| It's possible 20 different species can look identical (needing dissection to differentiate); as such many id's here don't go to species level |
| Stat' | Notes | Thumbnails: 1281. 260 native species listed, with 210 from Ellura |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) | ||||||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Giant Cockroach Blaberidae | Clear Rimmed Native Cockroach Calolampra sp | Na e m a r | The 1st two specimens were recorded on the same day at Ellura. Notice the 3rd specimen (Adelaide Hills) has more transparent edges, and a black streak down the side. All 3 specimens have different ventral patterns on their abdomen. We're not sure if these are different species or variations on the same species. Also notice the white face markings, these are not reflections but white pigment About 21mm long | ||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Giant Cockroach Blaberidae | Bark Cockroach Laxta sp | Na e m a | |||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Cockroach Blattidae | Oriental Cockroach Blatta orientalis | If a | |||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Cockroach Blattidae | Shining Cockroach Drymaplaneta communis iNaturalist | Na e m a | |||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Cockroach Blattidae | Tortoise Cockroach Euzosteria cf subreflexa | Na e m | |||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Cockroach Blattidae | Black Cockroach Platyzosteria sp ES01 | Na e m | |||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Cockroach Blattidae | Mallee Woodland Cockroach Platyzosteria sp ES02 iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Matthew Connors for identifying this species for us This is the biggest cockroach we've every seen! 48mm long!!! Also it's a male and the females are usually larger! Matthew said "Completely apterous + angles of ninth tergite sharp + tarsal claws strongly asymmetrical + femoral comb well-developed" | ||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Cockroach Blattidae | Small Cockroach Temnelytra sp | Na e m | |||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Cockroach Blattidae | White-banded Cockroach Zonioploca cf latizona | Na e m | |||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Cockroach Blattidae | Desert Mid-lined Cockroach Zonioploca medilinea iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you David Rentz & Matthew Connors for confirming the id of this species for us David says in his book "A distinctive species: No other has a single midline stripe". This is the 1st record for this species in South Australia on the ALA website (www.ala.org.au). | ||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Wood Cockroach Ectobiidae | Brown Balta Cockroach Balta sp ES01 | Na e m | |||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Wood Cockroach Ectobiidae | Western Ectoneura Cockroach Ectoneura tepperi iNaturalist | Na e m | 1st Live Photo on-line: | ||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Wood Cockroach Ectobiidae | Small Golden Cockroach Ellipsidion sp | Na e m | |||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Wood Cockroach Ectobiidae | The Coulon Paratemnopteryx couloniana | Na e m a |
About 22mm long | ||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Wood Cockroach Ectobiidae | Desert Para Cockroach Paratemnopteryx sp | Na a | |||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Termite Termitoidae | Termite Termitoidae sp | Na e m a |
These have now been placed in the Cockroach order Blattodea. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ant-like Flower Beetle Anthicidae | Brown Ant-like Flower Beetle Chileanthicus sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Augusto Degiovanni for identifying this species for us At only ~3.5mm these are very small beetles and easily confused with ants to the naked eye. Notice the interesting rear leg spurs; they can only be seen at certain angles. Augusto also said "This genus was created by Werner 1966, before the species of this new genus were inserted in the Formicomus = Anthelephila. In 2009, Kejval revised the genus where in addition to having redescribed existing species, he also described 30 new species many of them from Australia." | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Large Auger Beetle Bostrichidae | Twig Borer Beetle Bostrychopsis jesuita iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Adam Yates for confirming the id of this species for us A cylindrical black beetle. About 13mm long, with a downward pointing face (reminiscent of a broad-nosed weevil). Distinctive 2 rows of horns on it's pronotum. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Jewel Beetle Buprestidae | Tree-top Jewel Beetle Castiarina alternozona iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us ~20mm long. Has a golden lustre to the pronotum. Blue sheen under, and the obvious red on black stripes above. This is one specimen, found dead back in Jan 2010. However, rephotographed it this year to publish on here. However, it's become very dirty over those 10 years; so have used the best of both photo sets. Peter Lang on his web site says "This is a seldom-encountered species endemic to SA and largely confined to the higher rainfall areas with Stringybark forests in the southern Mt Lofty Ranges, and to southern Kangaroo Island. The scarcity of specimens may be due in part to it feeding out of reach in tree canopies." Mark said "A Buprestid that is extremely rarely encountered! An awesome find and a great specimen too!" | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Jewel Beetle Buprestidae | Black-necked Jewel Beetle Castiarina atricollis iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ralph Foster & Dr Peter Lang for confirming the id of this species for us A small Jewel Beetle at ~12mm long. It's exoskeleton is primarily purple! There can be some variation on pattern & shading of the yellow to orange with these. Import aspects to look for at the spikes on the trailing edge of the elytra & the shape of pronotum. The pronotum is quite barrel shaped here. They also like certain plants, this one was found in Senna flowers. