flower spider for wasp babies.
Location: North Burnett. Queensland
February 18, 2011 11:30 pm
Hi Guys,
Just spotted this little wasp, about 1cm, making a valiant effort to transport this flower spider to its burrow. It would do a series of three ’flying hops’ and then rest for a few moments. I guess to build up reserves for the next leap.
Hope you like it.
Signature: aussietrev
Spider Wasp with Crab Spider prey
Hi Trevor,
Thanks for your wonderful photo and your observational account of the incident. We generally refer to Flower Spiders from the family Tomisidae as Crab Spiders, but that may be a North American preference. The common name Crab Spider refers to the morphology of the leg structure, with the front legs being the longest, as well as the often sideways means of locomotion commonly used by members of the family. Flower Spider refers to the habit these spiders have of waiting on blossoms for pollinating insects. Spider Wasps in the family Pompilidae take nectar as adults, and the wasps are often found on blossoms. It seems more than a coincidence that this particular Spider Wasp has chosen a Flower Spider as its prey. It might be deduced that the adult Spider Wasp while feeding may also encounter food for its brood. We imagine that in some cases, it is the Spider Wasp that is the victim when it encounters a Flower Spider.
Whats this bug??
Location: Nedlands, Perth, Western Australia
February 15, 2011 9:46 am
Hi there,
Just wondering what this type of bug is, I have never seen something like this before.
Signature: anyway
Elephant Weevil
Dear anyway,
This is an Elephant Weevil, Orthorhinus cylindrirostris, which you may verify on the Oz Animals website which states: “The Elephant Weevil is pest to the wine industry as it feds on grape vines. It is a brown grey weevil with a long slender snout and long forelegs. The body has thick black or brown scales. The antennae are clubbed and form an L shape with a distinct elbow. Males antennae are located much closer to the point of the snout than females. Males also have longer forelegs than females. “
¶ Posted 16 February 2011 § Weevils ‡ ° Also tagged: Dangerous looking spider
Location: Melbourne CBD, Victoria, Australia
February 15, 2011 9:45 pm
When gardening in my inner suburbs Melbourne home, i found this spider. The purple and red colours screamed DANGER to me, and needless to say put me off my gardening endeavours. I was curious about what kind of spider this actually is and whether the DANGER instinct is correct. (Living in Australia means things that look dangerous usually are)
This spider was found in the middle of summer, amongst some very thick tree & vine growth. Had made itself quite a large web, and was about 8cm in length.
Sorry about the poor photo quality, it was as close as i was willing to get!
Signature: H.Spannah
Orbweaver
Dear H,
This is a harmless Orbweaver Spider. They can get quite large, and they might bite if provoked, but the bite is not considered to be significantly dangerous. Your spider might be in the genus Nephila, a group known as the Golden Silk Spiders. See the Brisbane Spiders Website.
¶ Posted 16 February 2011 § Orb Weavers ‡ ° Also tagged: Bug Identification
Location: Perth, Western Australia, Australia
February 15, 2011 4:20 am
Hi,
I found this bug at my school and my girlfriends and I got a little freaked out. The bug in the photo is real size. My nickname is nature freak and I was just wondering what the bug is if I come across it again, i could tell my girlfriends.
Signature: Grace Holness
Mole Cricket
Dear Grace,
You encountered a Mole Cricket. Mole Crickets have a global distribution and we get submissions from many locations, though most of the reported sightings we get are from North America and the Middle East as well as Australia.
Winged Insect
Location: Victoria, Australia
February 11, 2011 11:16 pm
This winged insect landed on a leaf, it was very docile and was very easy to take a photo of as it did not try to fly away.
Was seen in Victoria, Australia, summer season, weather conditions were slightly overcast, slight wind.
I would like with your help to identify this insect, thanks.
Signature: Al
Bottlebrush Sawfly
Dear Al,
Though the markings on the abdomen of your specimen are a little different, we believe there are enough similarities between your specimen and the Meleleuca Sawfly, Lophyrotoma zonalis, posted on Oz Animals to deduce that this is either a color variation or a closely related species. Sawflies are non-stinging relatives of Bees and Wasps, and many species can be of significant concern because when the larvae which resemble caterpillars are plentiful, they can defoliate cultivated as well as native trees. The photos of this species on the Brisbane Insect Website, where it is identified as the Paperbark Sawfly, show yet another color variation with an very orange abdomen.
