insects

What has ten legs and claws?

adamg — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:03:18 +0000

I don't know, but it's climbing up your ceiling!

Bill Callahan forwards this photo of a tiny critter found on the ceiling of "an old brick and beam building in the Fort Point area" (and then obviously removed from said ceiling). He adds: "It has 10 legs and then the two weird lobster claw type things."

Any guesses as to what it is?

UPDATE: Jef Taylor reports it's a pseudoscorpion. He details the critter and has a really good closeup shot of one that you probably don't want to look at right before lunch.

What is this creepy-crawly?

adamg — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 13:03:52 +0000

Left Bank of the Charles videos a three-inch-long tubish thing making its way through some grass off Concord Avenue in Cambridge.

She preys for you

adamg — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:43:24 +0000

Fortunately, there was a pane of glass between Bob Brown and the preying mantis waiting for lunch on the side of the Wellesley library the other day.

Time to play: Name that bug

adamg — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:47:59 +0000

Redgoldfly took this photo of a 3/4-inch bug in Waltham and wonders: What is it?

Copyright Redgoldfly. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Stop calling it Wormtown

adamg — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:24:24 +0000

Meet the beetle. Source.

Beetletown might be a better name for the Commonwealth's second largest city now that voracious Asian Longhorn Beetles have been found there:

... This pest attacks a wide variety of hardwood trees, particularly maples, and is considered a serious threat to the nursery, lumber, wood products, maple syrup, and tourism industries in our state. If it became established over a large area, it could also significantly disrupt the forest ecosystem.

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, and the City of Worcester are partnering with the U.S. Forest Service and USDA APHIS-PPQ to coordinate a management plan to eradicate this species in Massachusetts. First steps include a survey of the area to determine the extent of the infestation, and regulatory management to prevent movement of host trees and wood out of the infested area. Infested trees will need to be removed and destroyed, and susceptible host trees may need treatment to prevent further infestations. ...