I’m taking an entomology class this spring. I recently went to the Eastern Sierras with my boyfriend, and we took hundreds of photos. Many of these photos are of insects and spiders. I’d love help identifying these. I’ve asked my entomology teacher to help too. I numbered each photo:

1 & 2 are probably Tent Caterpillars.
3 & 4 is some kind of metallic blue-green bug or beetle.
5 is probably a Small Milkweed Bug.
6 is some kind of long-bodied green fly with orange-red eyes.
7 is a black beetle with a slender body and ribbed forewings (elytra).
8 & 9 are some kind of honey bee.
10 is the abandoned nest of some kind of wasp or hornet.
11-14 are several of the dozens of gray spiders we found on river rocks right near the water.

Click to see gallery page.

UPDATE 6/21/07

My etonmology teacher helped me narrow a few of these down to family names.

3 & 4 are stink bugs (Hemiptera order,) in the family Pentatomidae
7 is a Tenebrionid beetle (Coleoptera order,) in the family Tenebrionidae – possibly genus Eleodes
11-14 are wolf spiders (arachnid order Araneae,) in the family Lycosidae

Comments (5) | Permalink

5 Comments to “Is anybody out there an insect/spider fanatic?”

1. Becca, on June 11th, 2007 at 6:31 am, said:
   

   this could help you…
   http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/index.html
   You may also find a “key” system for identifying insects useful, but I’m not too sure where these are on the webberverse. Plus I’m an Aussie and our bugs are different to yours… and you might have different referencing/ identifying systems.
   Sorry for the late notice too… I haven’t been blog-surfing for a long time. keep up your good work, may you work with diligence and at peace.
   Becca

2. Dawn, on June 21st, 2007 at 8:29 pm, said:
   

   Thanks, Becca. We do have some very different insects here. I did use a variety of keys, which is how I first identified the Small Milkweed Bug.

   Thanks for the link!

3. honey, on October 27th, 2011 at 1:50 pm, said:
   

   honey bee…

   [...]Dawn’s Brain – The adventures of a high school web design and graphic design teacher. » 2007 » April » 15[...]…

4. poochi, on July 20th, 2012 at 7:18 am, said:
   

   super /….thanks for this

5. poochi, on July 20th, 2012 at 7:19 am, said:
   

   super /….

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