Some Problem Invertebrates of Texas

Ants / Bees & Wasps / Beetles / Bugs / Caterpillars / Centipedes / Chiggers, Fleas, Mites & Ticks

Grasshoppers / Lovebugs / Mosquitoes / Scorpions / Shrimps / Solifugids / Spiders / Sticks / Termites / Worms

Return to Texas Entomology - Compiled by Mike Quinn

Most publications linked here were written by the Texas Cooperative Extension - See Also: Field Guide

Contact your local agent here: Texas County Extension Offices

Texas Cooperative Extension Entomologists

Texas Department of Health - Medically Important Arthropods - Zoonotic Diseases - Outdoor Health and Safety Tips

CDC - Search page for detailed information on insects of medical importance

Understanding Common House & Garden Insecticides

Ants 

Rasberry Crazy Ants

• Rasberry Crazy Ant, Paratrechina sp. near pubens - TAMU Center for Urban & Structural Pests
  • Quicktime videos of crazy ants in lawn grass - In bag of leaves 
  • County Distribution Map - TAMU
  • Information on submitting ant samples for identification - TAMU
  • Limited Management Options - TAMU
• Tom Rasberry’s Crazy Ant Blog
• 'Crazy' ants wreaking havoc in Houston-area households - Houston Chronicle - May 14, 2008
• Caribbean Crazy Ant - Paratrechina pubens - Universit of Florida

Fire Ants

• http://fireant.tamu.edu/ - Texas Imported Fire Ant Research and Management Project 

• The Texas Two-Step Method - (Organic Method) - Currently the best proven approach to effectively manage fire ants

• Managing Red Imported Fire Ants in Urban Areas - PDF

• Managing Fire Ants in Texas Schoolyard and Butterfly Gardens - PDF

• Managing Red Imported Fire Ants in Wildlife Areas - PDF

• Managing Red Imported Fire Ants in Electrical Equipment and Utility Housings - PDF

• Organic Fire Ant Baits Available, Effective

• Taking the Bite Out of Fire Ants: Biologists battle destructive imported ants with vampire-like flies - UT

• Area-wide Suppression of Fire Ants - Decapitating flies - Thelohania fire ant disease - USDA/ARS 

• Possible Future Fire Ant Infestation Area - USDA

Non-Fire, Non-Crazy Ant Information

• House-infesting Ants and Their Management
• Carpenter Ant Control - Camponotus spp.
• Native Ants - List of Ant Species in Texas
• Texas Leaf Cutting Ant - Atta texana - Range map - Texas & Louisiana
  • Photos: worker, winged form, winged form, queen, all castes (note, female reproductive has larger head than male)
  • Atta Texana Leafcutter Ant Colony Visualization - Carol LaFayette and Texas A&M University
    • Atta texana: a view underground - 3d model and animation created from a Ground Penetrating Radar scan of an Atta texana leafcutting ant colony in Texas
      

Honey Bees 

• http://honeybee.tamu.edu/
• Frequently Asked Questions - TAMU
• Temporary Honey Bee Swarm Photo
• Honey Bees in and Around Buildings - Established colonies
• "What should I do about the Africanized Bee?" - FAQ - AgNews 
• How to Submit Honey Bee Samples for Identification
• Map of Africanized Honey Bee Distribution in the US
• Texas Beekeepers Association Clubs - Most are willing to offer advise and/or assistance
• Colony Collapse Disorder - Wikipedia

Other Bee and Wasp Information

• Bumble Bees - TAMU
• Carpenter Bees - TAMU
• Mexican Honey Wasp - This honey-storing wasp ranges as far north as San Antonio, Texas 
• Cicada Killers - Attack of the Cicada Killers - Bexar Co. Extension - East Texas Extension - 
• Note, these giant wasps rarely sting people or animals
• Paper Wasps, Yellowjackets and Solitary Wasps - TAMU
  

Beetles - Coleoptera

• Citrus Root Weevil - Diaprepes abbreviatus

• Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle - University Florida
  • Photo of large number of adults   
• Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle - USDA
• Ladybug Masses Bad News for Aphids - Texas A&M 
• Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle - Ohio State University Extension 
• Photo - Photo - Photo - Photo - Photo - Photo - Highly variable, look for white "cheeks" near beetle's head 
  
