Plant-eating beetle found on citrus
March 13, 2010
Hello,
I found this bug and 20 of his friends on some new stems from a citrus tree I have in my backyard.
It appears to be eating the new shoots and flowers.
All have the same speckled carapace, and measure about 1.5cm long.
They looks almost like an African Black Beetle in form, but a bit bulkier.
Hope you can help me!
Christian
Sydney, Australia
Mango Flower Beetle
Hi Christian,
Your beetle is a Scarab known as the Mango Flower Beetle or Mottled Flower Scarab, Protaetia fusca. We quickly located it on the Brisbane Insect Website. We located a pdf with much information on this species.
2mm looks like a walking shrimp
March 10, 2010
Hi, this was on my computer monitor, it didnt’ jump or fly, just walked. looks kinda like a shrimp, with a brushy tale. also looks like the monster from The Host (Korean film).
To Daniel, from the bug experts.
Melbourne, Australia
Planthopper Nymph
Dear Daniel,
This is some species of Planthopper nymph and we cannot even be certain of the family. The Brisbane Insect website has a photo listed as unidentified that is very close to your specimen.
Long, thin, large, dark mottled fly
March 12, 2010
Dear What’s That Bug,
I’m a big fan and I believe I’ve written to you before. Tonight I found a sadly deceased large dark mottled fly of some sort. I’ve never seen anything like it before, not anything as big as that. It’s just turned Autumn here in South Australia and it hasn’t been raining or especially cold or unpleasant. I have in the last week or so cut back a lot of low branches on my pine trees and disturbed the underlying leaf litter but I didn’t see anything like this under there – mostly slaters, stink beetles and roaches. I suspect this poor critter is a victim of my cats – perhaps indirectly as I don’t think he would have easily fitted back out through the mesh of my enclosed veranda. I would have saved him/her if I could have, he/she is a real beauty.
Bronwen
Coastal South Australia, Eastern Eyre Peninsula
Bark Mimicking Grasshopper
Hi Bronwen,
We believe this is some species of Grasshopper, though the body has been traumatized and appears to be missing some legs. We hope someone can assist in this identification.
Bark Mimicking Grasshopper
Piotr Naskrecki identifies Bark Mimicking Grasshopper
Hi Daniel,
This is a bark-mimicking grasshopper (Coryphistes sp.), fam. Catantopidae.
Piotr
I did think it had a face like a grasshopper – but no thick strong jumping legs, and that fooled me; I just checked since I still have it in a jar and yes the back stumps are a bit more robust looking than the remaining legs. A large grasshopper doesn’t surprise me as much as if it was a large fancy winged fly, but still I’ve not seen one anything like that. We have water restrictions here and there isn’t much grass to be had so I’ve seen a lot more yellow and brown grasshoppers.
Thanks for your quick reply!
Cheers, Bronwen,
Black and yellow spider
March 7, 2010
Myself and Haylee went spider hunting during an overnight stay in the bush near Cocklebiddy in WA, Australia . We found a few of these spiders and Haylee managed to get some good pictures of one of the few that didn’t dissapear down its burrow when we approached. We can’t seem to identify it despite searching online. Any ideas? Many Thanks.
Charlie and Haylee
Cocklebiddy, WA, Australia
Desert Wolf Spider
Hi Charlie and Haylee,
This is possibly the most gorgeous Wolf Spider in the family Lycosidae we have ever seen. The arrangement of the eyes is an identifying factor, and the explanation “These spider have eight dark eyes of unequal size arranged in three rows, the first having four eyes” and a diagram are available on BugGuide.
Desert Wolf Spider
We have not had any luck with a species identification, which surprises us as this is such a unique spider. Perhaps one of our readers will have better luck and assist us with the identification.
