Thanks to John at Alberini’s Restaurant in Niles Ohio, we have decided that The Curious World of Bugs children’s version needs to have full page or even double truck illustrations that may be colored to approximate the coloration and markings of the actual insects in much the same way that Maria Sibylla Merian’s Caterpillar Books were all hand colored. Daniel is pitching the idea to his editor Maria Gagliano at Penguin/Perigee. The coloring book will include 18 pages of identical illustrations of a Cicada with a brief paragraph on each of the 18 Australian Cicadas with names like Yellow Monday, Blue Moon, Green Grocer, Chocolate Soldier and Double Drummer. See pages 22-25 in The Curious World of Bugs. Young readers may with adult supervision if necessary, locate images online of the various Cicadas so they might have an original to replicate, or they may just choose to be more creative with the interpretation of the name. How would you color the Green Grocer Cicada if you had never seen a photograph of one?
Cicada Drawing
We couldn’t resist demonstrating that we are able to color digitally. And now, The Green Grocer.
The Green Grocer, an Australian Cicada
Daniel Marlos writes in The Curious World of Bugs: The Bugman’s Guide to the Mysterious and Remarkable Lives of Things That Crawl: “Green Grocer, Cylochila australasiae: This highly variable cicada has a different common name for each of its color variations, with green being the most common color morph. The Green Grocer is a reference to the vegetable venders of yore and might refer to the bright color of the insect, which is similar to the color of lightly blanched greens (as opposed to when they’re overcooked.“ Here is a photo of a Green Grocer from our archives and our Bug of the Month posting from December 2010.
Green Grocer Cicada from Australia. Photo by LC
3
Wattle-killer
Location: Perth Hills, Western Australia
May 24, 2011 5:22 am
Hi Bugfolk,
A friend pointed me to your site after seeing the attached photos.
I cut down a large dead wattle about two years ago and found these holes and exoskeletons. I’ve shown them to a few people, but not managed to find out what it is. To add to the challenge, the photo isn’t what the bug would have looked like when it was alive!
My note on the photo identifies the remains as about 8cm long (+/- 2cm).
Any identification or pointers you could provide would be really welcome!
Signature: James
Pupa of a Borer Beetle
Dear James,
This is a beetle pupa from the family Buprestidae, a group that is commonly collectively called the Metallic Borer Beetles or Jewel Beetles. There are many Australian species and some are quite host specific. We cannot provide a species name.
Wattle Tree with Borer Damage
AUSTRALIA, MELBOURNE
Location: melbourne
May 19, 2011 11:36 am
found this in my freinds back yard have no idea about bugs all we know is it only seams to move with its front 4 legs.
Signature: elias
Longtailed Sawfly
Dear Elias,
This is the larva of a Sawfly, a nonstinging group of insects in the order that contains Bees and Wasps. We believe it is a Longtailed Sawfly in the Subfamily Pterygophorinae according to the Brisbane Insect website where they are described as: “Larvae in this subfamily feed on leaves of different native plants. They have six or more pairs of prolegs and a “tail” on the last segment. They do not aggregate in large group. They feed actively in small group during the day.”
My strange bug
Subject: My strange bug
Location: MElbourne, Australia
May 16, 2011 5:04 am
This strange bug was on my leg the other day, i thought it was a baby snake.. any ideas?
Signature: i dont understand this question?
Land Planarian
Dear idutq,
This is a Land Planarian, and after looking at Ask.Com, we believe it is the Blue Planarian, Caenoplana coerulea. According to the dedicated Ask.com page on the species, it is also called the Blue Garden Flatworm and “This flatworm’s native range is eastern Australia and New Zealand. This species has however been accidentally introduced to the USA, including California, Florida, Georgia, Texas, South Carolina and Iowa.”
3
¶ Posted 16 May 2011 § Worms ‡ ° Also tagged: Name that bug?
Location: Perth, Western Australia
May 13, 2011 3:50 am
Hi,
We have passed this around our office (staff of over a hundred), and no one has been able to identify.
Please help us!!
Signature: Unknown
Vine Hawkmoth Caterpillar
Dear Unknown,
We quickly identified your caterpillar as Hippotion celerio on the Butterfly House website devoted to the Lepidoptera of Australia. It is commonly called a Gabi Moth or Vine Hawkmoth. The Butterfly House website indicates: “This Caterpillar occurs world-wide. It can occur in several different colour forms: green, brown, red or dark grey. It usually has an eyespot each side of the first and second abdominal segments, those on the first segment being larger. There are variable cryptic stripes and bands along the rest of the body. The Caterpillar has a tailhorn curved slightly backwards which tapers to a point.” This is actually an Old World species and it is not found in North America or South America. According to the Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic website, it is described as: “A notable migrant in most years from tropical Africa and India to the western Palaearctic region. In warm years, new colonies may even be established in North Africa and Europe, so the delineation between resident and migrant ranges cannot be clearly defined. It is, however, resident in the Canary Islands, and probably also in the Azores and along the Atlantic coast of Morocco. It is certainly resident in many areas of the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula (Pittaway, 1979b), and Egypt (Badr et al., 1985). Extra-limital range. Tropical Africa, Asia and Australia, with occasional records from northern New Zealand.” The caterpillar in your photo is reacting as though it was threatened based on this information on the Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic website: “As with most larvae exhibiting anterior eye-spots, the head is retracted when the larva is alarmed, expanding the large eye-spots on the first abdominal segment. When feeding, it rarely consumes the whole of a leaf; shoots with quarter- or half-eaten leaves often indicate the presence of a larva. Whereas young larvae may be found beneath a leaf, fully-grown specimens usually rest away from the feeding area, farther down the stem.” This species is known to feed on grape as well as numerous other plants.
