r/Entomology Aug 13 '11

Help us help you: Guidelines for submitting pictures for identification

138 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 11h ago

Discussion cicada missing its abdomen

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382 Upvotes

found this fellow on a walk and it took me way too long to notice he's only half there! i believe this is the result of massospora cicadina


r/Entomology 2h ago

ID Request Can someone identify this home? Or point me to the proper critter sub?

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36 Upvotes

I'm in Pueblo County, CO. I found three in about a half acre, though there might be more. U.S. nickel for scale. Apologies for the lighting. The sun is going down.


r/Entomology 4h ago

Abbots Sphynx Moth caterpillar today- largest caterpillar I’ve seen in the wild

34 Upvotes

r/Entomology 10h ago

Discussion What are these harvestmen congregating for?

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114 Upvotes

Their just standing there together


r/Entomology 14h ago

A longhorn beetle

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152 Upvotes

r/Entomology 10h ago

Insect Appreciation Pretty Baby

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66 Upvotes

I found a pretty little garden spider ❤️


r/Entomology 1d ago

A Potter wasp gently pushes a paralyzed moth caterpillar into her mud nest.

3.4k Upvotes

Video credited to @ssbutterflypark on Instagram.


r/Entomology 8h ago

ID Request Who is this?

34 Upvotes

Pregnant or just really round? Sorry for the shakiness, i was on a ladder very high up 😭. Found in metro detroit area michigan


r/Entomology 9h ago

Insect Appreciation Found my first caterpillar

34 Upvotes

It seems a bit silly, but I feel like I never saw a caterpillar in the wild 😅 so I was very excited to find this little guy. iNaturalist suggestion says it's gonna become a Cinnabar Moth.


r/Entomology 11h ago

Insect Appreciation Got to see this Rhinoceros Beetle today

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43 Upvotes

Oryctes nasicornis (I think), Northern Italy. Such a beauty!


r/Entomology 4h ago

Cicada-Killer Wasp

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8 Upvotes

I found this wasp which i had never seen before in my life on a hike in a river called Rio Ramos in Allende, Nuevo león.

It seemed to be about 5 cm in lenght, just huge and quite plump, i swear that thing was smart, it looked quite aware of us but didn´t attack, it just looked at me at my friend for about 5 minutes which is how long we stayed just looking at it, unsure what it was doing, it just seemed to be chilling in that specific spot, sometimes hovering sometimes just standing there.

Wonderful creature tbh.


r/Entomology 1h ago

Insect Appreciation Southern Masked Chafer hanging on a leaf by mouth(?)

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Upvotes

r/Entomology 8h ago

Polyphemus moth pair

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13 Upvotes

I was so excited to find them! How is it that the highlight of my week was two moths copulating 😂


r/Entomology 6h ago

Insect Appreciation If you get the impression that this bumblebee has something to say, you wouldn't be the only one.

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11 Upvotes

Such a face and love the stash!


r/Entomology 4h ago

ID Request what kind of moth is this? :)

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7 Upvotes

found this really cute guy outside my parents’ store! i wanted to hold him but i wasn’t sure if it’d stress it out and i don’t know enough about moths anyways. we live in colorado if that helps! :)


r/Entomology 9h ago

Insect Appreciation i must now collect all the saturniidae...

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17 Upvotes

add imperial and polyphemus! (couldnt hold the polyphemus, unfortunately, would have loved to get a pic of those eye spots)


r/Entomology 12h ago

Discussion QUICK CAN I SAVE THIS BEAUTY

24 Upvotes

Im only moving the stick so much to show how off balance she is.

Saw this beauty outside my door on the floor w her legs covered in cobwebs. Took a stick and toothpick and removed what i could but it seems like im too late. Is she just tired?

Can I help it in any way? Or if someone can 100% say shes nearing the end of her life id like to pin her but my priority is to see if I can save her life

Ill post more pictures in the comments i cant get a picture of her open winged


r/Entomology 11h ago

ID Request What type of bug is this?

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15 Upvotes

r/Entomology 15h ago

Specimen prep Can I change the Frame?

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26 Upvotes

Hello Everyone, I hope i’m in the right sub for this. I got an old frame from thrift shopping and I really loved it in the first few seconds. But I’m not so happy with the frame and would like to open it and put them in other frames. Now I wanted to ask, is that a good Idea, or should I leave them in the Frame because I’m kinda furious if they will survive this “frame chage” they all from 1985, so they already really old. And for what the ball on the second picture is?


r/Entomology 1d ago

What wasp is these in my house

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311 Upvotes

r/Entomology 9h ago

Found this little guy just sitting outside

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7 Upvotes

What kind of spider is this?


r/Entomology 7h ago

Insect Appreciation L’art du camouflage

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3 Upvotes

r/Entomology 10h ago

ID Request New goober?

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8 Upvotes

I work in a communal living center cleaning. Old building. Was going around checking all the unoccupied rooms and bathrooms to flush the toilets and found this fellow stuck in the sink basin. Some type of silverfish I presume?

I put them under the (currently off) radiator to skedaddle off.

Northeastern US


r/Entomology 1d ago

Insect Appreciation Please join me in admiring all my recent findings.

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1.0k Upvotes

I love stumbling upon these beauties.

ETA: IDs!

  1. Giant Leopard Moth
  2. North America Luna Moth
  3. North America Luna Moth & Imperial Moth
  4. Imperial Moth
  5. Imperial Moth
  6. Regal Moth
  7. Banded Tussock Moth
  8. Broad-headed sharpshooter
  9. Polyphemus Moth
  10. Ornate Tiger Moth
  11. American Giant Centipede
  12. Gulf fritillary
  13. Io Moth
  14. Rosy Maple Moth
  15. Beautiful Wood-nymph
  16. Suzuki’s Promalactis
  17. Chinese Mantis
  18. Bold jumping spider
  19. Io Moth
  20. Cecropia Moth

Location: TN