saw a strange bug once..

[Psi 5]

It was a small beetle like a Ladybug but it had back legs like a grasshopper and it jumped like one too. Any bug experts out there know of a hopping beetle?

[Ouabache]

Perhaps you saw a flea beetle (http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/bimg180.html). If you disturb them, they will jump.
If you want to dig more, search using keywords such as: Coleoptera, jump, hop, & beetle
There are variations in flea beetles markings Here are a few examples: image1 (http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/kpn/colobtl.jpg), image2 (http://www.ento.csiro.au/aicn/images/cain2504.jpg), image3 (http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/okwild/misc/images/fleabeet.jpg) and image4 (http://insects.tamu.edu/images/insects/common/images/b-txt/bimg180.html)

Sidenote: Charles Darwin (http://www.crystalinks.com/darwin.html) had a lifelong passion, collecting beetles. Coleptera is the largest Order (http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/compendium/coleop~1.html) of all the insects, with more than 300,000 worldwide.

[JamesU]

I want to ask something about a bug I saw once. It's body looked like a red square, maybe 5mm in length. On each diagonal, a long leg stuck out. It looked like a spider, but with 4 legs..does anyone know about something like this?

[Ouabache]

I want to ask something about a bug I saw once. It's body looked like a red square, maybe 5mm in length. On each diagonal, a long leg stuck out. It looked like a spider, but with 4 legs..does anyone know about something like this?
Never saw one like that. All insects I have heard of have 6 legs and spiders 8. Perhaps you can take a picture next time, you may have discovered a new taxonomic category. :biggrin:
Assasin bugs sometimes (http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/citybugs/ask/truebugsquestions.htm) appear to have four legs but actually have six, two may be modified and may be held tightly against the front of their body. There is a lot of variety of assassin (http://www.whatsthatbug.com/assasin.html) bugs, some do have red markings.