Desert Wolf Spider
Karl finds the answer again
It is a beauty! The closest I could find was Hoggicosa (=Lycosa) bicolor, the Two-coloured or Desert Wolf Spider. There are several photos on the internet which look very similar, except that the colour is not such a vivid yellow. This may be a case of odd light conditions, regional colour variability or sexual dimorphism. It could also be a case of changing appearance with successive moults. In H. bicolor, the males apparently go from a striking two-tone appearance to totally cryptic in their final moult. I couldn’t determine if males and females look different. Here are a few links:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/australian/Spidaus.html
http://www.ozimages.com.au/stock/AustralianSpiders.asp
http://flickriver.com/photos/australianspiders/4100778476/
http://flickriver.com/photos/australianspiders/4100041011/
Karl
Found him on campsite near the beach in Summer
March 5, 2010
Hello, i have just came back from a year down under and have some amazing pics of some of the strangest bugs and animals and insects i have ever seen. But there’s one in particular that we have to find out what it is. He found us on our campsite in Broome, Western Australia last Christmas, that’s there summer.
He was attacked by a bird and was shocked and we saved him. He stayed very still for maybe 20mins and then very loudly flew away happy to be breathing I’d imagine.
We traveled all of Australia and only ever came across this guy once. Maybe he’s native to the West Coast. Other than that i can’t say much more about him, I hope you guys can end our confusion, thanks.
Ozbug
Broome, Western Australia
Possibly Golden Drummer Cicada
Hi Ozbug,
This is a Cicada, and there are over 200 different species in Australia. We could not locate an exact match for yours, and the angle of view is not ideal to see the markings, but your Cicada looks similar to the Golden Drummer Cicada, Thopha colorata. We found a nice photo on Flickr. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to verify or correct our identification.
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Posted 05 March 2010
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St. Andrew’s Cross Spider from Australia
February 21, 2010
Hi again, I thought of checking out how many posts you’ve got on St. Andrew’s Cross Spiders, and was surprised to see only one (from Singapore). They are very common at our place, so I thought of taking some fresh photos of them for your site, but came across another spider that I haven’t seen before here, and took photos of it. So, I’m sending you a couple of older images that I’ve taken of the St. Andrews. Hope you can use them.
Ridou Ridou
Sydney Australia
St. Andrew's Cross Spider
Hi Ridou,
Thanks for the excellent images. We believe we had additional images of St. Andrew’s Cross Spiders, Argiope keyserlingi, and they might have gotten lost when we did a website migration last year. We may check our old computer for the posts. The Brisbane Insect website has nice images and helpful information on this species.
St. Andrew's Cross Spider
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Posted 21 February 2010
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A sizable new spider at our backyard.
February 21, 2010
Hi Bugman, here are a couple of photos of a species of spiders I don’t remember seeing at our Sydney backyard before. Would you be able to id it, please.
Ridou Ridou
Sydney Australia
Golden Silk Spider
Goodness gracious Ridou, you are keeping us busy,
This beauty is a female Golden Silk Spider in the genus Nephila. There are numerous species in Australia, and we are not certain exactly what species this is. The Spiders of Australia website has several identified and unidentified members of the genus. We believe this might be Nephila ornata based on images posted on the Nature Stuff website.
Golden Silk Spider
The Brisbane Insect website has nice images of several other members in the genus.
Golden Silk Spider
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Posted 21 February 2010
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A tiny green Australian spider
February 19, 2010
Hi again,
I quite like this small ‘two-headed green frog spider’ I found inside our house. Would you be able to identify it?
Best,
Ridou
Ridou Ridou
Sydney Australia
Crab Spider
Hi again Ridou,
This is a Crab Spider in the family Thomisidae, and there are several species pictured on the Brisbane Insect Website. We are uncertain as to what species you have submitted, and part of our confusion arises from the variability of many species. One North American species known as the Goldenrod Crab Spider, Misumena vatia, is known to be able to change its coloration based on the color of the flower or plant upon which it prowls for prey. You can see some of these variations on BugGuide. Crab Spiders are easily identified because the two pairs of front legs are considerably longer than the two pairs of hind legs. We found many nice images of Crab Spiders on the Save Our Waterways website, and there is where we believe we matched your spider to Sidymella rubrosignata. An image on Wikipedia supports that identification.
