“If variety is indeed the spice of life, then insects are the spiciest creatures on Earth,” writes Kenn Kaufman in the introduction to the Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. We couldn’t agree more!
Submit your bug pictures to bugid@missoulabutterflyhouse.org (and remember to include your name, the date, and the location where you took the photo)!
Header photo: Sometimes we can find the things that bugs leave behind, like this molt from a dragonfly nymph. Sunshine Hunting, May 10, 2025, Lolo, MT
Yellow-bellied Burying Beetle
Nicrophorus guttula
This colorful black and orange beetle is called a carrion beetle, sexton beetle or burying beetle. The adults demonstrate amazing parental care of their young from egg to larvae. They find a small dead animal, bury the carcass, lay eggs on it, and continue to feed the emerging young regurgitated carrion. As pictured here, these beetles typically have mites on them that “jump ship” when the beetle finds a carcass. This is an example of a symbiotic relationship where the mites feed on fly eggs that may be on / near the carcass, which would hatch into maggots and eat the beetle larvae’s food. In turn, the beetle provides the mites with “transportation” to predictable sources of carcasses (and fly eggs) that would otherwise be difficult for them to find.
Peter Lesica, May 20, 2025, Missoula, MT
Western (European) Honeybee
Apis mellifera
The honey bee was one of the first domesticated insects and is the primary species kept by beekeepers for honey production and pollination services. Thanks to their domestication, they can be found on every continent except Antarctica and are the single most important pollinator for agriculture around the world. These insects are “eusocial,” creating colonies with a single fertile female (queen), tens of thousands of non-reproductive females (the workers), and a small number of fertile males (or drones). The average population of a healthy hive in midsummer may be as high as 40,000 to 80,000 bees.
Shelby Fisher, May 15, 2025, Missoula, MT
Pacific Forktail
Ischnura cervula
The Pacific forktail is a common damselfly species found throughout western North America. Look for the four blue spots on the top of the thorax in males and by its overall blue and black coloration. The Pacific Forktail preferred habitat is slow moving streams, marshes, and other wetlands with abundant emergent vegetation. Damselflies may be smaller, thinner, and weaker fliers than dragonflies, but they have no problem hunting prey, eating up to one fifth of their body weight each day.
Klara Briknarova, May 17, 2025, Stevensville, MT
Lace Bugs
Corythucha immaculata & Corythucha morrilli
We believe that the top two are Corythucha immaculata and the bottom on is a Corythucha morrilli, due to the brown spots. Lace bugs are true bugs, and as such have piercing and sucking mouthparts. Some are predatory, but others, like the lace bugs here, feed on plant tissues. These were found on a Balsamroot leaf.
Connie Geiger, May 14 2025. Helena, MT.
Golden Dung Fly
Scathophaga stercoraria
Luckily for our identification efforts, these are male Golden Dung Fly. They are a bit easier to identify than the grayer females since they are bright yellow or golden. These small flies have multiple generations a year and can be found from spring through the fall. The adults lay their eggs on dung, which the emerging larvae feed upon. After pupating and becoming an adult, their diet switches to preying on other fly species and insects.
Kyle Rholl, May 18, 2025, Evaro, MT
Clouded Sulfur
Colias philodice
This is one of our most common and widespread Sulphurs. They typically have a double cell-spot on the hindwing, but this individual does not. While the males are a much brighter yellow, females, like this one, are a whitish green color. They occupy a variety of mostly open habitats, including prairies, farmlands, roadsides, and alpine meadows. The larvae feed upon clovers and legumes.
Connie Geiger, May 8 2025. Helena, MT.
Glover’s Silkmoth
Hyalophora columbia gloveri
The Glover’s Silkmoth can be found on both the eastern and western slopes of the Rockies, typically in or near riparian habitat. Once the adults emerge from their cocoon, their only focus is to find a mate. Like the other silkmoths, they don’t even have functional mouthparts… so they don’t eat at all as adult moths and only live about a week.
Rayna Gagnon, May 22, 2025, Helena, MT
White-winged march fly
Bibio albipennis
We believe this fuzzy little fly is one of the most widespread Bibio species across North America. Like many fly species, their larvae are decomposers, feeding on decaying organic material and occasionally plant roots. The adults are nectar feeders, and their long white hairs (which lend to the species name albipennis, Latin for “white feathers”) give them the potential to be productive pollinators. The males and females look strikingly different, with males showing large, prominent eyes that take up most of their heads. All the better to find females with.
Lisa Cloo, May 21, 2025, Turah, MT
Common House Spider
Parasteatoda tepidariorum
The Common House Spider is an introduced species, originally from South American, that has been spread widely on plants. They have evolved to live near humans and are typically found in or near homes and other buildings. Like other cobweb spiders, they create a web for capturing their prey. We believe that this spider’s large abdomen indicates that she will soon lay an egg sac, which they suspend from their webs.
Klara Briknarova, May 19, 2025, Missoula, MT
North American Tarnished Plant Bug
Lygus lineolaris
The North American Tarnished Plant Bug (or TPB) are recognized by the pale “Y” shape on its scutellum . As a serious crop pest, they are not particularly loved by farmers. The saliva of the TPB contains an enzyme that degrades the cell wall of plants, allowing them to digest plant material more efficiently. They are not picky, feeding on most crop plants (with a particular affinity for apples). They are less common in the western United States, but they may become more widespread as the climate shifts.
Klara Briknarova, May 3, 2025, Missoula, MT