Varied Carpet Beetle

Essig Museum of Entomology

Anthrenus verbasci (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) is a common pest of households and museums. Adult beetles (~3 mm) lay eggs in hidden locations close to larval food sources. Larvae feed on organic materials including carpets, clothing, furniture, and insect collections.

Common Blue Damselflies

Essig Museum of Entomology

Enallagma sp. (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) mating.

Mating in dragonflies and damselflies is unusual. The male deposits sperm in a structure on his 2nd and 3rd abdominal segment and then grabs the female behind her head with claspers. She then loops her abdomen up to pick up the sperm from the male's abdomen.

Hollyhock Weevils

Essig Museum of Entomology

Rhopalapion longirostre (Coleoptera: Brentidae: Apioninae) mating.

Hollyhock weevils are sexually dimorphic— the males and females appear differently from one another. Females have longer snouts, and use mouthparts at the end to chew out galleries in the stems of the hollyhocks where they deposit their eggs.

Large Milkweed Bugs

Essig Museum of Entomology

Oncopeltus fasciatus (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) adults and juveniles on milkweed.

Like monarch caterpillars and butterflies, milkweed bugs consume and store the distasteful chemical compounds in milkweed, which makes them taste bad to predators. Their bright orange and black colors are a warning to potential predators of their foul taste.

Cross Orbweaver

Essig Museum of Entomology

Araneus diadematus (Arachnida: Araneae: Araneidae).

This spider is commonly seen in gardens around the Bay Area in late summer and can be easily recognized by the white cross pattern on their abdomen. Females spin webs and usually position themselves in the center with head hanging downwards. In order to conserve silk, orbweavers consume their webs each night along with the insects stuck to them and spin a new web the next day.

Marsh Ground Beetle

Essig Museum of Entomology

Elaphrus sp. (Coleoptera: Carabidae).

These beetles prefer to live near water and can be found on shores and in mud flats, marshes, and bogs. Like other members of the carabid family, they are predators of small insects and other invertebrates.

Bumble Bee Scarab

Essig Museum of Entomology

Licnanthe rathvoni (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Glaphyridae).

The common name for these beetles comes from their amazing resemblance to bumble bees. When in flight, they look and sound like bees, which may prevent predators from trying to catch and eat them.

Leaf-footed Bug

Essig Museum of Entomology

Merocoris curtatus (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Coreidae).

The leaf-footed bugs often have hind legs with enlarged femora ("thighs"), or leaf-like shapes on their tibiae ("shins"). This species has large femora and a mottled appearance that makes it hard to see against the bark of the plants it feeds upon.

Tumbling Flower Beetle

Essig Museum of Entomology

Mordella sp. (Coleoptera: Mordellidae).

The common name of these beetles comes from the movements they make to evade predators. When a predator threatens the beetle, it drops and tumbles from the flower. The tumbling consists of a series of short, rapid jumps. Eventually, the beetle tumbles into a position that allows it to fly away.

Rain Beetle (male)

Essig Museum of Entomology

Pleocoma behrensi (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Pleocomidae).

Rain beetles are scarabs that spend most of their lives under the ground. They emerge in response to heavy rainfall, and males can be found in flight during the first heavy rain of the year. The females are flightless, the males find them by homing in on pheromones released by the females.

Water Boatman

Essig Museum of Entomology

(Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Corixidae).

Water boatmen are aquatic insects that live in ponds and slow-moving streams. Their long mid and hind legs are fringed with hairs and resemble oars. They are mostly non-predatory, and feed on aquatic plants and algae.

Creamy Marblewing

Essig Museum of Entomology

Euchloe ausonides (Lepidoptera: Pieridae).

Predatory Looper

Essig Museum of Entomology

Eupithecia staurophragma (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) caterpillar feasting on a fly. Most loopers feed on seeds or flowers, but some Hawaiian species are predators of other insects. They mimic twigs, but when sensitive hairs on their backs are triggered, they quickly grab and eat the insects touching them.

Bee Fly

Essig Museum of Entomology

Bombylius major (Diptera: Bombyliidae).

Bee flies are named for their resemblance to bees. The females use this resemblance to hover close to the openings of the nests of ground-nesting bees, where they flick their eggs down into the opening. After the bee fly larvae hatch, they feed on the bee larvae.