¶ Posted 14 May 2011 § Hornworms ‡ ° Also tagged: never seen creature
Location: Melbourne, Australia
May 9, 2011 8:12 am
I never seen this creature in my life. I found its family in load of my mulch. It do not have any feet but moves very slowly.
Signature: Bob
Sphinx Moth Pupa: Agrius convolvuli
Dear Bob,
You have unearthed the Pupa of a Sphinx Moth in the family Sphingidae. This is a large family with a global distribution and there are 65 species listed on the Sphingidae of Australia web page. All of the species have pupae with a similar morphology and we are uncertain of the exact species you have found. Each species has a different food plant or plants, and knowing what plants were growing in the vicinity of the mulching in your garden, or in the vicinity where the load of mulch was produced before its delivery to your home might facilitate the identification process. You did not provide information on the load of mulch. Was it newly delivered? Though there are subtle differences in the anatomy of the various species of Sphinx Moth Pupae, they do share enough general traits to ascertain at least a family identification. The shape of a Sphinx Moth Pupa has often been described as looking like a jug with a handle. The handle is actually the case for the proboscis, the long tubular mouthparts that are used to sip nectar from blossoms much the way we humans drink from a straw. Sphinx Moths have among the longest proboscises in the insect world, and the organ is coiled when not in use, and when extended during feeding it may be several inches long. The current record for the longest proboscis is held by Morgan’s Sphinx Moth, Xanthopan morganii, a species from Madagascar which was hypothesized to exist many years before its discovery there. The Morgan’s Sphinx Moth has a nearly foot long proboscis, and when Charles Darwin was presented a Madagascar Orchid with a long nectary, he is reported to have written in a letter: “I have just received…a Box…from Mr Bateman with the astounding Angræcum sesquipedalia with a nectary a foot long— Good Heavens what insect can suck it”? Curious readers may read about the evolutionary theories of Alfred Russel Wallace who supported Darwin’s initial claim by visiting the Alfred Russel Wallace website. The casing for the proboscis in the pupae of Sphinx Moths is shorter than the actual organ, and it would be curious to know how it actually forms during the metamorphosis process. You may decide to do additional research if your query demands a species identification for your Sphinx Moth Pupa and we would also entertain the possibility that one of our readers might be able to provide information on the actual identity of this Sphinx Moth Pupa.
Update
Thanks to a comment from Bostjan Dvorak, we now know that this is Agrius convolvuli, the Convolvulus Hawkmoth. Here is a page from the Sphingidae of Australia website.
¶ Posted 09 May 2011 § Hornworms ‡ ° Also tagged: Cicada from Tasmania
Location: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
May 6, 2011 8:22 pm
I find this on one plant in my garden in Tasmania, Australia. Less than a half-inch long. It seems like a cicada though not the native hairy legged one of Tettigarctidae found here normally (http://www.ces.csiro.au/aicn/name_c/a_4255.htm) based only on a non-microscopic examination. It is silent even in warmer weather but has survived to the winter.
Signature: Tasmanian bug watcher
Passion Vine Hopper
Dear Tasmanian Bug Watcher,
It is undeniable that your insect resembles a Cicada, but we believe it is a Passion Vine Hopper, Scolypopa australis, which is classified in the family Ricaniidae and not as one of the Cicadas in the family Cicadidae. Taxonomically, the split occurs at the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, the Free Living Hemipterans. The family of Cicadas is represented in the superfamily Cicadoidea while the Ricaniid Planthoppers are represented in the superfamily Fulgoroidea. Ricaniidae is a small Old World family and it is not represented in North America. It is profiled on the Brisbane Insect Website where it is stated: “When disturbed, they jumped away with a loud ‘click’ sound and disappeared in the air. Many of them can be found resting on the same plant during early summer. They are consider as pest on passion vine and kiwifruit. It seems that besides those vine plants, they feed on many other plants as well.” Because it is considered to be a pest of Kiwi and because Kiwi has such economic significance, the Passion Vine Hopper has been the subject of numerous technical papers including this article from the New Zealand Entomologist.
Passion Vine Hopper
Thank you. I now see the larvae are there are well (which I thought were large aphids of some sort). I will try and eradicate it.
Feather-horned beetle
Feather Horned Beetle
Feather-horned beetle
Location: Perth, Western Australia
April 18, 2011 7:18 pm
These are some of my photos, they look even better if you have a program that allows you to zoom in. Beautiful sunny autumn day in Perth, April 2011.
Signature: Kelly
Feather Horned Beetle
Dear Kelly,
We are positively thrilled to post all of your photos of the magnificent Feather Horned Beetle, Rhipicera femoralis. The only other images we have of Feather Horned Beetles were posted a few months ago.
Feather Horned Beetle
10
I like This