Bottlebrush Sawfly
We have decided to post all three of your images.
Hi Daniel and Al:
As far as I can tell, the Long-tailed sawfly group (Pergidae: Pterygophorinae) has only two relatively small genera, Lophyrotoma and Pterygophorus, both limited to Australia and Papua New Guinea. Superficially the genera appear to be distinguished primarily by the pattern of orange on the abdomen and perhaps the presence/absence or degree of white coloration at the base of the antennae. Based on these characteristics, I believe this one may be a species of Pterygophorus, of which there are only two that make it as far south as Victoria. It looks very similar to P. cinctus (Bottlebrush Sawfly), but I was not able to find an image or description of P. facielongus. The males of all species have extravagantly pectinate antennae, so this one looks like a female. Final note – I also found several sites where the Bottlebrush sawfly is referred to as Phylacteophaga cinctus (Phylacteophaginae), but I believe this is an older synonym. Regards. Karl
Bottlebrush Sawfly
Nice sleuthing Karl. It appears you have nailed the Bottlebrush Sawfly identification.
Australian Wasp?
Location: Riverina, NSW, Australia
February 11, 2011 4:22 am
This insect was collecting nector from Agapanthus flowers in exactly the same manner and speed you would expect of a humming bird. Approx 40-50mm (1 1/2” to 2”) long
Signature: Dionne
Gardenia Bee Hawkmoth
Hi Dionne,
Diurnal Moths in the family Sphingidae are frequently called Hummingbird Moths because they are frequently mistaken for the tiny birds while hovering around blossoms to gather nectar. We believe your moth is a Gardenia Bee Hawkmoth, Cephonodes kingii, and you can see photos of its entire life cycle on the Butterfly House website of Australian species.
Can you tell me what this is?
Location: Australia, NSW, Western Sydney area.
February 5, 2011 11:22 pm
Hi bugman, I found this bug in my laundry about 2 weeks ago. I put it into a bug-catcher to get it out of my laundry and so that I could let my son have a good look at it and then I was going to let it go. It was dead when I got up the next morning and looked like this (see photos). It is summer here at the moment and been particularly warm between 36-40 degrees centigrade/celcius. I hope you can help. I thank you in advance 
Signature: Not sure what this means?
Cuckoo Wasp
Dear Not sure what this means?
This sure appears to be a Cuckoo Wasp, possibly the Large Cuckoo Wasp, Stilbum cyanurum, which we located on the Brisbane Insect website. According to the Brisbane Insect website: “The adult Cuckoo Wasp’s back is well armored and with abdomen concave beneath. When disturbed, it curl up into a ball. This is a defense behavior against the attack by angry nest host.“ Perhaps your individual rolled into a ball in self defense before it died. Though it was not intentional on your part, keeping an insect in a confined container and then finding it dead might constitute Unnecessary Carnage.
Sydney bee or fly
Location: Warrawee, Sydney, Australia
February 4, 2011 11:15 pm
Can you identify this bee or fly. A number of them appeared in my garden in Warrawee (Sydney, Australia)a few days ago. They congregate on or under bush leaves with some shade from the summer sun.
I’ve checked the native bee site and it doesn’t appear there.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Signature: Mike Warren
Native Drone Fly
Hi Mike,
Probably so it will not be confused with the introduced European Drone Fly, Eristalis tenax, your species which we identified on the Brisbane Insect Website, Eristalinus punctulatus, is referred to as the Native Drone Fly. According to Oz Animals: “The Native Drone Fly is a brightly coloured hover fly with large strange spotted eyes. The body is black and orange striped. They have a hovering flight and make a droning noise like a bee, hence the common name.“ The common name Native Drone Fly might create confusion in places other than Australia.
Native Drone Fly
Daniel,
Many thanks, I saw the Brisbane Insect Website but couldn’t find a matching photo. It is definitely the one, with very distinctive markings. So I guess I don’t need to worry about a swarm or think about honey!! Given the very warm weather, they may have been seeking moisture and shade from the heat wave conditions we had last week. It’s cooled down now, so will be interesting to see if they stay around.
Many thanks for your help with identification.
Regards,
Mike Warren
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