Blogjam reader Randy Cole writes:
I recently took a photo of a strange looking insect in a meadow in New Hampshire, USA. Maybe some kind of wasp? It has a very long abdomen with several projections. I haven’t had any luck finding a site that I can send the photo in for identification. I wonder if I can send in the photo and maybe you can post it. Who knows, maybe some burgeoning entomologist will recognize it and put an end to the mystery.
Randy, your wish is my command. If this works, I think I may start a regular insect identification service.
Personally, I imagine it’s some kind of Satanic harbinger of doom, an early warning sign that the apocalypse is surely upon us. That thing looks positively evil.
looks alien to me
I am amused by how the web site for the pelecinid describes it as “strikingly beautiful”. That was not the descrptive that came to my mind. Nevertheless, good to know that ferocious-looking flying creature is relatively harmless. (But had we been asked to place a wager, my bet would have been on the harbinger of doom.)
on a completely unrelated note: Do you have anything to do with all these, “Slowly but surely, the penguins are stealing my sanity” t shirts everyone is wearing around Manchester? Tried sending it as an email but php errors jumped on me.
Wow. Too bad all the world’s mysteries can’t be solved on this site. Thanks Fraser and Gravyboy.
That thing looks exactly like the insect that LOBO, the czarnian created to kill all the people on his planet. Nice to see we don’t have much time left :D
It looks like a good candiate for a Godzilla villain. Anybody got any contacts w/ Toho Pictures?
That thing is a Pelecinid Wasp. I’ve seen one at my house, just before it rained. They don’t sting.
How do I push a picture of an insect?
although they look scaRY it’s best to leave to leave them alone, they are solitary, they prefer warm dry climates, ie within wood, the reason u see them is because thgey are disturbed, no matter what you think if u got one of these in your hand it is gigantic, it is easy prey to spiders and other waiting insects. leave it outside
zebra spiders. tyhey just love yer cracks, pert hunting spiders, they don’t use webs, human freindly, torture them by tapping your finger next to them, they jump, funny enuff they are black and white, habitat sandy beaches, shade,. is it a relative of bouncing bouncing lice, they things bounce aff like nobodys businiessa, u are never alone
I found some huge beetle like thing outside my school yesterday. I took a picture of it on my phone but unfortunately I can’t put pictures from my phone onto my computer. It was freaking HUGE! Like 2 1/2 inch body alone. Then it had these pincher looking things coming out of it’s head (Like where it eats or something?) and I think it might have been missing legs because it only looked like it had 4 and it was kind of limping along. Its body was oval shaped and flatish. At first I thought it was a cockroach and I looked closer and i think its some kind of beetle. It almost looks like those 2 legged water bugs (Know what I’m talking about) but bigger with more legs. It was on land so I couldn’t have been a water bug, but that’s what it looked like. It was also greyish. I live in NY too, if that helps someone to identify it. Oh yeah, and it didn’t have wings.
We just noticed some strange insects on a tree in our yard. They are clustered on the branches, but they look like green thorns with red markings. We thought they were thorns until they started moving. Does anyone have a clue as to what these are?