STICK INSECT

Phasmids are insects that eat leaves and resemble leaves or sticks. They are usually green or brown but may reveal brightly coloured underwings when they fly. They have developed many unusual shapes to camouflage themselves to avoid detection by predators. The order Phasmatodea includes the longest insects in the world.

About 150 species of phasmids are found in Australia. They usually live in gum trees but are sometimes found in gardens on rose bushes or fruit trees. However because of their excellent camouflage, they are often overlooked. When disturbed, a phasmid may sway, imitating a dead leaf or stick swaying in the breeze. During summer many people have found stick and leaf insects in the laundry, clinging to windows, and drowned in swimming pools.

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ZUCCHINI FLOWER

Macro of female zucchini flower with two native bees. At the moment, our garden is producing many Summer veggies: Zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, capsicum, Warrigal greens, blitum greens.

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THIRSTY BEE

On a hot day, bees swarm on the birdbath, drinking much water.

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BULL ANT

Bull ants (Myrmecia spp) are large, alert ants that can grow up to 40 mm They have characteristic large eyes and long, slender mandibles and a potent venom-loaded sting. They have superior vision, able to track and even follow intruders from a distance of 1 metre. Many species of bull ants have bright red or orange colours on the head or abdomen.

There are about 90 species of bull ants in Australia with diverse behaviours and life cycles. Nine bull ant species have been recorded in Sydney, but there may be more as yet undiscovered. Some of the smaller species are known as jumper ants after their habit of aggressively jumping toward intruders.

These ants can deliver painful stings and are aggressive. An ice pack or commercially available spray may be used to relieve the pain of the sting. If there is evidence of an allergic reaction, medical attention should be sought.

This fellow came into the house and decided to have a drink from my watercolour water rinsing jug. He was promptly taken outside with no dramas.

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IT'S AUTUMN

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

BEE

Bee on female zucchini flower.

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HUNTSMAN BABIES

You may recall in a previous post I posted a photo of a Huntsman spider guarding her egg sac. Pleased to report that the spiderlings have hatched and the steadfast mother is still there guarding and looking after them! We like having these spiders in our garden as they hunt and eat a lot of harmful insect pests.

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HUNTSMAN MUM

Huntsman spiders, members of the family Sparassidae (formerly Heteropodidae), are known by this name because of their speed and mode of hunting, relying on pursuing prey rather than capturing it in a web. They are also called giant crab spiders because of their size and appearance. Larger species sometimes are referred to as wood spiders, because of their preference for woody places (forests, mine shafts, woodpiles, wooden shacks).

In southern Africa the genus Palystes are known as rain spiders or lizard-eating spiders. Commonly, they are confused with baboon spiders from the Mygalomorphae infraorder, which are not closely related. More than a thousand Sparassidae species occur in most warm temperate to tropical regions of the world, including much of Australasia, Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean Basin, and the Americas.

The female huntsman spider makes a godo mother. She will lay all 200 of her eggs inside a disc-shaped egg-sac which she places behind bark or under a rock (see photo taken in our garden). While the babies are developing she will stand guard to protect them day and night for three weeks without even eating. When the babies are ready to hatch, some huntsman mothers will moisten the sack that’s covering them and help tear it open. She can be a bit touchy when she’s looking after her babies. You may see her rear up to scare away any predators nearby.

Some Huntsman species live quite socially in groups of up to 300. They will help raise children together and even share food. Don’t be alarmed by their hunting behaviour, because their venom won’t hurt humans and they’re very scared of us. A huntsman bite in humans will not require medical treatment. They are beneficial in the home and garden as they will hunt and eat many harmful creepy-crawlies.

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AUTUMN'S WEBS

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and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

BLACK FIELD CRICKET

Teleogryllus commodus, commonly known as the black field cricket, is a cricket species native to Australia. They are significant pests to most plants in Australia and New Zealand. 

