# Can anyone tell me what these bugs are?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-bugs-are/607989
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 31, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-bugs-are/607989 "2011-12-31T23:11:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-bugs-are/607989/1 "2011-12-31T23:11:43Z")
I beleive there is an actual factual answer to this, but it is more of a mundane and pointless sort of a question. My 3 yo daughter got a giant bug collection for Christmas. It was her idea and she loves them. However, I don’t know what all the bugs are. And, she keeps asking me what certain bugs are - she’s very inquisitive.
So, here’s the pictures of the bugs from the site:
[Giant Bug Collection](http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/product/productDet.jsp;jsessionid=T1TRWTqzj2wn2ZB70QKmyQGnCXRylTdhl8jhcpwQ0K5p7YpczTLR!1890715249!-1674601714?productItemID=1%2C689%2C949%2C371%2C921%2C287&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181113&bmUID=1325372369575)
I know the obvious ones, but there’s quit’e a few that I don’t. And, googling “bug species” really isn’t helping.
I’ll put some numbers on that bug pic when I get a chance. Even if there is an entomologist out there, it’ll be tough to describe which one is being identified. If there’s any of those bugs that you need a better picture of to identify, let me know and I"ll take some close ups.
Thanks for reading! Hope someone can help.
---
### Author:  [@Mister\_Owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Owl)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-bugs-are/607989/2 "2011-12-31T23:58:25Z")
Which are the obvious ones for you?
---
### Author:  [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)
#### Post date: [January 1, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-bugs-are/607989/3 "2012-01-01T00:10:19Z")
Here’s a pic of the bugs in 5 rows.
[Bugs 1](http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/gravityisnotmyfriend/100_1688.jpg)
And here are some more angles:
[Bugs 2](http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/gravityisnotmyfriend/100_1689.jpg)
[Bugs 3](http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/gravityisnotmyfriend/100_1690.jpg)
[Bugs 4](http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/gravityisnotmyfriend/100_1691.jpg)
[Bugs 5](http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/gravityisnotmyfriend/100_1692.jpg)
[Bugs 6](http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/gravityisnotmyfriend/100_1693.jpg)
[Bugs 7](http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/gravityisnotmyfriend/100_1694.jpg)
Lets use the first pic for reference. #1 will be the upper left, #6 will be the first bug on the second row and so on.
1 2 5 6 7 8 10 11 14 15 18 & 21 Are the ones I know. The rest I haven’t a clue!
---
### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 1, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-bugs-are/607989/4 "2012-01-01T00:28:42Z")
> [@brewha](#):
>
> url=[http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/gravityisnotmyfriend/100\_1688.jpg](http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/gravityisnotmyfriend/100_1688.jpg)]Bugs 1
1 = dragonfly
2 = grasshopper
3 = tiger beetle
4 = ground beetle
5 = praying mantis
6 = tarantula
7 = cicada
8 = scorpion
9 = beetle, need to check which kind
10 = bumblebee
11 = housefly
12 = beetle, need to check which kind
13 = rhinoceros beetle
14 = cricket
15 = wasp
16 = scarab beetle
17 = cockroach
18 = carpenter ant
19 = stink bug
20 = beetle, need to check which kind
21 = butterfly
22 = longhorn beetle
23 = stag beetle
I’ll see if I can figure out the rest of the beetles.
---
### Author:  [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)
#### Post date: [January 1, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-bugs-are/607989/5 "2012-01-01T00:39:54Z")
I would like to point out, just to be a nit-picking penant, that only one or two of those models represent true bugs - some are not even insects.
---
### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 1, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-bugs-are/607989/6 "2012-01-01T00:50:02Z")
20 = dung beetle
---
### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 1, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-bugs-are/607989/7 "2012-01-01T00:57:17Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#):
>
> I would like to point out, just to be a nit-picking penant, that only one or two of those models represent true bugs - some are not even insects.
It’s perfectly correct to refer to all these critters as “bugs” in common English.
From Merriam Webster:
> [@](#):
>
> bug
>
> a : an insect or other creeping or crawling invertebrate (as a spider or centipede)
> b : any of several insects (as the bedbug or cockroach) commonly considered obnoxious
> c : any of an order (Hemiptera and especially its suborder Heteroptera) of insects that have sucking mouthparts, forewings thickened at the base, and incomplete metamorphosis and are often economic pests —called also true bug
Insisting that “bug” only be applied to members of the order Hemiptera is not only pedantry, it’s not even correct pedantry. It’s only proper within the field of entomology, not in general English.
---
### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 1, 2012, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-bugs-are/607989/8 "2012-01-01T01:33:20Z")
12 I _think_ this may be a metallic wood-boring beetle, but am not sure
---
### Author:  [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)
#### Post date: [January 1, 2012, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-bugs-are/607989/9 "2012-01-01T11:18:51Z")
You should show her a wheel bug, sometimes called a ninja bug. Google on some images and check this thing out! We were at a kids bday party when one started crawling across the screen over window where the bday girl was opening presents! Ugly and weird sucker!
---
### Author:  [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)
#### Post date: [January 1, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-bugs-are/607989/10 "2012-01-01T15:56:45Z")
Colibri, Thanks much. That’s a huge help. I can’t have my daughter thinking I don’t know all the answers yet! 🙂
If you can find out on the beetles that would be great, but for now we’ll just call all of them beetles. She seems satisfied with that answer.
---
### Author:  [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)
#### Post date: [January 1, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-bugs-are/607989/11 "2012-01-01T15:59:22Z")
Jinx, that sucker is creepy. We actually saw one of those outside last summer. I guess they prey on those Japanese Beetles, so their numbers are up.
My daughter kept calling it “that crazy buggy”. I got a video of it on my phone - maybe a picture too. I’ll upload it if I can find it.
---
### Author:  [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)
#### Post date: [January 1, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-bugs-are/607989/12 "2012-01-01T16:21:17Z")
Nothing out-creepys this guy:
> **[Jerusalem cricket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_cricket)**
>
> Jerusalem crickets (or potato bugs) are a group of large, flightless insects in the genera Ammopelmatus and Stenopelmatus, together comprising the tribe Stenopelmatini. The former genus is native to the western United States and parts of Mexico, while the latter genus is from Central America.
> Despite their common names, these insects are neither true crickets (which belong to the family Gryllidae) nor true bugs (which belong to the order Hemiptera), nor are they native to Jerusalem. These noct...
---
### Author:  [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-bugs-are/607989/13 "2012-01-02T04:49:48Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#):
>
> I would like to point out, just to be a nit-picking penant, that only one or two of those models represent true bugs - some are not even insects.
Ha I spelled it wrong, now I’m penitent. In the name of fighting ignorance, I just like people to be aware of what a true bug is. It’s not that I object to the common use of the word, just that most people don’t know there is a scientific definition of the word too.