With summer in full swing, the number and diversity of sightings continues to grow. As with any good summer blockbuster, you can find drama, intrigue, beauty, and wholesome family fun – the closer you look, the more you’re likely to see!
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: It’s not often that we get action shots of species interacting with one another! This spider wasp (Family Pompilidae) has just stung and paralyzed the orb weaver spider (Araneus sp.), and is now on a mission to stash it in a burrow, cavity, or mud cell (depending on the species), along with an egg. The helpless spider will provide fresh food for a single wasp offspring. The adult wasp’s diet is on the gentler side, with many species visiting aphid colonies for honeydew or flowers for nectar. – Marirose Kuhlman, July 8, 2025, Florence, MT
Golden Buprestid
Buprestis aurulenta
This beetle is arguably one of the most beautiful insects we have in Montana. These beetles range throughout the western U.S. and Canada. They tend to focus on lightning-killed trees, where the larvae take between two to four years to mature and emerge as adults. However, there are instances when the larvae become trapped in milled lumber, where they can take from 20 to 30 years to emerge. They’ve been documented emerging from furniture, wood paneling, cutting boards, and more. Listen to a two minute episode of our podcast, Bug Bytes, to learn more about these shining jewels.
Glenn Marangelo, July 1, 2025, Florence, MT
Prairie Ant-mimic Spider
Castianeira alteranda
If you google “spider with red on its back,” you might see a photo of and worry that this is a Redback Spider (extremely venomous). But not to fear, Redbacks are in Australia. The Prairie Ant-mimic walks like an ant—raising its two front legs (so the legs look like an ant’s antennae) and mostly walks on its back 6 legs (since ants only have 6 legs). The combination of color, body shape, and behavior all aid in the disguise. According to Richard A. Bradley, author of Common Spiders of North America, “Presumably this resemblance provides some protection because many predators avoid ants.” When not hunting, these spiders live in a tubular silk retreat often under rocks or other debris on the ground.
Kristi DuBois, July 1, 2025, Florence, MT
Spined Assassin Bug
Sinea diadema
Assassin bugs are named for their formidable ambush tactics when taking down their prey. As true bugs, they have a pointed beak or “rostrum,” which they use to impale their prey before using digestive enzymes to consume them. The Spined Assassin Bug is outfitted with a number of identifiable spines on its head and thorax. They are often found in weedy fields and meadows, with adults present from summer to fall.
Glenn Marangelo, July 6, 2025, Clinton, MT
Callippe Fritillary
Argynnis callippe
Fritillary species can be difficult to tell apart, especially since they seem to be flying all the time. Based on the dark scaling and pointed chevrons on the hind wing, we believe this is a Callippe Fritillary. They are found in a variety of habitats throughout western North America; adults feed on flower nectar and at mud puddles, while larvae feed on violet species. Females lay eggs in August and the larvae overwinter, emerging from hibernation to feed and pupate the following spring/summer.
Kathleen Ort, July 1, 2025, Sapphire Mountains, MT
Elm Sawfly
Cimbex americanus
Despite the name, sawflies aren’t flies at all and reside in the order Hymenoptera, along with the more familiar wasps, bees, and ants. Females don’t pack a sting, but most species have a saw-like ovipositor that they use to cut into plant tissue before laying an egg. The Elm Sawfly is the largest North American sawfly, measuring up to an inch long, with the caterpillar-like larvae stretching to two. It ranges from Alaska to Newfoundland, south to North Carolina and Oregon. Adults use their strong jaws to strip bark from twigs to reach the tasty sap, while larvae enjoy foliage from elm (Ulmus), maple (Acer), birch (Betula), willow (Salix), and basswood (Tilia). This individual is a female, as they have the yellow / golden bands on the abdomen. View a male here.
Kerry Bright-Emlen, July 2, 2025, Missoula, MT
Wolf Spider with young
Family Lycosidae
Aptly named, wolf spiders are fast, ground-dwelling hunters, easily recognized by their large size and unique eye arrangement. However, they are difficult to identify, even to genus. Wolf spiders in general have fearsome reputations. In reality, they are a shy group that prefer to be outdoors, away from human activity. You may often see a female carrying her cream-colored egg sack from the end of her abdomen. And, as seen in this photo, after hatching, the spiderlings climb onto their mother’s back until they are large enough to venture out on their own.
July 3, 2025, Orchard Homes, Missoula, MT
Bunchgrass Locust
Pseudopomala brachyptera
Don’t let the name “locust” throw you into a panic. This grasshopper – also known as the “Short-winged Toothpick Grasshopper” – is not known to swarm and feeds on a variety of native grasses, not crops. As such, they are often found in open fields with tall bunch grasses. A male will court a female by approaching her slowly, stopping frequently, and singing her a song by stridulating his legs each time. Not much is known about their reproductive history or lifecycle, but it is assumed that they overwinter in their nymph stage, as both nymphs and adults can be found in the fall.
Glenn Marangelo, July 6, 2025, Clinton, MT
Pollen Wasp
Pseudomasaris edwardsii
These solitary wasps are active from March to mid-August and have been found across the western U.S. and south into Baja, Mexico. The distribution of pollen wasps is closely tied to the plants they forage on, in this case members of the waterleaf family (Hydrophyllaceae). Similar to solitary bee species – but unique among wasps – larvae feed exclusively on pollen and nectar. Females collect and store pollen in their crops, then regurgitate it along with nectar into nest cells constructed of mud or burrows in the ground where eggs are laid. The notable “clubs” at the ends of their antennae distinguish pollen wasps from other similarly-colored more common wasps, such as yellowjackets.
Glenn Marangelo, July 1, 2025, Florence, MT
Eastern Rose Curculio
Merhynchites bicolor
This beautiful species of weevil can be found from the east coast through the northern Rockies to the Pacific, from southern Canada south to California and in the Great Basin Desert. Females will lay their eggs in the buds of various species of rose, and the larva overwinter in the rose hips, pupate, and emerge as adults the following spring.
Kat Kothen-Hill, July 4, 2025, University District, Missoula, MT
Salmonfly Cicada
Platypedia areolata
The Salmonfly Cicada belongs to the wing-tapping cicada genus (Platypedia) and does not possess the classic tymbals we associate with other cicada species. Instead, these cicadas communicate by rapidly moving their wings to produce a popping or crackling sound. This method of sound production is known as crepitation and is not nearly as loud as the constant din of other cicadas’ tymbal rattling. It takes five years for these insects to complete their lifecycle, spending all but a few weeks of that time underground. Unlike the massive, all-at-once, emergence of “periodical” cicada species in the central and eastern U.S. that emerge every 13 or 17 years, Salmonfly Cicadas are an “annual” cicada, meaning that individuals emerge and are present every year.
Glenn Marangelo, July 4, 2025, Missoula, MT