# Let's Play Guess That Bug! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552 "2004-10-27T22:13:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/1 "2004-10-27T22:13:20Z")
Okay, at work we’ve had a bunch of tiny bugs flying around. They’re about the size of aphids, but are covered with a white fuzz and spotted with black dots. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/2 "2004-10-27T23:50:13Z")
I’ve seen bugs similar to this [whitefly](http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/ento/giantfig.htm). Close? Bigger than an aphid, I suspect. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/3 "2004-10-27T23:52:32Z")
Nope. The ones we have at work are **fuzzy** , so much so, that it’s hard to discern the actual shape or size of the insect. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/4 "2004-10-29T00:07:43Z")
Now you’ve really got me curious. It’s hard to think of a bug that’s _that_ fuzzy, small as an aphid, and still able to fly. Is there ant reasonable way to get a photo? Before they’re all gone? There is a bug site, where you can enter what you know and it shows likely matches, but I don’t remember it’s link. Someone on the SDMB linked to it once. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/5 "2004-10-29T00:13:50Z")
😛 And try [this](http://www.ex.ac.uk/bugclub/bugid.html#19) site. Hurry! ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/6 "2004-10-29T02:41:58Z")
No way for me to get a photo as my camera won’t focus on anything that small. And I couldn’t make head nor tails out of the site you linked me to, so that didn’t help, either. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/7 "2004-10-29T02:59:23Z")
Here [Flying Fuzz-Balls Woolly Alder Aphid](http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/O&T/trees/note06/note06.html) [Picture](http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/Graphics/maple/woolly.htm) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/8 "2004-10-29T03:12:47Z")
[Here’s a bunch more pics](http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=Woolly+Alder+Aphid) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/9 "2004-10-29T03:21:51Z")
That’s close, but the ones at work have very pronounced black spots on them, like a dalmation. ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/10 "2004-10-29T03:28:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Flying Fuzz-Balls Woolly Alder Aphid So _that’s_ what was crawling on me the other day. I looked down at my arm and found what appeared to be several tiny pieces of lint having a dance. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/11 "2004-10-29T11:53:50Z")
Is it a hijack if I ask about my own bug? I mean why start a new thread if there’s a bug guessing thread going? I had these bugs on my potato plants. No, they’re not potato bugs. But I’ve never seen them anywhere else. They’re flat and triangular and translucent with black bits inside. And about the most disgusting bug I’ve even seen. And like I said, seem to be potato related. Any idea? ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/12 "2004-10-29T12:11:07Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > Is it a hijack if I ask about my own bug? I mean why start a new thread if there’s a bug guessing thread going? > > I had these bugs on my potato plants. No, they’re not potato bugs. But I’ve never seen them anywhere else. They’re flat and triangular and translucent with black bits inside. And about the most disgusting bug I’ve even seen. And like I said, seem to be potato related. Any idea? Not quite triangular, but could they be [Psyllids](http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/P/I-HO-PCOC-NM.005.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/13 "2004-10-29T12:59:17Z")
According to one of the women at work, there was a piece on the news about the bugs last night, and they’re an Asian aphid. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/14 "2004-10-29T13:09:01Z")
Those fuzzy bugs are creeping me out. Do they move quickly? I’m not kidding…I’m majorly creeped out by them. ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/15 "2004-10-29T13:26:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Those fuzzy bugs are creeping me out. Do they move quickly? The ones that I had on me were moving fairly quickly, about the speed of an active ant going about its business. The thing is, though, they’re really tiny, and very easy to mistake for a piece of lint, so they’re hard to notice in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/16 "2004-10-29T16:17:59Z")
Here in Alabama they are called White Wooly Asian Aphids. They aren’t a threat to humans but really like soybeans. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/17 "2004-10-29T22:29:08Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Here > > [Flying Fuzz-Balls Woolly Alder Aphid](http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/O&T/trees/note06/note06.html) > [Picture](http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/Graphics/maple/woolly.htm) There’s _no way_ that puffball can fly. :dubious: Does drift on the wind count as “fly”? ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-guess-that-bug/271552/18 "2004-10-31T06:29:55Z")
> [@TwoTrouts](#): > > Not quite triangular, but could they be [Psyllids](http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/P/I-HO-PCOC-NM.005.html)? No, though almost as disgusting. Wish I had taken a picture. Now I’ll have to grow potatoes again next year 😃 . Thanks.