T. commodus belongs to the order Orthoptera, the family Gryllidae which are characterised by wings that are folded on the side of the body, chewing mouthparts and long, thin antennae. 

T. commodus has the ability to learn via the recognition of rewards. They are also capable of odour recognition and thus can be taught via odour pairing.

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LADYBUG

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and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

SWALLOWTAIL

Papilio anactus, the dainty swallowtail, or small citrus butterfly is a medium-sized butterfly from the family Papilionidae, that is endemic to Australia. For protection against predators, this non-poisonous butterfly mimics the poisonous male Cressida cressida, another swallowtail butterfly that obtains its toxic properties through its host plant, the Dutchman's pipe.

Papilio anactus is endemic to Australia. It was originally only present in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, but due to the growing of citrus, a larval food plant of this species, in orchards, the species spread to South Australia in the late 1920s. Papilio anactus is not present on Kangaroo Island or elsewhere in Australia, as there are currently too few citrus trees. It also occurs on New Caledonia. There, it may be an introduced species or a vagrant.

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MISHAP...

This poor little butterfly got trapped between a heavy rainshower and a full pond. Mishap with fatal consequences...

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and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

WEB

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BUTTERFLY

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BADGE HUNTSMAN SPIDER

Neosparassus diana (L. Koch, 1875), the Badge Huntsman spider is widespread across all of Australia in woodland and dry to moist eucalypt forest, less common in the tropical north and the arid areas. It is a large spider, active at night, hunting for prey on treetrunks or on foliage. It has a daytime retreat, sometimes made from leaves woven together, occasionaly under bark.

The female is fawn to orange to pinkish brown. There is a distinctive black shield with two white spots on the underside of abdomen, usually with an orange stripe further towards the rear, this orange sometimes bordered by a black line. The body is flattened, the first two pairs of legs distinctly longer than the others. The female's roundish egg sac is flattenened where attached, about 6mm high and 12mm wide. It feeds on a wide variety of arthropods, including spiders. ♀ 20mm ♂ 16mm 

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BUTTERFLY

The small white cabbage butterfly (Pieris rapae) is a small- to medium-sized butterfly species of the whites-and-yellows family Pieridae. It is also known as the small cabbage white and in New Zealand, simply as white butterfly. The names "cabbage butterfly" and "cabbage white" can also refer to the large white.

The butterfly can be distinguished by the white colour with small black dots on its wings. It is distinguished from the large white, by its smaller size and lack of the black band at the tip of their forewings. It is widespread and populations are found across Europe, North Africa, Asia, and Great Britain. It has also been accidentally introduced to North America, Australia and New Zealand.

The caterpillar of this species is seen as a pest for commercial agriculture. Often referred to as the "imported cabbageworm" they are a serious pest to cabbage and other mustard family crops.

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BUGS

Agonoscelis rutila (horehound bug), is a stink bug which sucks the sap of the horehound plant, causing wilting of new shoots. They have five nymphal stages in their development. Although they usually attack horehound, they may also swarm on a variety of other trees and shrubs.

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SUMMER LINGERS

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and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
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HOVERFLY

Hoverflies, sometimes called flower flies, or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the larvae (maggots) eat a wide range of foods. In some species, the larvae are saprotrophs, eating decaying plant and animal matter in the soil or in ponds and streams.

About 6,000 species in 200 genera have been described. Hoverflies are common throughout the world and can be found on all continents except Antarctica. Hoverflies are harmless to most other animals, despite their mimicry of more dangerous wasps and bees, which wards off predators.

Hieracium known by the common name hawkweed and classically as hierakion (from ancient Greek ιεράξ, hierax 'hawk'), is a genus of the sunflower family Asteraceae, and closely related to dandelion (Taraxacum), chicory (Cichorium), prickly lettuce (Lactuca) and sow thistle (Sonchus), which are part of the tribe Cichorieae. Hawkweeds, with their 10,000+ recorded species and subspecies, do their part to make Asteraceae the second largest family of flowers.

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