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Jewel Beetle Buprestidae | Chinnocks Jewel Beetle Castiarina chinnocki iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ralph Foster & Dr Peter Lang for confirming the id of this species for us A small Jewel Beetle at ~11mm long. It's exoskeleton is primarily gold, with green metallic legs & upper body! These are quite hairy underneath compared with our other Castiarina Jewel Beetle. This one was found in Sugarwood Flowers (Myoporum platycarpum) | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Jewel Beetle Buprestidae | Maroon-highlighted Jewel Beetle Castiarina parallela iNaturalist | Na f | Thank you Anthony Paul for confirming the id of this species for us As can be seen, this was found in a flowering Fringe-myrtle (Calytrix tetragona) bush. We didn't have a chance to capture, nor measure, it before it dropped out of sight. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Jewel Beetle Buprestidae | Small Metallic Jewel Beetle Chrysobothris sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Stephan Gottwald
for identifying and Dr Peter Lang & Joshua Basham
for confirming the id of this species for us ~7.5mm long. We confused this for a Melobasis sp. Superficially they are incredibly similar to the 2 Melobasis that we photographed. There are a lot of differences when you look more closely. The face is less hairy, antennae shorter, elytra more rugose, elytra quite pointy at the front, BUT most importantly about half the size of the other two. To highlight the differences between this & Melobasis, Stephan said "The anterior femora have a noticeable inner spine" (it's visible in the antenna shot). Further Peter said "The shallowly depressed, differently-coloured fovae on the elytra (pinkish in the first image here) are characteristic of the genus." | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Jewel Beetle Buprestidae | Metallic Jewel Beetle Melobasis sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Mark Hura, Stephan Gottwald
, Dr Peter Lang & Joel DuBois for confirming and Allen Sundholm OAM for helping with the id of this species for us ~12 to 14mm long. They quickly dropped off the bush onto the ground when felt threatened. Seems to have a metallic blue body. We thought this was Melobasis propinqua but Allen indicated that there are several similar species requiring microscopic examination to separate to species. He also said "Melobasis propinqua does not have the distinct costae on the elytra, is more rounded generally, and is much more hirsute ventrally". Stephan said "I think nervosa species-group". Peter said "I think that this is the species that I treat as Melobasis sp. Senna on my website": Buprestidae of South Australia As you can see, this Stephan's comment that it belongs in the nervosa species-group. We Found 4 in two Senna artemisioides bushes during the day in Sept. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Jewel Beetle Buprestidae | Giant Jewel Beetle Temognatha heros iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Martin Lagerwey for confirming the id of this species for us A huge beetle, the biggest we've ever seen. Unfortunately the only specimen we've been able to photograph was dead and missing it's head, as shown here. The remnants were 50mm long. The head isn't very long, but they are reported to be 60-80mm long. This specimen was found on 20 Jan 2016. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Soldier Beetle Cantharidae | Soldier Beetle Chauliognathus sp ES01 | Na e m | Possibly granulatus. Notice all of these Chauliognathus sp have hairs growing out of the elytra. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Soldier Beetle Cantharidae | Soldier Beetle Chauliognathus sp ES02 | Na e m | Notice the differences between the 2 species. This one has broken black bands around the abdomen, the black marking on the back of the shield is quite different and it has orange legs (not black). This one also has orange head, not black. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Soldier Beetle Cantharidae | Soldier Beetle Chauliognathus sp ES03 | Na e m | Possibly granulatus | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Soldier Beetle Cantharidae | Soldier Beetle Chauliognathus sp ES04 | Na m | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Striped Ground Beetle Amblytelus cf sp ES01 | Na e m | Notice the long sparse hairs on the elytra (wing covers), pronotum (back/thorax shield) & head ... well on most of it's body actually; almost like spines rather than hairs. They also have an unusual spur on their front legs. Beetles often have spines coming out of their legs, but beetles in this tribe (Amblytelini) have an indent in the leg and a hook; as can be seen in the photos. About 10-11mm long (head & body). | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Brown Ground Beetle Amblytelus cf sp ES02 | Na e m | Notice the long sparse hairs on most of it's body; almost like spines rather than hairs. They also have an unusual spur on their front legs. Beetles often have spines coming out of their legs, but beetles in this tribe (Amblytelini) have an indent in the leg and a hook; as can be seen in the photos. This one is a bit larger at about 13mm long (head & body) | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Crossed Ground Beetle Amblytelus cf sp ES03 | Na e m | Notice the long sparse hairs on most of it's body; almost like spines rather than hairs. They also have an unusual spur on their front legs. Beetles often have spines coming out of their legs, but beetles in this tribe (Amblytelini) have an indent in the leg and a hook; as can be seen in the photo. This specimen has a smaller pronotum (back shield), which may make it a different species (perhaps Dystrichothorax?) | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Patched Ground Beetle Amblytelus cf sp ES04 iNaturalist | Na e m | ~7.5mm. There are a number of similar looking beetles to these 4 Amblytelus. Trigonothops sp is another possibility. They are even in different sub-families. The setae on the pronotum is diagnostic. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Ant-nest Beetle Arthropterus sp iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Mark Hura for confirming the id of this species for us 12-13mm long. A very distinctive honey brown beetle with very wide, thin, antennae. It also has wide thin legs and elytra (wing covers) that are shorter than the body. The are 3 pairs of protrusions around it's mouth; pincer like mandibles followed by increasingly larger adaptions (the Maxillary Palps & Labial Palps). While not seen very often, they are probably a lot more common than the low number sightings suggest. They live in ant nests excreting chemicals that trick the ants into thinking they are queens. As such, the ants actually raise their offspring, all the while the beetle is feasting on the ants. They are scientifically interesting due to the rapid rate in which they can adapt to new species of ants. Due to the complex nature of ant pheromones, etc, we can guess that there is a separate species of Arthropterus for each species of ant. Due to the size of this one, we can guess it's a parasite of Inch ants (Myrmecia sp). We have found 7 specimens in Nov, Dec & Feb. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Green Ground Beetle Carenum elegans iNaturalist | Na e m r | Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us S1 was ~18mm & S2 ~22mm. S9 years later, ~21mm long. We often find the colourful, metallic ground beeltes in pairs; with one larger than the other. We guess the smaller is the male & larger the female. There are no external visual clues as to any difference apart from size that we can detect. While they look ferocious we found they weren't at all aggressive. We wouldn't recommend people pick them up to test the theory; if they did bite we imagine it'd draw blood and be very painful. We thought this was C. habitans. Mark said "Common and widespread species in riverland area of SA, NSW and Vic. Differs from C. habitans in more rounded prothorax, and elytra being more rounded on sides (habitans is almost parallel) and tapered much more evenly to the shoulders. Legs (particularly hind tibiae) much more slender in elegans than habitans." We have photographed 9 specimens, in Oct, Nov, Feb & Mar. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Blue Ground Beetle Carenum speciosum iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Connor Graham for confirming the id of this species for us We found two of these dead near the caravan when we arrived one day. Both looked identical, but quite different sizes. One being about 25mm long, with the smaller one (shown here) at about 20mm. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Green Sheen Ground Beetle Carenum subcyaneum | Na e m | Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us What first grabbed our attention to this black beetle was the bright green line all around it's circumference. As it turns out, it's whole body reflects green, but the lip around it's edge makes it look like a green line. At first we thought it was a huge ant as it was moving pretty quickly across our camp ground. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Blue Waxy Ground Beetle Cerotalis sp ES01 | Na e m | Thank you Mark Hura for confirming the id of this species for us ~16mm. One of the diagnostics of this genus is the single setae (hair) above the eye. Notice the shallow central line on the pronotums, and blue/purple ventral colour. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Lined Waxy Ground Beetle Cerotalis sp ES02 | Na e m | ~17mm. Notice the deep, almost most cleft like, line down the centre of the pronotum; as well as the blue/purple ventral colour. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Black Waxy Ground Beetle Cerotalis sp ES03 | Na e m | ~14mm. One of the diagnostics of this genus is the single setae (hair) above the eye. Apparantly "The genus urgently needs a revision, as identification of species is almost impossible." But for now the ventral colour and depth of line in the centre of the pronotum are all diagnostic to separate out species, even if we don't know which is which. The single setae/hair above the eye is diagnostic for the genus, as are the >4 marginal punctures on the margin of the elytra (which are difficult to see in photographs). | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Ground Beetle Chlaenius darlingensis | Na m | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Tiger Beetle Cicindelini sp | Na r | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Green Sheen Ground Beetle Conopterum superbum | Na e m | Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us Normally we find so much of our wildlife is tiny. It makes sence that to survive in our harsh semi-arid environment "tiny" means less resources required to thrive. AND THEN we get a whopper like this! A staggeringly large beetle at about 32mm long! That's 8, yes folks EIGHT, times bigger than the Bulbous Antennae Clerid Beetle we just published .... Mark said "They are fairly widespread right across the Mallee areas from Eyre Peninsula through to Victoria." | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Australasian Panagaeitid Ground Beetle Craspedophorus australasiae | Na e m | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Bombardier Beetle Pheropsophus verticalis | Na e m | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ground Beetle Carabidae | Google-eyed Ground Beetle Scopodes sp iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Mark Hura for confirming the id of this species for us ~3.5mm long. We have photographed 4 specimens in Mar, Oct & Nov. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae | Acacia Longhorn Beetle Ancita sp | Na a |
| ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae | Slender Mallee Longhorn Beetle Aposites sp iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Mark Hura for confirming the id of this species for us S1 & S2 are about 26mm long. Specimen 1 has antennae length of about 26mm & S2 about 28mm S1 & S2 were found on the same night at the outside light. Thinking they were the same, didn't photograph the second specimen as rigorously. They are probably 2 different species. The antennae length suggests both are males (ie extends beyond the elytra). The body length compared with wings & their antennae joint near the base are different. They also have slightly different markings on the thorax. Mark said "Can rule out A. pubicollis as the abdomen doesn't extend past the elytra (among other obvious differences) and we can rule out A. lanaticollis as this is a small, light coloured species which is quite distinctive from the ones we have in the mallee. A. gracilis can also be ruled out - it is very similar to A. lanaticollis but even smaller. This leaves us with A. macilentis and A. niger. From the descriptions, there is not a lot separating them other than the form of the pronotum. The type of A. macilentis has the pronotum quite conical with only a slight swelling near the centre, whereas A. niger has the pronotum quite expanded about the middle, before being contracted before the base, where it again flares out fairly distinctively." "In general they seem to share more in common with A. niger, despite their size (A. niger type is only 18mm compared with A. macilentis 26mm)." We have now found 7 specimens (2 female, 5 male) in Dec, Feb & Mar. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae | Wattle Longhorn Beetle Bethelium diversicorne iNaturalist | Na a |
Thank you Francesco Vitali for confirming the id of this species for us ~8mm long | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae | Callitris Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae cf sp | Na e m |
Thank you Greg Baker & Andy Szito for helping with the id of this species for us We were inspecting a recently fallen, dead, callitris tree. Marie noticed a grub inside a broken twig. Given callitris has natural invert inhibitors (often used for fence posts as it's not prone to termite attack), we were surprised. We prized it out and were *VERY* concerned it looked a lot like European House Borer (Hylotrupes bajulus); or EHB for short. We posted on the Amateur Entomology Australia facebook group and Andy Szito (WA DPIRD) suggested we contact Greg Baker at SARDI. We sent it off to Greg for confirmation, who then sent it off to Andy for DNA testing. Fortunately it wasn't EHB. It didn't match any known species in the DNA database, but was "most likely another Cerambycidae spp". This specimen was about 13mm long. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae | Desert Longhorn Microtragus mormon iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Mark Hura for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: Almost spider like with very long legs and antennae. Note the odd shaped compound eyes and 2 pair of ridges along it's back. The middle ridges start with small horn like projections. It's covered in fine hairs, not visible to the eye, which enhance the white patches on the rear ridges. We found a second, dead, specimen and thought the light colour was due to fading in the sun. But have since seen a photo of a live specimen which was also very light. So the overall colour can go from dark brown to pale grey. We found a live specimen in Feb & a dead specimen in Nov. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae | Grass Longhorn Oebarina ceresioides iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you David Muirhead for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: ~12mm long Thanks to Ian Gibbins for his help translating the latin name to English. We incorrectly interpreted "ceresio" to mean "deadly" where as "ceres" relates to wheat & grains. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae | Spotted Hairy Longhorn Beetle Opsidota infecta iNaturalist | Na e m f |
Thank you Francesco Vitali for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: About 18mm long. With the 3 specimens we caught in one night there seems to be some variation in the amount the abdomen protrudes past the elytra, but not overall length. The spots on the thorax are made by hair, and so variations in colour, shape & quantity can be accounted for by age & wearing. The vague patterns on the elytra may be due to transparency of the underlying body (but didn't manage to see it with elytra up to prove this). These patterns are quite variable. Also note with longhorns that the antennae are often 2 dimensional. As such, some photo's of them appear thin/thread like. Others a thick heavy serrated appearance, where the antennae are at 90 deg. This is because the serrations are plate like and nearly invisible from the edge. As such, it's a good idea to get plenty of photo's of the antennae from different angles to get the correct shape of the segments. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae | Eucalypt Longhorn Phoracantha semipunctata iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Mark Hura for confirming the id of this species for us Unfortunately we only found a dead shell. Note the four trailing spines on the elytra (2 per elytron). | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae | Feather-horned Longhorn Beetle Piesarthrius laminosus iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Francesco Vitali for confirming the id of this species for us About 15mm long with very long thin wide filaments on the antennae. It's difficult to determine how long the antennae are. Superficially they are a bit over 12mm long. However, the end segment has 2 filaments, of about 5mm long. So really the antennae are about 7mm, with 5mm of filament nearly doubling their length. The filaments vary in length, with the middle being the longest at about 7mm, and both edges being ~5mm. As with many longhorns, the eyes are heavily indented and wrap around the antennae base. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae | Braconid Mimic Longhorn Proagapete sp | Na e m |
