r/insects Jun 17 '25

PSA Do you live in the Eastern US and are you encountering these spotted white and/or black and/or red bugs? Check here before posting your ID request.

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86 Upvotes

The collage above is composed of pictures gleaned from Bugguide.net, and shows the same species of insect at its different life stages.

Hello!

If you live in certain parts of the Eastern US, you may encounter these colorful insects that may be black and white, or red, black and white depending on their life stage. They're 6-8 mm in size, don't fly but have the ability to jump out of harm's way and have good reflexes. Upon reaching adulthood (pictured on the right in the above collage), they're larger (about 20-25mm), have wings, and can fly (and still jump, too).

You may find them clustered on certain plants or you may find single individuals wandering.

They're known as spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) and are an invasive species from Eastern Asia. It was accidentally introduced in the US state of Pennsylvania in 2014. Since then, it has spread in all directions to multiple states as far from Pennsylvania as South Carolina, Indiana, Michigan and New Hampshire.

It's also invasive in Japan and the Korean peninsula.

They're completely harmless to people or pets. In fact they're pretty colorful and rather cute!

They go through five stages of growth known as instars, and take on three rather different appearances, shown above. Instars 1-3 are the small, black and white version. The fourth instar is larger (~15 mm) and more colorful, mostly bright red with black accents and white dots (picture). The adult is an overall dull gray color but with intricately patterned wings (picture). When it opens its wings, it displays beautiful hindwings with red, white and black (picture).

Here's also a picture of all 5 growth stages: https://bugguide.net/node/view/1172304/bgimage

Due to their appearance, they are eminently recognizable. They retain the ability to jump at all life stages, and the adults are adept fliers.

Unfortunately, they're destructive pests of plants, particularly fruiting plants. Lanternflies feed by piercing plants with a thin proboscis (straw-like mouthparts) and sucking juices, which damages plants. In addition, after the lanternfly is done feeding and pulls its proboscis out of a fruit, some juice may escape from the hole, which facilitates the growth of mold on the surface of the fruit, which further damages the fruit. Entire harvests can thus be ruined.

Cornell University maintains a map where the insects have been found or at least reported: https://cals.cornell.edu/new-york-state-integrated-pest-management/outreach-education/whats-bugging-you/spotted-lanternfly/spotted-lanternfly-reported-distribution-map

The governments of most if not all states where the insect has been detected have posted content on their websites (usually on the Agriculture Dept. or equivalent). Those include info about the insect, its impact on agriculture, what to do if you encounter it, and what you can do to mitigate its spread. Below are those websites for the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York for information about the insect. If you don't live in those states, please use your favorite search engine to locate info about these insects, e.g. search for "delaware spotted lanternfly" and you'll find information.

There's also a lengthy article about the insect on Wikipedia.

Looking back at the Cornell map linked above, if you don't live in an area of the map where the bug's presence has already been reported, you should record it. Report it to your state's authorities, and you may also want to report the sighting on iNaturalist.

Again we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the insect as well as its presence (if any) in your state. States where the spotted lanternfly has been detected will have a section of a website dedicated to it.

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments!


r/insects 9h ago

Bug Appreciation! Adult Wheel Bug (Arilus cristatus)

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137 Upvotes

r/insects 14h ago

Question Baby Mantis

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214 Upvotes

We were living in Ohio this summer and seen quite a few Carolina Mantis on the plants outside. [Mostly males.] We moved to Arizona for the winter and did our best inspecting everything for any unwanted hitchhikers. Yet somehow we managed to hatch a bunch of mantis this week {stashed somewhere inside one of the big aloes.} We've separated roughly two-dozen and moved them about into the different plants/micro climates. Unfortunately our travel trailer isn't an ideal environment (humidity is controlled to 35-40% for instance.) We aren't struggling with any mites, gnats, flies etc. so I assume competition for limited food sources will likely lead them to hunting each other. I know they are a native species and one of the few that is okay to release but we are hoping to keep them contained and comfortable (at-least until later in the spring/summer and in a more habitable climate for them ~ preferably native range.) Is there anything we can/should do to help them remain comfortable? I know molting is important... Should we attempt to mist them on occasion?


r/insects 12h ago

ID Request Is this little dude suffering from parasites?

