they are generally not noticed until it rains and they enter homes where they quickly die.

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Subject: Tree infestation
Location: Los Angeles, California
April 21, 2014 9:12 am
I have an infestation in a mature (about 50ft high) Camphor tree. The infestation seems to be around the root and the insects (in the picture) are revealed if I pull some bark out. Any help identifying the insects would be appreciated, thanks.
Signature: Anshuman Prasad

Woodlice

Dear Anshuman,
These are Woodlice, a type of terrestrial isopod.  They are commonly found in cool, dark, damp places within the garden where they feed on dead plant material.  If the base of the tree is rotting, they may be feeding on the rotting wood, but they will not harm living portions of your camphor tree.  Woodlice will also enter homes, and they are most frequently found in basements where the conditions are favorable.

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Subject: What is this
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
April 24, 2014 5:57 am
Just want to identify this bug
Signature: Jesse Larocque

Woodlouse

Hi Jesse,
This is a Woodlouse or Sowbug, a type of terrestrial Isopod.  Though they often enter homes, they are considered benign and they will not damage your house or its belongings, unless rotting organic matter is valuable to you because that is what they eat.

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