Similar Species: Red Braconid Wasp (Braconidae sp ES01) | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae | Copper-wire Longhorn Beetle Prosoplus sp | Na e m |
~7mm long. Named as we've only ever found it on Copper-wire Daisies. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae | Tea-tree Longhorn Rhytiphora obliqua iNaturalist | Na a |
1st Live Photo on-line: ~16mm head to tail & each antenna is ~22mm long. Marie found it drowning in a bird bath. We were surprised at the difference in colour between wet & dry. After a day in an insect box came back to life and started walking around, so was released. Notice the very hairy antennae. In terms of colour, it's an odd mix of chestnut to silver grey patches. It's spine/horn placement is important diagnostically, as are it's antennae & eye shape. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae | White-marked Hairy Longhorn Beetle Rhytiphora posthumeralis iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Allen Sundholm OAM for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line 1st Record in SA ~17mm head to tail, with antennae ~13mm long. Came to a night light on 1st January. We photographed both sides to ensure the white splash was consistent and not a aberration. Very hairy, with the white splashes hidden in the dorsal view. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae | Lycid Mimic Longhorn Stenoderus suturalis | Na e m |
Similar Species: Four-ribbed Lycid Beetle (Porrostoma sp) Typically Longhorns are very consistent in their colours & pattern. However, these can have orange or black faces & can have the side black stripe missing, as shown here. This colour form were previously considered a different species and were then synonymised with S. suturalis. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae | Striped Longhorn Beetle Syllitus cf microps iNaturalist | Na f | Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us Shown are 2 females, not copulating. The male is smaller, hidden above. 4 specimens found in November | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Longhorn Beetle Cerambycidae | Black-waisted Longhorn Beetle Uracanthus griseus iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Thaddeus Charles Jones for confirming the id of this species for us At ~25mm long, this is the longest longhorn we've come across to date. It had serrated antennae that don't quite extend past the body. As with many longhorns, the eyes are heavily indented and wrap around the antennae base. This specimen got caught in a red-backs cobweb. It was lucky to survive, but we couldn't get all the cobweb off it's antennae & feet. In time it should be able to peel it off. We found 3 specimens in November. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Leaf Beetle Chrysomelidae | Flea Beetle Aporocera cf viridipennis | Na e m | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Leaf Beetle Chrysomelidae | Tiny Leaf Beetle Bruchinae sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Dr Ken Walker for helping with the id of this species for us Only 2mm long | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Leaf Beetle Chrysomelidae | Metallic Dodonaea Leaf Beetle Callidemum hypochalceum | Na e m f | Similar Species: Chalcopterus Beetle (Chalcopteroides sp ES01) Thank you Martin Lagerwey for identifying this species for us ~8mm long | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Leaf Beetle Chrysomelidae | Orange-marked Black Leaf Beetle Ditropidus sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Martin Lagerwey & Nick Monaghan for confirming the id of this species for us ~4mm long. We suspect this is Ditropidus pulchellus. Most images of D. pulchellus have a red pronotum though. This one also seems to have a slightly different scutellum. We were wondering if these differences were gender based. Nick suggested it could be a regional variation. Martin agreed and said "I would expect regional or genetic variation. Gender dimorphism is minimal in this species although pronotum colors do vary by gender in Cryptocephalinae including a few Ditropidus and a few Aporocera." Martin also said "There is nothing else close in the Victorian Museum collection." The only way to be sure this is D. pulchellus or not would be to dissect it. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Leaf Beetle Chrysomelidae | Maroon Eboo Beetle Eboo sp ES01 iNaturalist | Na e m a | ~4mm long with a maroon metallic sheen to it's body & orange legs. We photographed 5 specimens, in Nov, Mar & Apr | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Leaf Beetle Chrysomelidae | Green Eboo Beetle Eboo sp ES02 iNaturalist | Na e m | ~4mm long with a green metallic sheen to it's body & orange legs. We photographed 2 specimens in Mar & April. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Leaf Beetle Chrysomelidae | Scat-mimicking Leaf Beetle Faex aemula iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Martin Lagerwey for confirming the id of this species for us ~5mm long | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Leaf Beetle Chrysomelidae | Tortoise Beetle Paropsis aegrota iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Martin Lagerwey for identifying this species for us | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Leaf Beetle Chrysomelidae | Dotted Paropsine Leaf Beetle Paropsis carnosa | Na e m | Thank you Martin Lagerwey for identifying this species for us In relation to the difference between Paropsis & Paropsisterna sp, Martin said "Paropsis has some verrucae (bumps) on the elytra. They also usually have randomly placed elytral puncturation and margin of pronotum is crenulate (wavy) or acervate. Paropsisterna have smooth elytra without bumps and with punctured aligned in ten neat rows. The edge of the pronotum is entirely smooth. These features should be considered together. There are other more reliable differences underneath, which is rarely seen in photographs." | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Leaf Beetle Chrysomelidae | Pink Desert Leaf Beetle Paropsis roseola iNaturalist | Na e m | ~8mm long. Notice the emarginate eyes. It's pink pronotum is diagnostic, and they love mallee gum. Also, notice the feet. They have pads (all leaf-beetles do) to help them suck onto leaves - hence the name. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Leaf Beetle Chrysomelidae | Eucalyptus Variegated Beetle Paropsisterna cloelia iNaturalist | Na a |
