I found the exoskeleton of a bug, can someone tell me the name of the bug or insect that it belonged to?

Question

It was fully intact. :) A very pretty specimen here is a picture. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v332/MizzKitty/?action=view&current=DSC00015.jpg

Answer 1

....Cicada, 'cha-cha-cha' i feel just like a real zoo-prof in training now! Woo-hoooo!

....oh, better yet, a 'Cicada' most probably from 'May-June, 2008'

Answer 2

I am pretty sure that it is of a cicada.

Answer 3

It is a cicada, I promise.... google their  life cycle... hugely interesting.

Answer 4

Great photo of the bug! It might be handy to include something to help show the scale of your find, like a coin or a ruler, or simply provide some basic measurements, and your location. With its six legs, it is most likely an insect.

Judging from the photo, it looks you might have found is the "exuvia" or leftover exoskeleton of an insect that molted from a juvenile stage to an adult stage. You can learn more about the molting process here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecdysis

Look very closely for a hole in the back where the insect could have emerged from this exoskeleton to determine if this is actually a molted exoskeleton.

At first I thought your specimen was a type of flea, but research shows that fleas do not get to the size that your speciment might be. Further, fleas go through complete metamorphosis (embryo --> larva --> pupa --> adult) and not through incomplete metamorphosis (where they molt). So it is unlikely that it is a flea.

Judging by the mouth, it does not appear to be of the order Hemiptera (leafhoppers, aphids, and true bugs)

The head and front legs remind me of a mantis, though the shape of the body is not long and slender, like mantises are usually depicted. Perhaps this was a nymph mantis, and as it grows, it develops the spindlier body associated with mantises. Mantises go through the incomplete metamorphosis, leaving shed exoskeletons.

A good resource for identifying your specimen (besides going to your local library or bookstore and finding a field guide to insects of your area) might be contacting your local agriculture department (especially useful in identifying pest species). For instance, the County of San Diego, where I live, has an entomology lab, where members of the public can submit specimens they have found:

http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/awm/entomolog...

A few years ago, I found an unknown insect in my living room, and captured it, and submitted it to the County, who identified it as a Diaprepes Root Weevil, which was hazardous to crops.

Good luck!

Answer 5

About what size is it?

Need some more information to be able to tell you, sorry.