  
• Twig Girdlers ("Flying Beavers") - Longhorned Beetles (Family Cerambycidae) - TX Forest Service
• Twig Girdlers
• WANTED: Asian ambrosia beetle - Xylosandrus crassiusculus 

• Wood-boring Insects of Trees and Shrubs

Bugs - Hemiptera

• Chagas Disease in a Domestic Transmission Cycle, Southern Texas - CDC

• Checklist of U.S. Cotton Stainers

Caterpillars - Lepidoptera

• Oak Leaf Rollers can be controlled

• Oak Leaf Roller and Springtime Defoliation of Live Oak Trees - PDF

• Oak Leaf Tier - Croesia semipurpurana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) - Univ. of Florida

• Oak Leaf Roller - Archips semiferana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) 

• Juniper Budworm - Cudonigera houstonana (syn. Choristoneura) - (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) - Texas Forest Service

  • Adult Photo - Edward C. Knudson - Texas Lepidoptera Survey

  • Damage Photos - Ronald F. Billings - Texas Forest Service

  • Close-up of larval nest - Ronald F. Billings - Texas Forest Service

  • Host: Ashe Juniper - Juniperus ashei

  • An unusual outbreak of juniper budworm defoliated Ashe juniper trees in central Texas in April 2002. Parts of Travis, Hays, Comal, and Blanco Counties were affected. Actual damage to the trees was relatively minor. - USDA

• Saltmarsh Caterpillar - Estigmene acrea - (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) - Univ. of Florida 

  • Mature Caterpillar - Common name is a misnomer as they are not tied to marshes 

  • These caterpillars are active dispersers and are often found crossing the road

  • Variably colored larvae usually are dark, but sometimes are yellowish brown or straw colored.

  • They are most common in the southern United States, particularly the southwest.

  • Broadleaf weeds are the normal caterpillar food plants.

• Fall Webworms 

• Webworm Caterpillars - Texas Cooperative Extenion

• Tent Caterpillars - Malacosoma spp. - (family Lasiocampidae)  
  

• Biological Control - Cornell University

    Stinging Caterpillars

• The most frequently reported caterpillar envenomation in Central Texas is the puss caterpillar or "asp"

  • Adult moth - Caterpillar - Caterpillar - Pupa

  • The Asp or Puss Moth Caterpillar, Megalopyge Opercularis - Baylor College of Medicine

• Stinging Caterpillars of Bexar County

• Io Moth - Automeris io- University of Florida

• Stinging Caterpillars Found on Alabama Trees - Auburn University

• Slug Caterpillars of New Jersey - Bob Barber 

• Caterpillar ID Tips

Centipedes

• Centipedes and Millipedes - TAMU

• Centipedes and Millipedes with Emphasis on North America Fauna - Rowland M. Shelley
          Centipedes of Texas - Soil Centipedes - Mike Quinn
          Scolopendra heros - University of Arkansas
          Photos: Giant Redheaded Centipede - Scolopendra heros, close-up, on  white background

Chiggers, Fleas, Mites and Ticks 

Grasshoppers, Katydids and Crickets - Orthoptera

• Attack of the Post Oak Grasshoppers? - Dendrotettix quercus
• Grasshopper Control Tips for Texas Landscapes
• Grasshoppers and Their Control
• Cricket Control in the Fall
• Grasshoppers are Making People Hopping Mad in 2002!! - Nathan Riggs, Bexar County Extension
• Eastern Lubber Grasshopper: Romalea guttata - Feature Creature - Florida
• Central Texas Leaf Katydid - Occasional Central Texas outbreaks - Has both green and red forms
• Red-eyed Devil - Large spiny wingless grasshopper of Central to South Texas
• Katydids of Texas

Lovebugs - Diptera

• Lovebugs - Plecia nearctica - TAMU
          Photo

• Love Bugs on the Move! - (Request for assistance) - University of South Carolina

• Lovebug - Feature Creature - University of Florida
          Swarm photo
          Windshield photo

• Cherry, Ron and Richard Raid. 2000. Seasonal flight of Plecia nearctica (Diptera: Bibionidae) in southern Florida. Florida Entomologist 83(1):94-96.

