What bugs are these?

Nope defcon, not them either.
I really wish I had a camera.

Milkweed bugs then?

Nope, these don't eat plants and don't have love hearts on them.

Checkered Beetle



www.whatsthatbug.com...

Family Cleridae. Checkered Beetles are brightly patterned with red, orange, yellow and blue and they have bulging eyes. Adults visit flowers and rest on foliage and trunks of dying or dead trees and they prey on the larva of wood boring insects. Larva of some species prey on bark beetle larva while others feed on grasshopper eggs. Our California species, Aulicus terrestris, feeds on caterpillars.

Either way check this site, they have like 6 pages of beetles to choose from....

Heh, I've got a fear of bugs so I couldn't look at much. But from what I saw on the page, none of them are it.

dont know if this will help. i saw these in germany.Pyrrhocoris apterus

www.david.element.ukgateway.net...[/img]

how ever they eat seeds not other insects.

[edit on 1-12-2005 by Enigma27]

Down here in Australia, I see them all the time, especially in summer. We have always called them stink bugs and they often 'mate' buy walking around joined at the back. Here is some pics of what the look like:











Go here for lots of info

Sounds like some kind of checkered beetle. They feed on other insects, and they also look a bit like what you're describing.

LOL Okay, this really isn't a joke. You gotta check out this site:

www.whatsthatbug.com...

I figure if you can't find it here...ya can't find it anywhere!

Took this photo yesterday while i was going to a jog. This is taken in a suburb of Melbourne Australia. Pretty sure they are the bugs you are referring to.

I am thinking it could be the Box-Elder bug....



Here is the link: Bug Facts

It is a recent import from some asian country. I am not sure of the name but description fits. It is a relative of the ladybug if I am not mistaken.
someone will have to look it up.

EDIT: after seeing the posts just above me I think I am talking about the Box Elder bug. Getting confused up here with all the new insects. Fairly recent to S.E. Michigan.

There is also a orange lady bug that is a recent import here in Michigan except they have a nasty little bite... like a horsefly.

Between those and the emerald ash borer, which is really the big problem, it seems we have a lot of new bugs around here.


[edit on 31-1-2006 by pavil]

Man I know exactly the ones your talking about ive seen them all over in tennessee but I wish I knew what they are called Ive caught a few and showed them around and noone knew what they are.
Speaking of more bugs we have had a warm winter with less than an inch of snow and no freezing. since the ground hasnt froze at all this summer the bugs will be hellish.

[edit on 1-2-2006 by SoLaR513]

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Hmmmm....seems like we've been through this before.......

The bugs were gone for ages so I wasn't able to get a picture, but now they're back and there's heaps of them.

Yep thats like the ones I have seen, like whole swarms of them.

Ya those are the box-elders, as a kid i used to squish them cause it would make quite the mess!! (of course I don't do this anymore...)

Some more pictures I just took.

According to Wikipedia, they feed on leafs. The ones here feed on dead bugs.

Nventual,

Lucky for you, I am an expert in entomology/insects.

The bug in question is indeed a bug (as opposed to beetles, flies, grasshoppers, cockroaches, wasps, moths, etc.). And specifically in the order Hemiptera (bugs comprise of 2 orders, Hemiptera and Homoptera). Unfortunately, Hemiptera comprise of THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of species and families. However, I can tell from the photo that we're dealing with a member of the suborder Gymnacerata (long-horned bugs), which consists of other families that include the boxelder and milkweed bug. However, to get a more precise ID, it will require a closeup shot so that I can see how many antennae segments there are and how many veins in the forewings. IDing Gymnaceratans can be very tricky.

For a sec, I thought these may be some kind of assassin bug due to the elongated edges of the abdomen common among assassin bugs, but these are also common among leaf-footed bugs. Elongated edges of the abdomen, again, are no smoking gun though. Also, assassin bugs are strictly predatory (as opposed to feeding on plants or scavengers of the dead), and they typically do not congregate like that. Congregation, however, is common among the plant-sucking members of Gymnacerata. Also common is them scavenging on the dead, although that is NOT their primary source of food. They may also turn to the dead if their primary food source is depleted.

These are DEFINITELY not beetles, and I knew right away these can't be from the first few posts. How? Beetle adults looks DRASTICALLY different from their young. The young are called larvae and are typically wormlike. Looks totally totally different. Bug young, however, are called nymphs and are basically just miniature versions of the adult but without wings and frequently with different coloration patterning.