Monday, February 23, 2009

Leaf-footed Bug ID Needed


Beth found this Leaf-footed Bug sitting on our window sill today. It's about 20 degrees outside and has been cold since a warm spell in early February. I wonder how it got in and I wonder what its story is. Anyone know the species? I posted an ID request to bugguide.net which is usually a quick way to an answer.

UPDATE: Thanks to Nuthatch for IDing it as a Western Conifer Seed Bug. Funny because I IDed one of these for someone else last year! They are native to the Pacific Northwest but have undergone a tremendous range expansion into the northeast. It's unknown if it's natural or human-assisted. In general, it is considered a pest, but a cool-looking pest in my opinion.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Western Conifer Seed Bug (Leptoglossus occidentalis)

Patrick B. said...

Thanks! That's what the Bugguide folks said too. It matched that species in my field guide, but the "Western" part threw me off.

dguzman said...

Creepy.

deborah said...

Hi! I just found one in my office in Montreal. He seems quite lively and I hate to get rid of him. What do they eat during the winter months? Thank you. Deborah

Anonymous said...

We have these in our house in Minnesota. We live near St. Paul, and our in the woods. These seem to show up at the end of the summer on those "Indian Summer" days, along with the Box Elder bugs. I've always wondered what they're called.

Anonymous said...

We have these in our house in Minnesota. We live near St. Paul, and out in the woods. These seem to show up at the end of the summer on those "Indian Summer" days, along with the Box Elder bugs. I've always wondered what they're called.

Anonymous said...

I found one of these bugs in Toms River NJ today 7-10-11

Anonymous said...

I work at the University of Wisconsin Arboretum in Madison, Wisconsin, and we regularly find these bugs indoors. Seems to me it's usually in wintertime.

We've also found their eggs on plants in our prairie garden. The eggs are metallic gold in color.

I have to admit I think they're cool looking ... I wonder if they'll become a pest?

Anonymous said...

We found this guy in Danbury, Ct. Far from home