11 April 2011, 12:52 pm
I do not recall ever seeing this bug before, if I did I probably didn't think anything of it. I'll try and be as descriptive as possible. I worry because of the stingers and the fact that there are usually 15-20 of em at a time sometimes more. The insect is a flying insect with 1 pair of wings. It has 6 legs and falls just short of an inch in length on average. They are a bright red color and have the head of what looks similar to an ant. It's head connects to its body which appears to be hunched and bulky. it then connects to a long tail that can be moved in many directions. It then looks like it has 2 stingers? One of the "stingers" looks like its part of the tail, doesn't detach, that or the tail forms into a sharp point, then sticking out of the side of it is a black stinger, much like a bee or a wasp. I only see them at night and they are attracted to lights. when we keep the lights off, we don't see them, lights on. they will continuously swarm until there is a large group of them. simple bug spray seems to kill them off pretty quickly I just want to know what they are so i can research them and see what their habitats are, how they reproduce and where their young are kept, maybe see if there could be a home nearby and find ways to effectively destroy it. I live In Lancaster, ca, which is in the Mojave desert, also known as the antelope valley. That's the best info i can give. Sources if possible because someone told me they are called "Moth Killers" and are completely harmless I can see how they got that idea, but then again they aren't the smartest people in the world. Thank you in advance for your research and assistance.... Read More »
Share on del.icio.us
Share on digg
Share on Technorati
Share on reddit
Share on Yahoo!
Share on Facebook