Diaphania indica
Location: Nth Burnett. Queensland Australia
May 7, 2012 12:33 am
Hi guys,
Thought you might like this shot of Diaphania indica taken in my vegetable garden where cucumbers and rock melon are growing..
This is a female. They use the tufted abdomen to disperse pheromones by waving it around when they land. The other interesting thing about these is that they only have four legs.
Signature: Aussietrev
Cucumber Moth
Hi Trevor,
Your Cucumber Moth is a dead ringer for our North American Melonworm Moth, a relative in the same genus. Photos of the Cucumber Moth can be found on Oz Animals.
What will this turn into?
Location: Mareeba Far North Queensland AU
April 30, 2012 8:17 pm
Hi I live in Far North Queensland Australia and I found this catarpillar on my dwarf lemom, I have seen similar picture of the Orchard Swallowtail Butterfly but with no spikes I would love to know exactly what this is please
Signature: Kristie
Orchard Swallowtail Caterpillar
Hi Kristie,
This is an Orchard Swallowtail Caterpillar. The images of Orchard Swallowtail Caterpillars in our archive have spikes. The images of the Orchard Swallowtail Caterpillars on the Brisbane Insect website also have spikes. We don’t know where you found photos of unspiked Orchard Swallowtail Caterpillars.
Orchard Swallowtail Caterpillar
What is this bug? Is it dangerous?
Location: Katoomba, NSW, Australia
April 20, 2012 5:40 am
We’ve been finding these bugs all over outside and my little boy has been playing with them. I just need to make sure they are not dangerous since they are all over the place lately.
Signature: -Autumn and Mark
Wingless Fly: Chiromyzinae species
Dear Autumn and Mark,
In January 2007 we received a similar photo from Australia. We knew the creature was a fly, but we were uncertain if it was wingless or if the wings were somehow lost. We eventually learned it was a wingless female fly in the Soldier Fly subfamily Chiromyzinae. At that time, there was no information available on the internet. Now we located a Tree of Life web page posted in 2008 that states: “Chiromyzinae is an unusual group of soldier flies as the larvae are predominantly phytophagous, with many species feeding on the roots of grasses (James 1981; Oosterbroek 1998).” These wingless Soldier Flies are harmless.
What bug is this?
Location: Sydney Australia
April 9, 2012 2:44 am
We found hundreds of these on the floor of our family room (all dead) next to two walls – from corner to corner.
Shiny gold/brown with a soft shell. Look like a giant flea.
Climate – warm. Fairly dry after 2 years of wet.
Signature: Mike of Epping
Land Hoppers
Dear Mike of Epping,
These terrestrial Crustaceans or Amphipods are native to Australia and they are known as Land Hoppers. Most of our reports come from California and occasionally UK and Florida where the species has been introduced at the beginning of the twentieth century, or perhaps even earlier, most likely with the introduction of Australian plants that were imported to grow in foreign gardens. In North America, Land Hoppers are known as House Hoppers or Lawn Shrimp. They live and thrive in damp soil where they generally go unnoticed due to their drab coloration. After heavy rains however, they often migrate in great numbers to drier areas like garages and homes where they promptly die and turn pink or red in color. You may read more about Land Hoppers on the Victoria Museum website and on University of Florida IFAS website where their dampness requirements are explained as: “Terrestrial amphipods live on the surface (top 1/2 inch) of mulch and moist ground. After rains, large numbers of amphipods can migrate into garages or under the doors of houses. There they soon die. Amphipods do not have a waxy layer on their exoskeleton as do insects. They lose or gain moisture from their environment. Too much of a water loss results in desiccation while too rapid a gain is also lethal. This is why they migrate out of rain-soaked soil to drier areas where they usually end up dying anyway. Most species are active at night.”
Possible alderfly
Location: Australia, South Australia, Mount Gambier
April 9, 2012 1:55 am
Hello again!
I found this insect a few times at school(there were heaps, i counted 31) and i found two at a local park so i chaught them to take a better look at.
one is a feamale, i know this because she laid 8 eggs(in 2 days.) she has a weird fold up *oviposetor?(is that how you spell it.) I looked them up in a book of australian wildlife and found something like it. it was called an alderfly, i read about them and found out about their aquatic life cycle, but the park is nowhere neer a pond or anything. They look very prety and i would like to find out just what they are!(i will realese the eggs soon,the weather wont let me outside sadly.)
thanks again and i hope you can help me!
Signature: Liam
Pied Lacewing
Hi Liam,
We have identified your insect as a Pied Lacewing, Porismus strigatus, on the Brisbane Insect Website and we learned: “Their larvae are long and slender, with elongated spear-like jaws, hunt under bark. Their eggs are not stalked. “ Lacewings belong to the insect order Neuroptera, and many members of the order lay eggs on stalks, so this mention is significant. We then verified the identification on the Encyclopedia of Life website. Your incorrect identification is perfectly understandable. Alderflies are classified with Dobsonflies in the order Megaloptera, but there was a time when they were classified with Lacewings and Antlions in the order Neuroptera. They are closely related orders. Ovipositor is the correct spelling.
Pied Lacewing
Some kind of Cicada?
Location: Carlingford (western sydney), Australia
March 18, 2012 8:49 pm
While out photographing some bugs in my backyard, i stumbled onto this guy sitting on one of my window sills, i have no idea what he is. Looks a little bit like a cicada, but quite a bit smaller (probably 1/3 the size?). I didnt get many photos of him before he jumped, and i didnt see where he went after that.
Signature: Paul J R
Treehopper
Dear Paul,
The reason this Leafhopper reminds you of a Cicada is that they are in the same insect order, Hemiptera. We have not been able to find a matching image for your individual, however, it reminds us of the Gum Tree Hoppers in the subfamily Eurymelinae that are pictured on the Brisbane Insect website.
Bugs Down Under
Location: Australia
March 16, 2012 10:23 am
Hi Mr Bugman,
Please could you tell me what these are?
Signature: Many Thanks
Male Huntsman Spider
Judging by the large pedipalps, we conclude that this Huntsman Spider is a male.
red and black bug
Location: Central Victoria, Australia
March 11, 2012 10:06 pm
I found hundreds of these on an unknown plant in the garden. I have searched google images without luck. can you help.?
there was also this one mainly black one – possibly the same family.?
Signature: tricia
Unknown True Bug Nymphs
Dear Tricia,
Both of your photos are of immature Hemipterans, an order of insects that includes the True Bugs. We suspect your True Bugs are either Stink Bugs in the family Pentatomidae or Shield Bugs in the family Scutelleridae, but we have not had any luck identifying the species. They may both be the same species since they are feeding on the same unidentified plant.
Unknown True Bug Nymph
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