Photos: Curiosities - Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension - University of Maine Cooperative Extension

Photo Gallery: Curiosities Nearly all of our caterpillar, butterfly and/or moth entries are now in their own respective categories within our Photo Gallery so please look there if you know you are looking for one of those insect types.

: American Carrion Beetle (Necrophila americana) (Etna, ME; 6/12/2012)

: Margined Carrion Beetle (Oiceoptoma noveboracense) (Etna, ME; 4/11/2010)

: Barklice nymphs of Cerastipsocus venosus (often called “Tree Cattle” due to their herding behavior) (Searsport, ME; 8/6/2023) (Photo courtesy of J. Kristo)

: Barklice nymphs of Cerastipsocus venosus (often called “Tree Cattle” due to their herding behavior) (Searsport, ME; 8/6/2023) (Photo courtesy of J. Kristo)

: Beautiful Wood-nymph Moth (Eudryas grata) (a very convincing bird-dropping mimic) (on Vitis vinifera – common grape vine; Naples, ME; 7/13/2025) (Photo courtesy of M. Shepard)

: Blood-Colored Checkered Beetle (Zenodosus sanguineus) (These beetles are predators of woodboring insects) (Bridgton, ME; 10/20/2023) (Photo courtesy of Rebecca Long, UMaine Extension)

: Bordered Wedge-shaped Beetle (Macrosiagon limbata) (male) perched on some Virginia Mountain Mint (Bridgton, ME; 8/5/2025) (Photo courtesy of N. Donovan)

: Bot Fly (Genus Cuterebra) (likely either the Mouse Bot, C. fontinella, or Rabbit Bot, C. buccata) (Portland, ME; 6/18/2022) (Photo courtesy of Hazen Camber)

: Bronze Ground Beetle (“Bronze Carabid”) (Carabus nemoralis) (Stetson, ME; 5/21/2009)

: Bronze Ground Beetle (“Bronze Carabid”) (Carabus nemoralis) (Etna, ME; 4/3/2010)

: Brown Prionid Beetle (Orthosoma brunneum) (Etna, ME; 7/26/2023)

: Cicadas (comparing Periodical cicadas with an Annual cicada)

: An Annual / Dog-day Cicada found in Maine

: A newly-molted Cicada and its former exoskeleton; Photo courtesy of April and Lee Townsend (Portland, ME)

: The shed exoskeleton of an Annual Cicada following a molt

: Click beetle

: Click Beetle

: Eyed Elater
(a species of Click Beetle)

: Wireworms (Larval stage of beetles called Click Beetles)

: Wireworms (Click Beetle larvae)

: Crane Fly Larvae

: Example of a Crane Fly (this one is a “Large Crane Fly” in the Tipulidae family)

: Phantom Crane Fly (Family Ptychopteridae)

: Damselfly

: Dobsonfly larva
(also called a Hellgrammite)

: A male dobsonfly; Orono, ME (07/17/2018).

: Female dobsonfly

: Dogwood Sawfly Larvae on a dogwood (middle instar stage) (7/17/2020) (Photo courtesy of Susan; Monroe, ME) (compare with adjacent photos of the final two instar stages which are very different)

: Final larval instar of the Dogwood Sawfly (Macremphytus testaceus) (August 9th, 2009; Medway, Maine) (Similar to a White Pine Sawfly larva)

: Eastern Boxelder Bug (Boisea trivittata) (adult stage) (Hallowell, ME; 4/19/2021)

: Eastern Boxelder Bug (Boisea trivittata) (adult stage) (Hallowell, ME; 4/19/2021)

: Eastern Cicada-killer Wasp (Sphecius speciosus) (~1.5″ long; solitary and non-aggressive) (they provision their underground rearing chambers with paralyzed cicadas as food for their offspring) (Raymond Cape, ME; 7/11/2022) (Photo courtesy of Paul Tracy)

: Eastern Cicada-killer Wasp (Sphecius speciosus) (~1.5″ long; solitary and non-aggressive) (often mistaken for a Murder Hornet due to its size) (Raymond Cape, ME; 7/11/2022) (Photo courtesy of Paul Tracy)

: Elm Sawfly (larval stage) (7/27/2009; Pittsfield, ME)

: Elm Sawfly adult (resembles a large wasp) (7/1/2020; Edgecomb, Maine) (Photo by E. Kerr)

: Fishfly adult (July 16th, 2016; central Maine)

: Fishfly adult

: Four-lined Silverfish (Ctenolepisma lineatum)

: Giant Water Bug (“Toe-biter”)

: Giant Water Bug (“Toe-biter”)

: Giant Water Bug (“Toe-biter”)

