Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone is enjoying a fun and relaxing day. This has been a busy week for bug sightings, and I hope you all have had a chance to go outside and observe the amazing diversity of bugs that are active right now.
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: Caterpillars, and other larvae, are often difficult to identify. However, there are some that really stand out for their size and colors. This Leafy Spurge Hawkmoth caterpillar (Hyles euphorbiae) is a non-native species released to combat leafy spurge. As the first biological agent to fight the invasive plant, these moths have inhabited the United States since 1965. The caterpillars are striking, with colors ranging from vivid green and yellow to dark red, orange, and grey, depending on the caterpillar’s age. – Deborah Hoagland, June 15, 2025, Missoula, MT
Great Basin Bumblebee
Bombus centralis
The bumblebees live in grasslands and riparian ecosystems and are widespread throughout the western regions of Canada and the US. The hibernating queens appear in late May and start building a nest, often in abandoned rodent burrows. About a month later, the first workers emerge. In September, all the bees die, except the new queens who overwinter.
Carolyn Taber, June 27, 2025, Missoula, MT
Johnson’s Jumping Spider
Phidippus johnsoni
Johnson’s jumpers are Montana’s most colorful jumping spiders. Both sexes have a bright red abdomen, black cephalothorax, and iridescent green chelicerae. The male’s abdomen is entirely red, whereas the female’s has a black mark down the center and often shows some yellow or tan coloration as they grow older. In addition to being some of the most colorful, they are one of the largest jumping spiders in western North America. They are not dangerous to humans, but their striking coloration often leads to confusion, as many mistake them for the infamous black widow.
Madeline Kleeman, June 25, 2025, Missoula, MT
Yellow Velvet Beetle
Lepturobosca chrysocoma
These golden, fuzzy-looking beetles can be found from Canada to Northern Mexico, mainly in the western part of North America. They range in size between 1 to 2 centimeters. Adults feed on flower pollen, while the larvae feed on dead and decaying wood of hardwoods and conifers.
Glenn Marangelo, June 25, 2025, Missoula, MT
Beewolf
Philanthus sp.
Despite their relatively small size, these wasps are amazing little hunters, capturing other stinging insects (especially small sweat bees) to feed to their larvae. The adults feed on nectar. Females will excavate cavities in soil to use as nests.
Glenn Marangelo, June 25, 2025, Missoula, MT
Cat-faced Orbweaver
Araneus gemmoides
Many people refer to all orb weaver spiders as “Cat-faced Spiders” or “Barn Spiders,” but this species is THE definitive Cat-faced Spider, also called the Plains Orbweaver or Jewel Spider. Their identifying characteristic features a fine white line crossed by two shallow white V’s on the front abdomen. As we move into late summer and fall, orb weaver females become more noticeable as they grow and prepare to lay eggs. They stick around until the first hard freeze, at which point the adults die off. Then, it’s up to the egg sac she leaves behind to usher in the next generation in the spring.
Alyssa Johnson, June 26, 2025, Missoula, MT
Long-legged Fly
Condylostyus sp.
There are about 300 species of these minuscule, bejeweled flies in the genus Condylostylus, but only ~35 appear north of Mexico. Despite the lack of diversity in the northern hemisphere, distinguishing species is difficult. The males exhibit unique mating habits, showing off their legs to a female fly in an elaborate courtship display.
Klara Briknarova, June 16, 2025, Missoula, MT
Horned Spanworm Caterpillar
Nematocampa resistaria
This caterpillar will become a beautifully patterned moth. They can be found across much of the US, except for the southwestern states. Since they are found across a wide range, the caterpillars are capable of feeding on many hardwood and softwood species of shrubs and trees including pine, hemlock, fir, larch spruce, alder, ash, birch, and more. While they may have more than one brood a year in other (warmer) parts of the country, there is only one generation here in MT.
Klara Briknarova, June 17, 2025, Missoula, MT
Poplar Borer
Saperda calcarata
The species name for this medium-sized boring beetle, calcarata, means “having a spur” and references the small, pointed spurs on the tips of its hardened forewings (elytra). here at MBHI, we have another species that bears the name calcarata: Eurycantha calcarata, the thorny devil stick insect. However, the two “spurred” insects are not closely related. Thorny Devils are phasmids (stick insects), while the poplar borer is a beetle. The poplar borer larvae are notorious forest pests, boring their way into aspen and cottonwood trunks and causing considerable damage. They range throughout North America, as far north as southern Canada.
Chelsea Cough, June 23, 2025, Missoula, MT
Carpenterworm Moth
Prionoxystus robiniae
These rather large moths can be found all across southern Canada and the United States. They tend to be more common in the east since their larvae bore into the wood of deciduous trees (locust, oak, chestnut, poplar, willow, maple, and ash). Unlike many moth species that get it all done in one season, Carpenterworm Moths take their sweet time, needing 3 to 4 years to go from egg to adult.
Hannah Peterson, June 25, 2025, Missoula, MT
Ranchman’s Tiger Moth
Arctia virginalis
This striking moth was recently moved from the genus Platyperus into the genus Arctia, along with four other genera of moths. The adults are easily recognized by their bold patterning, but the caterpillars are easily recognized, too. With their fuzzy black and brown bodies and long, dense hairs, they are one of several species of caterpillars that are often referred to as “woolly bears.”
Randy Umbs, June 16, 2025, Trout Creek, MT