Hi folks,
I was wondering if anyone could identify what this flying insect might be? Every night from dusk for about an hour or two, swarms of these come out and appear to be feeding or flying around the pine trees (mostly around the green seed cones). They were hard to get a shot of as they fly around quite quickly. I've only noticed them out in Ontario the last couple of years but they could have been longer. Only around during the summer that I remember. If anyone has any ideas, it'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/61436/weird_3~0.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1594400620)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/61436/Weird~0.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1594400619)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/61436/weird_2~0.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1594400619)
Murder Hornet :D :D :D
kinda looks like a june bug
Pretty amazing you were able to get such good flight shots. I'm probably not going to be able to help but it might help others to know the size.
Alan
Quote from: alan gage on July 10, 2020, 03:35:07 PM
Pretty amazing you were able to get such good flight shots. I'm probably not going to be able to help but it might help others to know the size.
Alan
Thanks. It was the best 3 shots out of the 100 blurry attempts. :D
For the size, each look to be about roughly the size of a honey bee. I also found it odd that with so many of them around the trees, there was virtually no sound coming from the swarm of them. Very puzzling.
Texas Ranger might be onto something. Hard to tell from the pictures but it might be a june bug. A couple times I've been in the middle of a "hatch" when they all start swarming out of the ground and head up into the trees to mate. It's pretty neat.
Alan
Do the have a hard shell covering over the flight wings? They look like a bug I have been seeing here for a week or so.
Started seeing them around here 5 or 6 years ago, seem a bit smaller than a june bug and lighter in colour and will swarm around trees or a bush.
I googled "smaller and lighter than a june bug" and got "European chafer beetle"
Yup that sure looks like what I have been seeing.
Quote from: Hilltop366 on July 10, 2020, 05:22:53 PM
I googled "smaller and lighter than a june bug" and got "European chafer beetle"
Oh wow! I think you may have found it. I looked up European chafer beetle and it looks
just like it, especially on the Wikipedia page. The behavior that it mentions, with them swarming to mate in the trees nightly during summer months seems to match them as well. Man, I searched around for hours and couldn't find anything on what I was seeing.
Thanks to you and thank you everyone for your help. I believe this may be what it is. Very much appreciated!
Cheers!
Your welcome, and welcome to the Forestry Forum.
Looks like a humming bird moth to me .