# Yet another "name that bug" thread **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-name-that-bug-thread/596439 **Category:** Factual Questions **Created:** [September 15, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-name-that-bug-thread/596439 "2011-09-15T20:59:47Z") **Posts on this page:** 7 **Page:** 1
### Author: ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45) #### Post date: [September 15, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-name-that-bug-thread/596439/1 "2011-09-15T20:59:47Z")
I photographed [this “masked” bug](http://www.flickr.com/photos/42009607@N00/6151242856/in/photostream#/photos/42009607@N00/6151242856/in/photostream/lightbox/) last month in Grenoble, France. It was about 1/3 to 1/2 inch long. ---
### Author: ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake) #### Post date: [September 15, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-name-that-bug-thread/596439/2 "2011-09-15T21:05:07Z")
I have a guess: the [firebug](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firebug), or I guess in France the [gendarme](http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gendarme_(insecte)) (though I rather like “diable cherche-midi” : “south-seeking devil”? ---
### Author: ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob) #### Post date: [September 15, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-name-that-bug-thread/596439/3 "2011-09-15T21:06:09Z")
Firebug: > **[Firebug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firebug)** > > Firebug may refer to: ---
### Author: ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45) #### Post date: [September 15, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-name-that-bug-thread/596439/4 "2011-09-15T21:38:27Z")
Thanks, guys. I notice there are two different designs, probably based on sex, with one design being much more common. ---
### Author: ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout) #### Post date: [September 16, 2011, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-name-that-bug-thread/596439/5 "2011-09-16T06:11:00Z")
Fire-bug of equivalent. Really common around the Mediterranean. We used to call them ‘ladybird ants’ in Cyprus because in certain circumstances they emerge from holes in the ground in large numbers. Not sure if it was communal hibernation or something. ---
### Author: ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon) #### Post date: [September 16, 2011, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-name-that-bug-thread/596439/6 "2011-09-16T10:00:14Z")
We have a very similar looking bug in the UK: [(Rhopalidae) Corizus hyoscyami](http://www.britishbugs.org.uk/heteroptera/Rhopalidae/corizus_hyoscyami.html) Despite the strikingly similar pattern, it’s actually in a completely different family, bizarrely. ---
### Author: ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph) #### Post date: [September 16, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-name-that-bug-thread/596439/7 "2011-09-16T12:04:00Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Thanks, guys. I notice there are two different designs, probably based on sex, with one design being much more common. The design with less black in it are the immature ones, the nymphs (see wikipedia entry cited above)