: Gold-marked Thread-waisted Wasp (Eremnophila aureonotata) (Rockport, ME; 8/30/2020)

: Hag Moth Caterpillar (Phobetron pithecium) on an oak leaf (Palmyra, ME; 8/17/2020) (Caution: caterpillar has stinging spines)

: Hermit Flower Beetle, Osmoderma eremicola (a type of fairly large scarab beetle) (Photo courtesy of J. Grant) (Plymouth, ME – 7/12/2020)

: Hermit Flower Beetle (Osmoderma eremicola) (Orono, ME; 7/1/2024)

: Species of Horntail (also called Wood Wasps) (this one is the Pigeon Horntail, Tremex columba)

: Horsehair Worm (these are not insects, of course)

: Horsehair worm inside a 3.5″ diameter petri dish

: A Horsehair worm that has emerged from its host cricket

: House Centipede

: Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe) getting nectar from Fall Phlox flowers

: Introduced Pine Sawfly larva (July 11, 2015) (central Maine)

: Introduced Pine Sawfly adult (Etna, ME; 4/15/2020)

: Katydid (Northern Bush Katydid, Scudderia septentrionalis) (Etna, ME; 8/6/2010)

: Leopard Slug (also called a Spotted Slug or Giant Garden Slug) (June 1st, 2012) (Northeast Harbor, ME)

: Leopard Slug versus Tawny Garden Slug

: Locust Borer (Megacyllene robiniae)

: Lupine Bug (Megalotomus quinquespinosus) (superficially similar to a western conifer seed bug) (Jonesboro, ME; 9/28/2024) (Photo courtesy of Alan Brooks and Marilyn Dowling)

: Lupine Bug (Megalotomus quinquespinosus) (Jonesboro, ME; 9/28/2024) (Photo courtesy of Alan Brooks and Marilyn Dowling)

: Maple Wood Wasp (Xiphydria maculata) (Old Town, ME; 7/12/2025)

: Sugar Maple Borer (Glycobius speciosus) (6/13/2021; Panton, Vermont — but also found in Maine) (Photo courtesy of M. O. Metcalf)

: March Fly (“Lovebug”) (Family Bibionidae; genus Bibio) (likely Bibio femoratus) (Etna, ME; 5/27/2023)

: Mayflies (the immatures are aquatic)

: Mayfly

: Mayfly

: Metallic Wood-boring Beetle (Family: Buprestidae)

: A metallic wood-boring beetle (Flatheaded Hardwood Borer / Dicerca divaricata) (Photo courtesy of M. O. Metcalf)

: Oil Beetle (female) (genus Meloe) (central Maine; late September 2019) (Photo courtesy of M. Pelletier)

: Predaceous Diving Beetle

: Predaceous Diving Beetle

: Predaceous Diving Beetle

: Pseudoscorpion

: Red-headed Ash Borer (Neoclytus acuminatus) (Jonesboro, ME; 4/11/2022)

: Red Flat Bark Beetle (Cucujus clavipes) (they are predators on other insects) (York County, ME; April 11th, 2022) (Photo courtesy of P. Wirth)

: Candy-striped / Red-banded Leafhopper (Graphocephala coccinea) (also called the Candy-striped Leafhopper) (Etna, ME; 8/2/2009)

: Red-shouldered Pine Borer (Stictoleptura canadensis) (7/12/2020)

: Reticulated Net-winged Beetle (Calopteron reticulatum) – Camden, ME 8/14/2017

: Reticulated Net-winged Beetle taking flight (Calopteron reticulatum) – Camden, ME 8/14/2017

: Rhododendron Leafhopper (Graphocephala fennahi) (Greenville, ME; 8/26/2007)

: Robber Fly (female Efferia aestuans) (Scarbarough, ME; 7/17/2022)

: Rove Beetle (possibly Ocypus nitens)

: Rove Beetle (possibly Ocypus nitens)

: Gold-and-brown Rove Beetle (Ontholestes cingulatus) (Boothbay Harbor, ME; 6/3/2011)

: Hairy Rove Beetle (Creophilus maxillosus); Etna, ME, 6/9/2018.

