Happy Wednesday! Here's your weekly insect identification challenge, aka the Bug of the Week. Do you recognize the bug in this picture? If so, tell us what you think it is by posting a comment with your answer. Not quite sure? I've left a few clues that may help you solve the puzzle in the forum. Next Wednesday, I'll let you know if you were right.

Last week's mystery insect was a fun one - a firebrat, Thermobia domestica. Christy and Moni identified this heat-loving household pest correctly. Spirula and Mobugs41 came close, recognizing it as a relative of silverfish.

_{Photo: Dhaval Momaya (CC by SA license)}

More Ways to Keep Up With About Insects
Have a bug question? Visit the Insects Forum
Sign up for my free newsletter
Follow me on Twitter: AboutInsects
Become a fan on facebook

Army ants are the stuff of insect legend. Imagine a mobile ant colony numbering in the millions, marching across the landscape in search of prey. These legions of loyal workers serve a single queen, an enormous ruler who holds the world record for offspring production. As in other ants, each army ant colony gives off a unique odor so its members recognize one another. Should a foreign army approach, the workers rise up and attack their rivals.

Army ants are nomadic and colonies emigrate frequently. Here, two soldiers of the army ant Dorylus molestus guard a colony emigration at Mt. Kenya.
Photo: Daniel Kronauer, Harvard University

But what happens when the queen dies? Scientists knew the millions of worker ants at her service seemed to disappear, but where did they go? Harvard University researcher Daniel Kronauer headed to Kenya to find the answer to this question.

Kronauer and his colleagues spent two seasons on the slopes of Mount Kenya, following 10 army ant colonies. They purposely removed the queens from each of the colonies. What happened next surprised them.

In 7 of the 10 colonies, the orphaned workers simply joined another army ant colony. Within days, they lost their own family's characteristic odor. Rather than being attacked, as might be expected, the queenless ants were welcomed into a new family.

_{Source: Harvard Science News, Nov. 4, 2009}

More Ways to Keep Up With About Insects
Have a bug question? Visit the Insects Forum
Sign up for my free newsletter
Follow me on Twitter: AboutInsects
Become a fan on facebook

The wasp Dinocampus coccinellae has long been known to parasitize ladybugs. A female wasp lays her eggs on the ladybug's body. When the larva emerges, it spins a cocoon between the ladybug's legs. It appeared that this parasitic activity killed the ladybug host.

Some ladybugs are taken hostage by wasps, but later released unharmed.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Kaldari

Not always so, according to biologist Jacques Brodeur of the Université de Montréal. In one ladybug species, Coleomegilla maculata, the beetle is eventually released unscathed. Though the presence of the wasp cocoon temporarily paralyzes the ladybug host, once the adult wasp emerges, the ladybug is free to go about its business.

_{Source: Ladybugs Taken Hostage by Wasps, Université de Montréal, November 17, 2009.}

More Ways to Keep Up With About Insects
Have a bug question? Visit the Insects Forum
Sign up for my free newsletter
Follow me on Twitter: AboutInsects
Become a fan on facebook

Did you know...

An ant-eating assassin bug found in Java lures its prey with the promise of a sweet treat. The assassin bug will block the path between the ants and their aphid herd. When an ant approaches, the assassin stands up and flashes its abdomen, revealing a red spot that oozes sticky goodness. If the ant takes a taste, it falls paralyzed by a special tranquilizing agent, and the assassin bug enjoys an easy meal.

_{Source: The Handy Bug Answer Book, Dr. Gilbert Waldbauer}

More Ways to Keep Up With About Insects
Have a bug question? Visit the Insects Forum
Sign up for my free newsletter
Follow me on Twitter: AboutInsects
Become a fan on facebook