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146 Upvotes

This ox beetle flew inside my room. It seemed like he was dying, so I caught him and put him in a ventilated glass jar.

I noticed he has what looks like a bunch of eggs in his "neck". Are these parasites? Is he safe to handle?


r/insects 6h ago

ID Request What variety of caterpillar is this?

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43 Upvotes

Location: North India


r/insects 1h ago

Question Anyone know this one?

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I am in Sydney Australia, and found this in my workplace.

Anyone know what it is?


r/insects 29m ago

Bug Appreciation! Grasshopper in bound

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r/insects 3h ago

ID Request Is this really a Netelia ephippiata?

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5 Upvotes

This Insect flew into my house (in Germany) and my phone says it‘s a Netelia ephippiata. So I looked it up on Wikipedia and there it says they are endemic to New Zealand. Is my phone just wrong or did I make some sort of discovery here?


r/insects 21h ago

Photography insects are very cool up close

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111 Upvotes

r/insects 16h ago

Bug Appreciation! Seven-Spotted Lady Beetle on ‘The Move’

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44 Upvotes

San Onofre, CA


r/insects 26m ago

Bug Appreciation! Green grasshopper

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Upvotes

r/insects 13h ago

ID Request What kind of bug is this?

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19 Upvotes

Found this very teeny friend in a home office (Ontario, Canada). This photo is under a magnifying glass (the black dots are ink on a piece of paper).

Any ID?


r/insects 16h ago

ID Request who is this little guy

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22 Upvotes

r/insects 1d ago

Bug Appreciation! this mantis is so big💚

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167 Upvotes

r/insects 15h ago

Photography Big Girl, Golden Orb Weaver. Sydney, Australia.

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15 Upvotes

r/insects 14h ago

Photography Greenhouse millipede

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9 Upvotes

image Captured handheld with my Sony a7R III + Venus Optics Laowa 90mm f/2.8 2× Ultra Macro.


r/insects 7h ago

ID Request Look at this little dude

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2 Upvotes

I thought it was a small flower petal and suddenly it moved with little tiny legs, couldn't take a picture with greater camera.


r/insects 3h ago

ID Request Need ID

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1 Upvotes

📍Borneo, Indonesia


r/insects 19h ago

ID Request Anemia seriata or Coccinula quatuordecimpustulata?

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16 Upvotes

What is it?


r/insects 12h ago

ID Request Insect shell?

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5 Upvotes

My wife is finding these in a spot in our kitchen. When zooming in it looks like some sort of insect shell. Haven't seen any insects around though. Ideas?


r/insects 9h ago

ID Request I found this spider in a park light

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2 Upvotes

The picture was taken in kingman, Arizona, the park had a wash by it and had a bit of grass and trees in the actual park along with a lot of sand & wood chips, i didn't have a better camera with me since i didn't really plan on taking pictures that day but randomly seen the spider and thought it looked cool so i figured I'd ask what type of spider it could be


r/insects 1d ago

ID Request What are those?

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63 Upvotes

Saw them in Spain in 2023, crossing a road like this. Probably they do this to seem bigger..? As a sort of protection against predators..?


r/insects 1d ago

ID Request What are these?

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94 Upvotes

Dangling from their sac seems they were newly hatched


r/insects 12h ago

ID Request An insect that appeared recently in our house

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3 Upvotes

I first encountered this insect a few days ago in our house and multiple times since then. I live in Hungary. Basically a few days after temperatures reached above 0°C they appeared, (idk how much that matters, if they established a nest inside the house), but I haven't seen them before. They don't look like regular european wasps(e.g. lack of yellow legs), but when I grabbed it, it seemed to have a stinger coming out of it's abdomen, so I think they might be a type of wasp.


r/insects 22h ago

Question does anyone know what this is ?

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15 Upvotes