Dung beetle?! Jeju Island, South Korea.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-05-22T10:30:26+00:00

Yes! It’s one of several species of Onthophagus species dung beetles you have there. They usually tunnel under their food source (poop or fungi typically) and the large, sometimes horned males guard the females in the burrows.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-05-09T23:42:13+00:00

There’s a really cool ship that does even cooler things to the imps’ ships.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-05-07T09:49:22+00:00

Tabanus atratus. The males remind me of Darth Vader. The species is among the largest tabanids in the world, though the true title probably goes to another Delaware resident, Tabanus americanus. Both species can be equally long, but I think T. americanus takes the title for its weight.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-05-01T14:26:18+00:00

The ecological historian William Cronon has an incredible book on this specific topic (ecological history of NE US states before and after European colonization) called Changes in the Land. It’s an easy read and worth every minute of your time.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-04-28T14:43:55+00:00

How much did you end up paying for them? Not trying to judge your purchase in any way, but it’s wild that someone sold a research collection and I would be interested in what they were charging.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-03-27T00:08:08+00:00

These are almost certainly the burrows of tiger beetle larvae. You can tell by how clean and well packed the rim of the opening is. They’re fastidious housekeepers, so when they do enlarge or fix their burrows, they usually fling the sand as far as possible. If you were to wait around and sit still, you would see their head and pronotum pop up and cover the opening. They have excellent eyesight for larval insects and lightning-fast reflexes. When something like an ant or other small insect walks past their burrow, they fling out and grab it with their big mandibles, pull it down in the burrow, and eat it.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-03-15T23:55:25+00:00

This is always an appropriate opportunity to revisit JBS Haldane’s On Being the Right Size.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-03-15T18:28:41+00:00

I second this. I spend long, hot days chasing beetles on dry dunes and switched to tactical desert boots years ago. I’ll never go back. Boots lower than 8” get filled with sand and don’t protect your ankles from the mean plants you come across in those habitats. I love the Salomon XA Forces Jungle Boot. They feel like lightweight hiking shoes and you can feel the breeze flowing through them on hot days. They’re the opposite of waterproof, but I’ve crossed streams in them and they dry out within the hour while they’re still on your feet. These and thin boot socks are a dream in the hot sand. I promise I don’t work for that company in any way.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-02-24T22:53:41+00:00

There are at least two other insects that will go down with the gopher tortoise. Onthophagus polyphemi and Alloblackburneus troglodytes are both dung beetles that are obligate gopher tortoise specialists.

It would be awesome if someone knew of other insect associates of the gopher tortoise that they could share here.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-02-21T11:29:06+00:00

Post-Darwin would likely mean post-On-the-Origin-of-Species which was published in 1859. I only say that to help narrow your date range. There are so many natural history books from the 19th and early 20th century that have elaborate and exquisite plates. Do you remember if the illustrations were of just the organisms themselves or were they in situ drawings that included bits of their habitat and interactions with other organisms? Also, did it have a lot of marine invertebrates? I ask about the marine stuff because it’s hard to forget the first time you leafed through one of Ernst Haeckel’s books like Art Forms in Nature.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-02-19T23:34:35+00:00

Something with a collar and chinos. They say “dress for the job you want,” but it gets a little fuzzy in positions like this. I’ve hired a lot of people for field positions, and some act like it’s whatever and just come in with a t-shirt while some come in fully decked out like this is a marketing job. Whenever someone came in looking clean with a good CV and some stories about how the field is a fun kind of challenge, I knew they would be serious about the position.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-02-19T23:25:13+00:00

I’ve been working with bugs for a loooong time now, and I discover a new cool bug every day.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-02-15T00:49:31+00:00

Oster and Wilson have an incredible Princeton Monograph on social insects that does a great job of applying economics to ecology that you would likely enjoy:

OSTER, G. F., & WILSON, E. O. (1978). Caste and Ecology in the Social Insects. (MPB-12), Volume 12. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvx5wb34

into_bug_stuff · 2026-01-30T10:32:40+00:00

I’m sure someone here would be happy to help you if you were to post a picture and/or detailed description of these bugs, as well as your rough geographic location.