aussietrev foodchain
February 19, 2010
Hi guys,
Thanks for clearing up that velvet ant gender. This Lynx spider has caught herself a pod boring bug but is having to share it with minute flies that feed on the victims of spiders. I guess they must be immune to the effects of venom or feed before it has made its way through the body of the bug.
aussietrev
Queensland. Australia
Common Lynx Spider and Freeloader Flies eat Pod Sucking Bug
Hi Trevor,
This is such an intricate Food Chain image and we are impressed with the excellent focus and detail on the individuals. The Common Lynx Spider is well represented on the Brisbane Insect website, but the prey you have indicated, the Pod Sucking Bug, is not recognizable in your photo. We did locate images of the Pod Sucking Bug, Riptortus serripes, on the Brisbane Insect website. You sent us another example of Kleptoparasitism with Freeloader Flies last year, and we did extensive research at that time on the phenomenon. These Freeloader Flies are in the family Milichiidae, and the Biology of Milichiidae page has this information: “Another very interesting feature of Milichiidae behavior is kleptoparasitism or commensalism. Species of several genera suck at the prey of spiders or predatory insects such as Reduviidae, Asilidae, Mantidae, or Odonata. Mostly they are attracted to predators feeding on stink bugs (Pentatomidae) or squash bugs (Coreidae) (Frost 1913, Robinson & Robinson 1977, Sivinski & Stowe 1980, Landau & Gaylor 1987). In almost all cases it is only the females that are kleptoparasitic. In some cases a close association between milichiid and predator has been postulated, because it was observed that the fly “rides” on the predator for some time, staying with the one predator rather than changing between different predators (Biró 1899, Robinson & Robinson 1977).“ Irina Brake is the expert on this fascinating family.
Interestingly, in the past two days, we have received numerous beetle corrections from a Dr. Trevor J Hawkeswood of Australia, and we lamented that we have not had any recent submissions from you.
Common Lynx Spider and Freeloader Flies feed on Pod Sucking Bug in Australia
Caterpiller identify?
February 16, 2010
The photo attached was taken February 16th 2010, in Frankston (A suburb of Melbourne, Australia). Caterpillar was feeding on a Eucalypt flowering gum tree. When disturbed the spins quickly appeared and left a stinging sensation on the skin. Can you please identify it?
Thanks
Rowan Bravington
Melbourne, Australia
Chinese Junk Caterpillar
Hi Rowan,
Your caterpillar goes by the colorful name Chinese Junk Caterpillar because, according the the Brisbane Insect website: “of their shape and their way of moving like ship at sea.“ The Chinese Junk Caterpillar, or Mottled Cup Moth, Doratifera vulnerans, is in the family Limacodidae. The Brisbane Insect website has nice images of various instars as well as the cocoon, which looks like an empty cup once the adult moth has emerged. The caterpillar is capable of stinging if carelessly handled, and apparently the spines are retractable. Your image shows the spines extended in the defensive position. This species was included in the 1913 edition of Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary under the definition for the word “sting” with this entry: “Sting moth (Zo["o]l.), an Australian moth (Doratifera vulnerans) whose larva is armed, at each end of the body, with four tubercles bearing powerful stinging organs.“ The sting is reported to be quite painful, similar to nettles and leaving a rash. The caterpillar is also pictured on the Botanic Gardens Trust website. In North America, members of the family Limacodidae are known as Slug Moths or Slug Caterpillars, and many of them also possess stinging spines. We next searched the Australian Limacodidae page from an excellent Lepidoptera of Australia website which states: “In Australia, they are also called ‘Spitfires’, ‘Battleships’ or ‘Warships’. This is because many species of the Caterpillars carry pockets of stinging spines, which are everted when the animal is disturbed, and sting anyone accidentally brushing against a tree leaf on which it is sitting. Their shape has also given them the common name ‘Chinese Junks’. The Caterpillars are inclined to sit by day happily exposed on the leaves of their foodplant, as they have a bright warning pattern or coloration. Their shape, coloration and perhaps their slow progression has led to another of their common names: ‘Bondi Trams’.”
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for your reply and information.
Much appreciated.
Cheers
rowan