Thank you Martin Lagerwey for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Leaf Beetle Chrysomelidae | Striped Leaf Beetle Paropsisterna intacta | Na a | Thank you Martin Lagerwey for identifying this species for us Not only did Martin supply the id for this stunning little beetle, he also very kindly supplied the specimen on his last trip to SA. While this is the usual colour/pattern, Martin has found them without any spots on the pronotum, nor strips on the back (elytra). | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Leaf Beetle Chrysomelidae | Variable Leaf Beetle Paropsisterna variabilis iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Martin Lagerwey for confirming the id of this species for us ~10 mm long. All leaf beetles have "suction" pads on the bottom of their legs/feet. To help hold onto slippery leaves. Were were able to show this here. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Leaf Beetle Chrysomelidae | Fireblight Beetle Peltoschema orphana | Na e m | Thank you Martin Lagerwey for identifying this species for us | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Leaf Beetle Chrysomelidae | Leaf Beetle Trachymela sp | Na e m | Thank you Martin Lagerwey for identifying this species for us | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Clerid Beetle Cleridae | Spiny Clerid Beetle Eunatalis spinicornis | Na e m | About 24mm long, weighed 190 mg and has hairy eyes. As with other clerids, this is a hairy beetle. It looks very similar to some longihorns, but the antennae are quite short in comparison. Longihorn antennae tend to be positioned above the body, whereas this specimen was quite intent on keeping them hidden. The antennae have a pointed tip and is possibly referenced in it's name. Ian Gibbins translated "spinicornis" for us to mean "spiny horns". Antennae are often refered to as Horns (eg long-i-horns). Ian also indicated "Eunatalis" more or less means "of true birth". It's description, by Gerstmeier & Seitner, mentions "E. spinicornis differs from all other species by the dentate elytral apices". 'Dentate', meaning tooth-like, 'Elytral' meaning of the wing covers & 'Apices' meaning tip. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Clerid Beetle Cleridae | Variegated Clerid Beetle Lemidia variegata iNaturalist | Na e m |
1st Live Photo on-line: ~5.5mm long. Very Velvet Ant like with the naked eye, but on closer inspection with the camera we can see the antennae & body shape are quite different. The whole upper aspect of the body is heavily punctuated. Underneath it is smooth and black. The pronotum has 2 small longitudinal ridges. We found one specimen in April. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Clerid Beetle Cleridae | Green Metallic Clerid Beetle Phlogistus sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Clerid Oz for confirming the id of this species for us ~6mm long. Metallic Green covering, including legs. Very hairy, typical of clerid beetles. Even has long hair extruding from the eyes. Found in Melaleuca lanceolata flower during the day. We thought this was Phlogistus schulzi, but Justin said "Your species appears to belong to a complex of Phlogistus species that all have bicoloured protibiae and a weak pronotal sulcus (as in the type species, Phlogistus instabilis). Phlogistus schulzi does not belong that that complex . . . . it has a more rotund and smooth pronotum and distinctive shallow but uniform elytral punctation. Unfortunately, you just won't get a species ID on this, partly as there are so many similar-looking metallic green species in this genus, and partly as it is covered in powdery frass of some kind." | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Clerid Beetle Cleridae | Bulbous Antennae Clerid Sedlacekvia sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us This is a rare find. We thought it was Sedlacekvia tanamica, but Mark suggests it might be an undescribed species. That's not to say it is rare, but doesn't seem to be found by people very much. Very little is known about them. To the naked eye it looks just like an ant, but because it was on concrete the large antennae stood out and we thought it was a small Ant-nest Beetle. But closer inspection shows quite different antennae, bulbous rather than filamented. At only 4-5mm tip to tail, it's fairly small. Overall it is dark brown and hairy, with dark red patches on it's shoulders. Not well studied, there have been records of the genus in NT (near Uluru), Victoria & NSW; along with this one & some Mark found in SA. We found one in Oct. Mark found one over near Bakara in Dec. Mark said " the elytral apices are interesting. The apices in S. tanamica are attenuated, whereas in S. kinchegaensis they are rounded. Mine are definitely rounded and the 2 elytrons meet neatly together at the apex when closed. Yours appears somewhat in between - rounded but also slightly attenuated, not to the extreme of the type though: https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/specimens/1023001 This is one of the things I mentioned earlier about having one or only a few specimens in a type series - you can't really gauge the range of variability. Other differences between