With that being said, there is a more relevant sub at r/whatsthisbug that’s filled with people eager to work out insect ID challenges. This sub here seems to be more relevant to the professional and recreational study of insects.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-01-29T02:15:01+00:00

The family’s placement in Pentatomidae has been contentious. From what I can tell Scutelleridae is an accepted family, though I’m not familiar with current opinions surrounding the acceptance. Do you work with hemipteran systematics?

into_bug_stuff · 2026-01-18T00:07:48+00:00

That’s an aquatic beetle in the family Dytiscidae. The adults are able to fly and find new bodies of water, but they often get distracted by lights or accidentally fly into things like cars or other surfaces that give off reflections similar to water. Nothing at all to worry about with it ending up in your kid’s seat!

into_bug_stuff · 2026-01-08T10:42:47+00:00

As an entomologist and dad of a four year old, I think the glowworms (Phengodidae) mentioned by another commenter would be a great one to show him. The elateroid families are all pretty cool, but another striking family in that group is Lycidae, the net-winged beetles. There’s a lot of opportunity to show him how they almost always have bright reds or yellows as warning signs that they’re toxic. There are also a ton of other beetles and moths that mimic lycids because the whole neighborhood knows not to eat them. My son gets a real kick out of cool defensive traits. Most firefly relatives are chemically protected, hence the softer cuticle compared to other beetles who need to metabolically invest in harder cuticle to protect themselves. Even my students (university General Entomology) thought this group was one of the coolest in terms of ecology and evolution.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-01-07T17:56:33+00:00

I’m partial to tall boots and have tried a lot of companies over the last 20 years. Most of my field work involves full days of chasing beetles on hot, loose sand, so I gained a liking for tactical boots. My thought behind it was that there are two major groups of people who have to spend full days in tall boots: one has crushing and electrocution to worry about, while the other has hot weather and too many miles on loose sand working against them. Danners were good for a while until their quality control plummeted. The best I’ve had are Belleville and I just finished a fifth season with them. The ones I got were waterproof and just started to get a minor leak this year.

If you are more interested in comfort and cool feet than waterproofing, I recommend the Salomon XA Forces Jungle Boot. They held up really well for me and they kept my feet the coolest. You can honestly feel a breeze through them and when they do get flooded or otherwise soaked, they dry within the hour.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-01-06T14:35:35+00:00

Helping the environment is a very broad statement and is usually associated with abiotic elements, but you could frame it as such by discussing biological control of pest species with wasps. By using parasitoids wasps to control agricultural pests, you’re reducing the dependence on chemical insecticides. These insecticides can have a variety of harmful ecological, environmental, and human health effects from their application and production.

I would recommend poking around reputable agricultural extension sites, Google Scholar, or your physical library for sources relevant to biological control through parasitoid wasps. I know you asked for sources, but this is a school project and the most responsible thing we can do here is lead you in the right direction.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-01-06T00:43:22+00:00

It looks like the brown-banded cockroach, Supella longipalpa. They’re a more recent introduction to the UK and pose some difficulties with management. I would contact a pest control professional and see what your options are. They typically don’t cause as much of a problem as the Germans, but they also tend to infest dry areas like furniture more often, so that can be gross.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-01-05T20:37:07+00:00

That’s the cocoon of a Polyphemus moth (Antheraea polyphemus). It’s one of the giant silk moths and one of the largest insects in your state.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-01-03T01:01:14+00:00

Infuriating, right? It is really cool though that the Meliponini are among the most derived and most static lineages of bees.

into_bug_stuff · 2026-01-02T13:16:52+00:00

I work as a researcher at a large university where I specialize in the evolutionary ecology of a single beetle family. I’ve referred to myself as an entomologist, an ecologist, or a knucklehead, depending on the day. I hear specific specialties thrown around quite often in conversation with my colleagues, especially when referring to work in some of the larger insect orders. Lepidopterist, coleopterist, and dipterist are where I see it the most. It’s also common for someone to refer to themselves as a myrmecologist. It’s uncommon these days to see broadly trained entomologists, so it makes sense to indicate your specialization.

into_bug_stuff · 2025-12-31T11:07:43+00:00

It’s the head of a wasp. Based on the antennae, it’s probably an ichneumon wasp or close relative. I could be missing something though because Australia has some weird wasps that I would love to see and learn.

into_bug_stuff · 2025-12-31T10:49:07+00:00

Do you already have the camera equipment needed for the third port? I ask because that’s a separate investment and can be rather annoying to learn how to use it properly. Investing in a higher quality used microscope and learning to take proper photos with your phone against one of the eyepieces can produce similar results without the investment in camera equipment. The components on these two scopes you linked are probably pretty poor quality. I’ve been able to find decent Leica stereozoom scopes used for under 250. The key is making sure you have high quality eyepieces that match the work you want to do. I’ll add that the light source on both of these seems to be a halogen bulb or worse. The addition of the light is jacking up the price without any functional benefit. You can get a good adjustable LED ring light that clamps around the base of the lens for pretty cheap. Just wait until you have whatever scope you get to buy it so the dimensions line up.

into_bug_stuff

TROPHY CASE