Another Australian Flying Bug
February 11, 2010
Another Australian Flying Bug
Your letter to the bugman Hello again, Bugman
I’ve been trying to identify this one, but I’m not sure if it’s a fly or something else.
Ridou Ridou
Sydney, Australia
Orchid Dupe Wasp from Australia
Hi again Ridou,
This is not a fly, but rather, a Hymenopteran, a member of the order that consists of Ants, Bees and Wasps. We believe this is Brachonid, a parasitic wasp that can be identified in part through the long and slender antennae. Braconids are quite similar to Ichneumons, another possibility. We have not had any luck finding a matching photo, and we will continue to search. There are some beautiful Braconids posted on the Brisbane Insect website, but none that match your specimen.
Thanks Daniel, I think you’re right. Apparently there’re about 800 species of Braconid (or Brachonid) in Australia! I found this site (this is the google cached version of it, since the actual page didn’t load) with a drawing of a similar species to mine:
74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:UmIoSwzWsWEJ:www.faunanet.gov.au/wos/factfile.cfm%3FFact_ID%3D232+Brachonid&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au
Hi Ridou,
We couldn’t get your link to work, but we did find images of both Braconids and Ichneumons on the Life Unseen Website. We now believe your wasp is an Orange Dupe Wasp, Lissopimpla excelsa, one of the Ichneumons. One photo in particular looks identical to your specimen. The Oz Insects website calls this species the Orchid Dupe, and indicates: “The Orchid Dupe Wasp is a medium sized wasp with mainly orange body and dark wings. The abdomen has broad black band with four white spots on each side. The long thin antennae curl upwards at the ends. Females have a stout black ovipositor that is about half the body length. It is called the Orchid Dupe because some species of orchids mimic the odour and appearance of female Lissopimpla wasps. The male Lissopimpla wasps mistake the flowers for females pollinating the orchid.“
Jumping insect, Sydney, Australia
February 11, 2010
G’day, I live in Sydney Australia and my workplace is surrounded by bush, and every lunch time our lunch tables outside have these little brown bugs that jump when the long spikes/hairs/not sure what they are, are touched. They are well camouflaged, about 10mm long and fast (when they jump). Do you have any idea of what they are? Cheers, Angela
Angela, Bug enthusiast
Marsfield, Sydney, Australia
Wattle Hopper Nymph
Dear Angela,
Your photos are of an immature Gum Hopper or Wattle Hopper in the family Eurybrachyidae. The Brisbane Insect Website has numerous species depicted, and all have similar nymphs or immature stages.
Wattle Hopper Nymph
Very, very tiny black caterpillar with white spots
February 8, 2010
‘Ello Bugman!
Today I found a very, very tiny black caterpillar. He’s approx 3mm long and has tiny white spots which first I thought were stripes across his body.
I live in Australia in NSW and it is currently Summer (although has been wet and rainy for a week now).
I don’t know what the plant is. It self-seeded from somewhere and I don’t mind if he eats it all up.
It would be interesting however, to find out what he is, how big he will get and what he is to become.
Thanks!
Bronwyn
Penrith (Western Sydney, NSW Australia)
unknown Inchworm from Australia
Hi Bronwyn,
We can say for certain that this is a Spanworm or Inchworm caterpillar in the family Geometridae, but we would need additional time to determine the species. Since it is so small, it is an early instar, and it may undergo five additional molts before pupating. Each molt or instar may have different markings and coloration. Generally, most caterpillar photos are of the final instar, and it can be quite difficult to properly identify the earlier instars. Knowing the food plant often helps, but alas, we do not recognize your plant. As the caterpillar grows, molts and changes, you may send additional images in the hope that would assist in identification.
Host Plant
¶ Posted 09 February 2010 § Inchworms ‡ ° Also tagged: An Australian Grub?
February 5, 2010
Hello Bugman, it’s funny, just as you identified my Palm Planthopper, I came across another mystery on my walk. It’s about half an inch in length, and looks a bit like a cross between a pillbug anf a colourful grub.
PS. I contacted Dr Fletcher from Orange Agricultural Institute about the Planthopper, and as a consequence he added my photo of it to their website:
“Lovely pictures of Magia subocellata (Family Lophopidae). This species (and one other species of Magia) is native to North Queensland. It was found a couple of years ago in the tropical palm collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney and may well have spread to your area from there.”
http://www1.dpi.nsw.gov.au/keys/fulgor/species/magiasub.html
Ridou Ridou
Sydney, Australia
Giant Scale Insect
Hi again Ridou Ridou,
We didn’t do quite as well with this submission. We are nearly certain this is a Caterpillar in the family Limacodidae, which in the U.S. are known as Slug Caterpillars. Many of them have stinging spines. The Brisbane Insect website, which has a few species posted, though none resemble your example, indicates they are called Cup Moths because of the shape of their cocoons, and the caterpillars that sting are known as Spitfires, our new favorite insect name. Your individual is most probably not one of the stinging species.
Giant Scale Insect
Eric Eaton Disagrees
Daniel:
I’m thinking the “cup moth caterpillar” from Australia is actually some kind of giant scale insect, but I have no idea which one. I could also be totally wrong, but I think it is worth checking into.
