Such a thing as an army bug? Need ID please.

18 years ago

I found this bug flitting in my little plastic greehouse this afternoon. He/she/it appears harmless enough, not eating anything I could see and no obvious stingers, very docile when I tried to move it to get a better picture, did not fly off, almost seemed to put itself into a freeze mode? The wings are lacy like a dragonfly and the body is the size of my thumb with a camoflage body. The first thing I thought of was a bug in the army! LOL

I would like to know what this bug is, is it benificial and what it would do if it landed on a person.

TIA

Valerie

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Comments (9)

dianamay
18 years ago
In the one picture that is visible to me, it appears to be a brown lacewing.
Diana
Aaron_UK
18 years ago
Looks like a Cicada
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dianamay
18 years ago
Sorry. Aaron, I think you are right. I wasn't looking at the whole bug.
Diana
larry_gene
18 years ago
Your bug is a cicada. The term "army bug" appears to be either a trade name for repellent, or a video game term rather than a commonly used name for a particular type of bug.

Cicadas damage plant twigs and roots, and would not be considered beneficial by gardeners or nurserymen. Birds would think otherwise.

It might land on a person, but would not mistake them for a twig, so aside from feeling the crawling around, you would not be harmed. Cicadas I have handled emit a loud buzzy sound trying to escape my grip.
dianamay
18 years ago
The freeze mode may have meant that it was getting ready to molt. The shed carcass is more unpleasant than the insect.
Diana
onewheeler
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks all for the quick response. I only called it an army bug because of the pattern on its skin? sorta camoflauge I thought. LOL Do bugs have skin?

I looked around today and couldn't find it so I am thinking there is a very happy and full bird somewhere on my property, or at least I hope there is, not really fond of those big bugs and from what I have learned here I really don't want to encourage it to stay.

This is a very interesting forum.

Valerie
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
18 years ago
Diana, are you confusing the molted skin of the nymphal cicada? That's what we all find attached to fence posts, tree trunks, or anything those little things can grab on to as they make their way out of the soil. The adults don't molt. Any winged insect has completed all of the molting it is ever going to do. As a matter of fact, the cicada completes all of its molts but ONE under the soil. When it crawls out of that nymphal skin, it emerges as a winged adult.

I suspect the 'freeze mode' was because this insect was nearly dead. Remember, they spend 3 to 17 years (depending upon the species) in the soil, but only a few days as flying adults.

Here is a link that might be useful:
dianamay
18 years ago
Rhizo - thanks for the clarification. I had just been nearly hit in the nose by a big ugly one swinging at nose level on an osier right by my front door and I was taken aback.
larry_gene
18 years ago
Valerie--

Bug's skin is their skeleton! It is called an exoskeleton. It is largely made of chitin.