the 2 include the punctures on the humeral angles (shoulders) of the elytron - bare in S. tanamica but regularly punctured in S. kinchegaensis and pronotum with a small bare, shiny patch on S. tanamica, but densely punctured throughout on S. kinchegaensis." | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ladybird Coccinellidae | Transverse Ladybird Coccinella transversalis | Na e m a | Orange lady beetle with black wavy blotches. Thanks to Reiner Richter for identifying the larva for us | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ladybird Coccinellidae | Large Spotted Ladybird Harmonia conformis | Na a | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ladybird Coccinellidae | Variegated Ladybird Hippodamia variegata | If e m | As it's name suggests, a very variable species. Usually with white stripes on it's pronotum, but sometimes not. Introduced from Europe and used as a biological control of cotton aphids in crops, it is now wide spread and an environmental pest. Our apologies for the moth scales interfering with these photo's. They were shed in the container by the previous occupant, not part of this species. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ladybird Coccinellidae | Striped Ladybird Micraspis furcifera iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Reiner Richter & Mark Hura for confirming the id of this species for us ~5mm long. Pale yellow lady bug with black stripes. Or is it black with yellow stripes ?-) We can't tell the difference between the genders, but one we captured laid eggs in the pot, so knew was female. The eggs are yellow, about 1.5mm long, laid vertically. We were surprised when photographing the female that she has emarginate eyes! We have photgraphed them in Jan, Feb, May, Nov & Dec. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ladybird Coccinellidae | Citrus Whitefly Ladybird Serangium maculigerum iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you LadyRobyn for confirming and Reiner Richter for helping with the id of this species for us | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Belid Weevil Curculionoidea: Belidae | Spotted Belid Weevil Rhinotia niveopilosa iNaturalist | Na e m f | Thank you Boris Büche for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Belid Weevil Curculionoidea: Belidae | Red Belid Weevil Rhinotia scalaris iNaturalist | Na e m | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Belid Weevil Curculionoidea: Belidae | Hairy Belid Weevil Rhinotia sp ES03 iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Boris Büche for confirming the id of this species for us Boris said "Most similar to Rhinotia ursa - different by bicoloured hair." | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Belid Weevil Curculionoidea: Belidae | Red-nosed Belid Weevil Rhinotia sp ES04 iNaturalist | Na e m | ~12mm long including rostrum. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Belid Weevil Curculionoidea: Belidae | Sutural Belid Weevil Rhinotia suturalis iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Anthony Paul for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Straight-snouted Weevil Curculionoidea: Brentidae | Straight-snouted Weevil Brentidae sp | Na e m | Tip to tail this little fella is only 2mm long! Tiny | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | True Weevil Curculionoidea: Curculionidae | Fin-faced Weevil Acantholophus planicollis iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Mark Hura for confirming the id of this species for us ~12mm long. Notice the butterfly shaped shield on it's face, creating fins that cover the eyes. The only specimen we found was dead unfortunately. Mark said "Your specimen closely matches Waterhouse's (1854) description. He mentions features such as the tubercles and granules as well as the colouring being somewhat variable, but the diagnostic features of your specimen fits with his description." | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | True Weevil Curculionoidea: Curculionidae | Riverina Weevil Amycterus riverinae iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Boris Büche for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: ~15mm long. All those dimples have a single short stiff hair coming from the middle. Almost like a spine.. They eat seeds and other plant matter. One specimen found in Feb. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | True Weevil Curculionoidea: Curculionidae | Broad-nosed Weevil Cubicorhynchus sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Boris Büche for confirming the id of this species for us We thought it might have been Cubicorhynchus setosus, but Boris, on Bowerbird, said "NOT setosus (setae too short). 3 similar WA species at least. Species-level ID would need male sexual characters; this weevil assumed female (slightly convex belly)." About 14mm long, covered in short, down-curved, hairs. Notice the unusual little horns on it's face. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | True Weevil Curculionoidea: Curculionidae | White Pebble Weevil Elaeagna squamibunda iNaturalist | Na e m r | Thank you Boris Büche for identifying this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: Between ~5 -> 7mm long. When feeling threatened they tuck their rostrum well into their chest & curl up. Regardless their legs are large for their body size. Their body reminds us of the surface of a golf ball. We believe the black mark on this one (on it's side in the profile shot) is where the scales have been "worn"/scraped off, showing the actual under colour (dermis?) is black. As such, black marks like this aren't diagnostic, but damage. We were fairly confident of our genus id, but thought the colours were a bit different to this species. Boris said "In Lea (1913), considerable variability in scale colour described for the species." | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | True Weevil Curculionoidea: Curculionidae | Horned Weevil Encosmia cornuta iNaturalist | Na a | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | True Weevil Curculionoidea: Curculionidae | Eucalypt Weevil Gonipterus sp iNaturalist | Na e m a | The larva create a faecal shield to help protect from predators. They skeletonise gum leaves. