Identifying insects
 

Hi everyone,

These these beetle-like critters showed up in my yard a few weeks ago. At first I thought they were ladybugs, but I did not take a good look at them. When I started noticing hundreds of them, and how they were behiving I quickly realized these things were not the beneficial ladybugs I had hoped they were. I there were hundreds of them on my hibiscus bloom. What should I do about these bugs?

I don't know what they are but if they're munching on your hibiscus you could try a systemic insecticide spray. Ortho makes some good ones.

Is it possible for you to take a macro shot of one of the beetles? The only way to know what to do about them (harmless or not) is to know what they are. Since I study in entomology I have access to tons of insect ID books, and could have a look for you if you have a better shot of it.

Ewe
Hate bugs :(
....they look a bit like "love bugs" ?
If you often see them butt attached then "bingo" :D
"Love bugs" do eat other harmful insects if memory serves me correctly.
<----NOT an entomologist

More pictures of the dreaded bugs
 

Hi Camille,

I do not have a camera that is made for taking pictures of such small things. Notwithstanding, I did take a picture of a lot of them eating a bloom of a hibiscus. I hope this is better,

David.

Another picture
 

Here is one more picture. There things are very hard to take pictures of. I have a sony cybershot. I do not know how to take a macro shot, or if it can take them at all.

Most cameras have a macro function somewhere, but I don't think that's necessary because I found photos of them on internet. These belong to a group of insects called true bugs, and I went through the insect ID keys of a good website, bugguide.net. Unfortunately while they have photos, no one has been identify what they are and are pretty much clueless. They've assigned it a genus, but I think it's pretty much a stab in the dark. I'm not finding much information myself either. Is this the insect that you're seeing? Hemipteran - Largus - BugGuide.Net

I would say that as long as they're not doing significant damage to the plant (such as aborting flowers before they open) you might as well leave them alone.

Hey Camille!

That is definetly the bug. I think I may be misunderstanding you, but are you saying that this insect has not been thoroughly explored by scientists? It has been assigned a genus, but no species? That is amazing! Thank you so much,

David.

This insect is most certainly identified and classified by the professional entomologists. I was surprised that BugGuide doesn't know what it is, because all the people who contribute are hobby entomologists and usually can tell you what anything is within minutes. I uploaded a photo of an insect that I could not identify, and got an answer back within 30 min!

Seeing as this bug has been reported to show up in large numbers (as in your case), if this was a truely damaging insect it would be listed somewhere as a pest. I'm not finding that anywhere. However if you are still interested in IDing this mystery bug, you could always send in a sample to a branch of the florida agricultural extension office. I looked, and it doesn't seem that U of Florida entomology has a bug ID service.

At Cornell there is a bug ID lady down the hall from my office, but I don't know if she deals onyl with local insects or not. From what I'm read this mystery insect seems to be found mainly in NC, SC,GA and FL.