V. L., "Mr. ComputerHead" from Texas, asked:
Is there an online library of bug photos or something so i can find out who this little guy is?? he has black spots on a white body, mandibles, long curved antennae, looks like he could fly but he just stumbles around like he's drunk or poisoned or something.
Mr.
ComputerHead
and we said:
Hello Mr. ComputerHead,
Thank you for bringing your BUG-Question to BUGMAN Educational Entoprises. We
love to help folks understand, respect and appreciate the incredible world of
BUGS every chance we get!
There are a lot of exotic-type insects in Texas and all the southern states.
When it's warm most of the year, bugs can develop into some weird things! It
wouldn't surprise me if many of the African beetles have similar cousins in the
southern US.
Sounds to me like you found a Longhorn Beetle. It also sounds like he's pretty
cool! These beetles belong in the family: Cerambycidae (*maybe* the genus
_Goes_... but that is a stretch sight-unseen) Using the Family name as a search
term will help limit your search.
I'm only making this guess based on the description you gave. In beetles, the
shape of the body is a fairly important characteristic. I would be willing to
change my guess quickly if it is not kind of elongated with rounded edges!
Here's a couple of pages that have some photos of various beetles. If you find
one whose body shape is close to yours, run a search in Yahoo or Altavista for
that family name... that might lead you to your bug.
http://www.source.at/beetles/english/photos.htm
http://www.bishop.hawaii.org/bishop/natsci/ng/ngimages.html
If you really, really want to know what it is and none of this stuff works, try
contacting this guy:
http://geowww.geo.tcu.edu/bio/horner/horner.html
He's at Texas Christian University in Ft Worth. He studies plant-herbivore
interactions and might know something about beetles. It might be fun just to say
hi anyway, just make sure he's not really busy first!
If you send me a picture of it, I can probably get really close and tell you
something about it. If you cannot get me a photo, try giving me more
description...
how big is it?
what shape?
long legs?
are its antennae longer than its body? half as long? same length?
Does it have really big mandibles (jaws)?
Does it have a hard, beetle-like shell, or does it look like wings?