Leaffooted Bug - Acanthocephala femorata

Moved

Moved from Frass.

… John R. Maxwell, 6 February, 2008 - 5:54pm

Frassed

… Ron M., 2 February, 2008 - 12:22am

RE: Common common names

Often, such names are regional, so they'd typically be more common in a particular area. Back in my fishing days, I was surprised at the number of names bluegill/sunfish had among my young angling friends from Ohio, Illinois, Canada and Michigan.

… Ron Hemberger, 15 January, 2008 - 11:23am

Indeed...

There was my "doh!" moment for the week. I should have figured that :)
I have been a few places in my life and have experienced a lot of the "back home we call it..." conversations.

Ron, thanks for your input again and have a great day!

Other Ron

… Ron M., 16 January, 2008 - 5:10am

Not an expert

But Acanthocephala femorata info page says "all antennal segments are the same color", and then lists a couple in the "see also" section with "the basal three segments of their antennae are dark, and the apical segment is bright orangish". Seems that might apply here.

… John R. Maxwell, 14 January, 2008 - 5:59pm

Thanks John.

I truly appreciate you taking your time to help out but I think that the picture might have been a little deceiving due to a combination of the lighting and the angle. The antennae weren’t really as dark as they look in the picture. I have put up a third picture from a different angle that better represents the color.

I ruled out Acanthocephala confraternal because the wings do not completely cover the abdomen when viewed from above. I didn’t think it would be Acanthocephala terminalis because I don’t see any sign of the tubercles that is present on the pronotum of the A. terminalis.

The above coupled with the fact that in both the A. confraternal and terminalis, the hind tibia has a rather distinct leaf-like flange extending partially down its length. My example has a very narrow flange extending completely down the tibia.

And finally, the hind femur is its main selling point. The size and the presence of the spike look to me as if it could be none other that the A. femorata.

All that being said, I do realize that I am not an expert. I spent the first 42 years of my life trying to kill every bug I saw. Only since Katrina hit us have I really started to notice the different insects around New Orleans. I initially thought that the Scarlet-bodied Wasp Moth that I saw the next summer was blown in on the winds of Katrina. Thanks to site like this and many of the fine experts, editors and contributors such as yourself, I am now seeing how dumb I have been about everyday things going on right under my nose :)

John (or anybody else), please feel free to correct, criticize, complement, contribute, or comment on anything I add to this site. Again, I realize that I am no expert.

… Ron M., 15 January, 2008 - 10:24am

Spike

I don't know what species this is, I'm just trying to make sense of the info on various guide pages my self. Here is an image where they discuss the spike a little
http://bugguide.net/node/view/149832/bgpage
Who knows? Maybe one of the experts will comment.

… John R. Maxwell, 15 January, 2008 - 10:56am