Toad Bug

Essig Museum of Entomology

Gelastocoris oculatus (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Gelastocoridae). Toad bugs get their name from their warty appearance and their hopping movements. They live on the shores of freshwater streams, and are well camouflaged against the sand grains and pebbles where they hide and hunt invertebrates.

American Rubyspot

Essig Museum of Entomology

Hetaerina americana (Odonata: Calopterygidae).

This group is named for the distinctive red spot at the base of each of its wings. H. Americana is the most widespread of the rubyspots and is found in nearly every state in the United States.

Ceanothus Silk Moth

Essig Museum of Entomology

Hyalophora euryalus (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) caterpillar.

Despite its common name, this is not the species of silk moth used for commercial silk production.

Black Legged Tick

Essig Museum of Entomology

Ixodes pacificus (Arachnida: Acari: Ixodidae) engorged female.

The black legged tick is the west coast vector of Lyme disease. Ixodes ticks live for up to a year and have 3 separate hosts, one for each life stage. After feeding, ticks detach from their hosts and molt to their next life stage. This adult female is engorged with her last blood meal. She will soon lay her eggs (up to 3,000) and die.

Pterostichine Ground Beetle

Essig Museum of Entomology

Mecynognathus damelii (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Pterostichnae) female.

Pterostichine Ground Beetle

Essig Museum of Entomology

Mecynognathus damelii (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Pterostichnae) male.

Snail-eating Ground Beetle

Essig Museum of Entomology

Scaphinotus longiceps. (Coleoptera: Carabidae).

These beetles have heads and mouthparts that are specially adapted for eating snails.

Antlion

Essig Museum of Entomology

(Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae) adult.

The name "Antlion" refers to the larva, which is a predator of ants and other small arthropods. Most adults live on pollen or nectar, though some are also predators. They are most common in dry and sandy habitats, and are attracted to lights at night.

Variegated Meadowhawk

Essig Museum of Entomology

Sympetrum corruptum (Odonata: Libellulidae).

Planthopper

Essig Museum of Entomology

Orgerius sp. (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Dictyopharidae).

Juvenile form perched atop a seed head.

Western Tussock Moth

Essig Museum of Entomology

Orgyia vetusta (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) male.

The females of this moth are flightless and give off a pheromone to attract the males. The males use their feathery antennae to detect the female, sometimes from very long distances.

Oak Treehoppers

Essig Museum of Entomology

Platycotis vittata (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Membracidae).

Oak treehoppers live in clusters, and females exhibit maternal instincts. They stand guard over their clusters of young, and fend off potential insect predators such as wasps.

Vestal Tiger Moth

Essig Museum of Entomology

Spilosoma vestalis (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae)

Iron Cross Blister Beetle

Essig Museum of Entomology

Tegrodera aloga (Coleoptera: Meloidae)

These attractive beetles have red heads and a black cross on their yellow wings. Their bright colors are a warning to potential predators because the beetles produce an irritating chemical called cantharadin, which can cause skin blisters or severe to fatal poisoning if ingested.

Male Torymid Wasp

Essig Museum of Entomology

Torymus sp. (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Torymidae) male.

Torymus wasps are hyperparasites (they are parasites of parasites). The females lay their eggs in plant galls created by parasitic gall wasps. When the Torymus eggs hatch, the larvae eat the gall-wasp larvae.

Essig Spring Collecting Trip

Essig Museum of Entomology

Early Essig Museum collecting trip to Fort Seward, Humboldt County, California. The Essig Museum's collection grew out of a desire shared by early UC Berkeley Entomology professors to better understand the diversity of insects in California. They established the annual spring collecting trips to locations all over the state, a practice that is still active today. Thanks to their idea, the Essig now houses the largest collection of California insects.

Moth "Sex Scale"

Essig Museum of Entomology

Butterflies and moths are cloaked in overlapping scales that provide a barrier to the external environment and create mosaic patterns of color. Some scales perform specialized functions, like this highly magnified "sex scale" of Cydia plicata (Tortricidae), which wicks pheromones from scent glands to be released into the breeze to attract mates.

Summit Mt. Finkol, Kosrae, Micronesia

Essig Museum of Entomology

Scanning high elevation habitat for potential sites to collect arthropods, in particular spiders, during the course of an expedition funded by the National Geographic Society to document spider diversity in the high islands of eastern Micronesia.

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