Eric
Thanks Eric,
WE will research this tomorrow.
Giant Scale Insect
What is this bug?
February 1, 2010
Hello bugman,
These interesting and very colorful bugs are all over my house. They seem to be attracted to the white walls of my house. In my front yard I have two bottlebrush trees, one stringy bark gum and some lily pily shrubs. Happy to let the little bug live all over my house….. but i would appreciate a little more info. Regards
Luke
Gold Coast, Queensland, AUSTRALIA.
Green Jewel Bug nymph, possibly
Good Morning Luke,
This is an immature Stink Bug in the family Pentatomidae. We believe it may be Lampromicra senator, the Green Jewel Bug, but alas, we are only able to locate images of adult insects. You may look on the Brisbane Insect Website, or the Save Our Waterways Now website for photos of the adults. Perhaps someone will write in to confirm this identification, or perhaps provide a link to images of the immature Green Jewel Bug nymph.
Green Jewel Bug nymph, possibly
Insect eating leaves of potatoes
February 1, 2010
Hi -
I have this infectation of hairy 6 legged bugs eating my potato leaves. At first I thought it was a woolie aphid but they aren’t. The are about 2mm wide and about 5mm long and there are masses of them all over the back of my potato leaves. However this is the only plant in the vegie patch they seem to have taken a liking too. To me they look like a hairy what & black caterpillar but when you rool them over they only have 6 legs. I have sprayed the potato leave with white oil which seems to be killing them but I would really like to know what they are.
Thanks
JLO
Australia, NSW, Ulladulla on the south eastern coast.
28 Spotted Potato Ladybird Larva
Dear JLO,
Most Lady Beetles in the family Coccinellidae are beneficial predators, with both adults and larvae consuming insects that are detrimental to plants, including many crops, but alas, your larvae are 28 Spotted Potato Ladybird Beetles, Epilachna vigintioctopunctata, one of the few plant pests. The Brisbane Insect Website has a wonderful page on this species. You may also find information on the Butterfly House website where it is called the 28 Spot Ladybird.
¶ Posted 01 February 2010 § Lady Bug ‡ ° Also tagged: Metallic green beetle from Australia
January 30, 2010
Dear Bugman,
I was photographing birds in a flowering tree this week and I noticed 2 of these pretty beetles. When I got too close to one, it flew off and hovered near by and settled on another flower bunch. I live in a rainforest area of tropical far north Queensland and it is our summer / rainy season. I would appreciate any help in identifying it. I didn’t realize there were so many pretty bugs out there! Thanks in advance.
Cheers, Jenny
Lake Eacham, Far North Queensland, Australia
Green Scarab Beetle
Hi Jenny,
We did a really quick web search and we were unable to identify the species of Green Metallic Scarab you have found. We believe it is in the subfamily Cetoniinae, the Fruit and Flower Chafers. It is possible that it is not native to Australia, because it is so distinctive, we thought species identification would be easy. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to provide us with additional information.
Karl supplies some possible identifications
Hi Daniel and Jenny:
I am also a little perplexed that such a distinctive beetle should be so hard to identify. I was able to find several images of very similar Australian beetles on the web but most of them were either unidentified or labeled as Christmas beetles. I assume the latter were either misnamed, or that common name applies to other beetles besides the true Christmas beetles in the genus Anoplognathus. I think this beetle may be a flower chafer in the Tribe Schizorhinini (Cetoniinae), probably in one of three genera (although there could be others): Ischiopsopha, Lomaptera or Mycterophallus. The closest matches I could find were Mycterophallus duboulayi and Lomaptera duboulayi (these are likely the same species as there is considerable confusion and synonymy among all three of these genera). It could also be a migrant from nearby Papua New Guinea, where the Schizorhinini are diverse and abundant. The Papua Insects Foundation has posted many spectacular photos of Schizorhinini from the Indonesian side of the island. Eons ago I had the good fortune of spending several years in PNG and I recall seeing thousands of very similar looking beetles, albeit dismembered and stitched into beautiful pieces of body ornamentation, particularly headbands. Regards.
Karl
spider
January 28, 2010
we found this nice spider in our house, and now we do like to have more information about it 
spider is 4-5 cm with all legs
Iwi
Australia, Sydney….my house
Male Garden Orbweaver Spider
Hi Iwi,
We have been unsuccessful in our attempts to identify your spider, and we hope that by posting it to our site, one of our readers will be able to identify it.
A comment that looks like it is correct: Garden Spider
Do believe this to be Eriophora biapicata, though there seems to be extreme amounts of diversity even within the species itself…
reference http://esperancewildlife.blogspot.com/2009/06/garden-spider-eriophora-biapicata.html
lttlechkn
Thanks for the link littlechkn. There is one photo of a male Garden Spider, Eriophora biapicata, that looks nearly identical. When we originally posted the photo, we thought it looked like an Orbweaver, but we weren’t certain. We then verified that with another image of a male Eriophora biaphicata on the FindaSpider website of Australian Spiders.
¶ Posted 29 January 2010 § Orb Weavers ‡ ° Also tagged: 
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