• Hetrick, L.A. 1970. Biology of the "Love-Bug", Plecia Nearctica (Diptera: Bibionidae). The Florida Entomologist 53(1):23-26.  

Mosquitoes

• Mosquito Management and Control - TAMU
• Mosquito Control Gimmicks - TAMU
• West Nile Virus Links
• Biological Control - Cornell University
  
• Crane Flies - Are NOT giant mosquitoes - Photo
  • Large numbers of adult crane flies can be a nuisance indoors but are medically harmless.

Scorpions

• Scorpions - Texas A&M

• Striped bark scorpion - Centruroides vittatus 

  • range of C. vittatus

• Texas Cave Scorpion - Pseudouroctonus reddelli 

  • Photo - Kari J McWest

Land Shrimps - Lawn Shrimp - Scuds - small terrestrial crustaceans

• "lawn shrimp" - University of Florida
  • Photo
• Land Shrimp: Terrestrial Amphipod - University of Florida

Solifugids

• Curve-faced Solifugid - Family Ammotrechidae - Mike Quinn

• Windscorpion or Solifugid - Texas Cooperative Extension 

• Windscorpions - Carl D. Patrick, Professor and Extension Entomologist, Texas A&M University 

• Giant Camel Spiders in Iraq? - HOAX email circulating mostly in 2004

Spiders

• Venomous Texas Spiders - Texas Department of Health
• Arachnids - Centers for Disease Control 
  
• Brown Recluse Spider Information - Loxosceles spp. - University of California, Riverside
          Brown Recluse photo - Ohio State
          The alleged brown-recluse-caused thumb wound - [pix] - University of California, Riverside
          Brown Recluse photo showing size - University of Nebraska
          Control of Brown Recluse Spiders - Texas A&M
          Range of recluse (Loxosceles spp.) spiders in the United States - University of California
          Scavenging by brown recluse spiders - Sandidge, University of Kansas, Nature 2003
• Black Widow Spider - Latrodectus spp. - Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet
          Black Widow photo - UC Davis
          Black Widow multiple photos
• Brown Recluse, Black Widow Spiders: Unwanted Visitors - TAMU
  • A Field Guide to the Spiders and Scorpions of Texas 
    John A. Jackman. 1997. Gulf Publishing, Houston, TX.
• Catalogue of Texas Spiders - D. Allen Dean, Texas A&M University 
• Spiders - Texas A&M
• Yellow Garden Spider - Argiope aurantia - A large common harmless garden spider 
• Banded Garden Spider - Argiope trifasciata - A large common harmless garden spider 
• Spiny-backed Orbweaver - Gasteracantha cancriformis - A small common crab-like spider
• Tarantulas - Texas A&M

• Photos and discussion of massive spider web east of Dallas, Texas

Stick Insects

• Texas Walkingstick Information - Mike Quinn
• Ocular Injury from the Venom of the Southern Walkingstick

Termites

• Termites
• Subterranean Termites - Reticulitermes spp.
• Commonly Asked Questions About Subterranean Termite Control
• How to Select a Termite Control Service
• Termites101.org

"Worms"

• Horsehair Worms - Gordius robustus
          Horsehair Worm Photos

• Land Planarians - Bipalium kewense - TAMU

• Land Planarians - University of Florida

• Shovel-headed Garden Worm - Australian Museum

See also:

• A Technique for Removing Insects from Homes
• Diagnosing Mysterious "Bug Bites"
• Least Toxic Approaches to Pest Control In and Around the Home
• Who to talk to when you have insects on your mind: Entomophobia, Illusory Parasitosis, Delusory Parasitosis

No Claims are made to the accuracy or suitability if this information.

If you need medical assistance, please dial 9-1-1 or contact your physician.

19 Aug 2009 © Mike Quinn / entomike@gmail.com / Texas Entomology