: Hairy Rove Beetle; Etna, ME, 6/9/2018 (same specimen from the adjacent photo, but here it is displaying its defensive, ball-like posture)

: Russet Alder Leaf Beetle (Calligrapha alni) (St. George, ME; 6/19/2025) (Photo courtesy of B. Mroz)

: Sapwood Timberworm (female) (beetle) (Hylecoetus lugubris) (Stetson, ME; 5/23/2022)

: Sapwood Timberworm (female) (beetle) (Hylecoetus lugubris) (Stetson, ME; 5/23/2022)

: Scorpionfly

: Silverfish

: Small-headed Fly (resting on the underside of a maple leaf in Etna, Maine, July 27th, 2018)

: Spider Beetle (Whitemarked Spider Beetle)

: Smooth Spider Beetle (Gibbium aequinoctiale)

: A large mass of springtails. Photo courtesy of C. Senn. Lincolnville, ME (3/11/2016)

: Closeup image of a Sprintail

: Closeup of a globular springtail

: Spring Firefly larva (Genus Pyractomena) (5/10/2024; Fort Kent, ME) (Photo courtesy of Rebeccah Douglas-Leblond)

: Firefly larva (Genus Pyractomena) (9/30/2024; Kennebunk, ME) (Photo courtesy of Kari Gates)

: Small Winter Stoneflies (Old Town, Maine; 3/11/2022) (possibly Allocapnia recta) (Photo credit: courtesy of Edward S. Grew)

: Stonefly (adult) (the immatures/nymphs are aquatic)

: Stonefly (adult)

: Six-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata) (Orono, ME; 5/12/2022) (Photo credit: courtesy of Edward S. Grew) (some variants are more bluish in color and don’t always have the white spots or have only two instead of six)

: Virginia Giant Hover Fly / Yellowjacket Hover Fly (Milesia virginiensis) (a good yellowjacket mimic; feeding on Queen Anne’s Lace pollen)

: Margined Calligrapher (Toxomerus marginatus)

: A cluster of Common Drone Flies feeding on pollen of narrow-leaved goldenrod flowers at Schoodic Point in Acadia National Park; 10/10/2017

: Transverse-banded Flower Fly (Eristalis transversa) (another example of a species that mimics bee/yellowjacket patterning)

: A Tachinid fly in the genus Cylindromyia (they are common flower visitors in open/weedy areas)

: Tachinid fly (likely Hystricia abrupta) (Newburgh, ME; 7/28/2020) The adults of this species feed on nectar and their larvae develop inside caterpillars (Photo courtesy of J Atherton)

: Pair of mating Tachinid flies (Juriniopsis adusta) (Alfred, ME; 7/11/2024) (Photo courtesy of Judee Meyer)

: Pair of mating Tachinid flies (Juriniopsis adusta) (Alfred, ME; 7/11/2024) (Photo courtesy of Judee Meyer)

: Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle (Labidomera clivicollis) (Hollis, ME; 8/9/2025) (Photo courtesy of Dave Thompson)

: Tanbark Borer / Violet Tanbark Beetle (Phymatodes testaceus) (Cape Elizabeth, ME; 5/4/2023) (Photo courtesy of MB)

: Three-lined Potato Beetle (Lema daturaphila) (central Maine, 7/20/2021) (very common on tomatillo plants; uncommon on potato in spite of its name)

: Tortoise Beetle (larva); Photo by G. Dill, staff

: Tomentose Burying Beetle (Nicrophorus tomentosus) with a group of phoretic mites hitching a ride (South Portland, ME; 8/28/2025) (Photo courtesy of Michael Hanson)

: Roundneck Sexton Beetle (Nicrophorus orbicollis) covered in hitch-hiking phoretic mites (Bar Harbor, ME; 9/15/2025) (Photo courtesy of Tony Preston-Schreck)

: Narrow-winged Tree Cricket (Snowy Tree Cricket) (Oecanthus niveus) (Wells, ME; 8/24/2022) (Photo courtesy of Tom Baxter)

: Two-spotted Tree Cricket (Neoxabea bipunctata – female) (Wells, ME; 9/4/2022) (Photo courtesy of Tom Baxter)

: Velvet Ant [wasp] (female) (Dasymutilla gibbosa) (these are actually wasps and the wingless females are ant mimics; females are not aggressive but have a very painful stinger) (Hermon, ME; 7/19/2025) (Photo courtesy of Michelle Shores)

: Water Scorpion

: Water Scorpion

: Water Striders on Mount Desert Island (August, 2010)

: Western Conifer Seed Bug

: Western Conifer Seed Bug with its wings spread partway open to reveal the abdominal patterning (When the insect is at rest, the wings are folded neatly over the abdomen, but when people see one like this they will often not recognize it as a western conifer seed bug)

: Winter Firefly (Ellychnia corrusca) (5/3/2011; Etna, ME)

: Winter Firefly (Ellychnia corrusca) (5/3/2011; Etna, ME)

: Example of a wood roach (Dusky Cockroach, Ectobius lapponicus) (male) (Stetson, Maine; 7/13/2015)

: Example of a wood roach (Tawny Cockroach, Ectobius pallidus) (male) (Acadia National Park, Maine; 10/11/2009)

Additional Photos and Information: American Carrion Beetle Backswimmers and Water Boatmen (UWM)