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | True Weevil Curculionoidea: Curculionidae | Wattle Pig Leptopius cf duponti | Na a | Thank you Boris Büche for helping with the id of this species for us | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | True Weevil Curculionoidea: Curculionidae | Crusty Barrel Weevil Medicasta sp iNaturalist | Na e m | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | True Weevil Curculionoidea: Curculionidae | Chevron Weevil Ophryota cf squamibunda iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Dr Samuel Brown for confirming the id of this species for us ~9mm long. It's difficult to be sure of species as the other Ophryota species (O. hystricosa & O. rapax, O. subangulata) are not well known. We are confident it's not O. nodosa. Samuel thought it a reasonable id. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | True Weevil Curculionoidea: Curculionidae | Elephant Weevil Orthorhinus cylindrirostris iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Dr Samuel Brown for confirming the id of this species for us A well known Weevil. They are quite large at ~20mm long. They have 4 pairs of tufts that look like horns along their backs, to the top of their head. A very long thin snout and long legs. Their legs have spurs, underneath the thighs, just above the knees. Probably used to aid in gripping to branches, etc. They seem to vary in colour from brown earthy tones to quite light, but always with a vague, angled stripe across their backs. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | True Weevil Curculionoidea: Curculionidae | Horse-nosed Weevil Pelororhinus crassus iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Boris Büche for confirming the id of this species for us A medium sized weevil at ~14mm long weight ~0.1gm. The antennae point back slightly, rather than foreward like many other weevils. Covered in very short coloured scales, with long hairs around the muzzle. Very long legs and large feet that can hold onto glass, just. This specimen flew past us straight into a senna bush about 5m in front of us. Beetles fly quite differently to flies. Much slower, quite combersome, with the body hanging. Shape is very important to weevil identification; much more than colour. Notice the way the pronotum is extended over the head, and the way the head indents (in profile) to make a face and separate muzzle. Broad-nosed weevils have a straight line from the forehead to the tip of the snout. This is probably male because of the less humped back. The face is diagnostic and leads to this species. The body colours & patterns are a bit variable. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | True Weevil Curculionoidea: Curculionidae | Elegant Weevil Pelororhinus facetus iNaturalist | Na e m |
~13mm The "face" has a build up of scales. Unfortunately the 2nd one was covered in cob web, making it difficult to see. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | True Weevil Curculionoidea: Curculionidae | Barrel Weevil Perperus sp | Na e m | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | True Weevil Curculionoidea: Curculionidae | Sitona Weevil Sitona discoideus | If e m | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Skin Beetle Dermestidae | Varied Carpet Beetle Anthrenus verbasci iNaturalist | If e m a | Similar Species: Brown Globular Springtail (Symphypleona sp ES01) Thank you Lila (fairypossum) for confirming the id of this species for us A small beetle, ~3mm long, that has cost millions to protect against severely damaging the world's museum specimens. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Click Beetle Elateridae | Shielded Click Beetle Agrypnus sp iNaturalist | Na e m | ~8-9mm long. The ventral shot is very important here. When comparing the holotype images of species in this genus on-line very few have cut outs in their exoskeleton underneath for antennae and front leg protection. These cut outs/indents seem quite variable amoung the different species; to the point they don't exist in some. We could find any that match our two specimens so think ours are undescribed. We found our specimens in Dec & May. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Click Beetle Elateridae | Red Click Beetle Elateridae sp ES02 | Na a | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Click Beetle Elateridae | Black Click Beetle Elateridae sp ES03 | Na e m a | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Click Beetle Elateridae | Brown Click Beetle Elateridae sp ES04 | Na a | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Click Beetle Elateridae | Small Click Beetle Elateridae sp ES05 | Na e m | About 7mm long | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Click Beetle Elateridae | Large Click Beetle Pseudotetralobus sp | Na m | The antennae of the males are diagnostic for this genus. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Clown Beetle Histeridae | Horned Matchhead Beetle Pheidoliphila carbo iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Dr Michael Caterino
for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: ~3mm long. Notice the Charcoal body, leafy legs and orange hair tufts on the shoulders. The head is able to retract all the way in to form a strong protective shell. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Clown Beetle Histeridae | Clown Beetle Saprinus sp | Na e m | Very metallic blue/green back/elytra and metallic yellow/gold shield/pronotum. Quite small @ 5.5 to 7mm, with large mandibles, for it's size, and wide legs clearly used for digging. Club like antennae. Notice the body is covered in scores & pits almost sculptured; these are the same on all speciemens so conclude they are not damage marks. The dirt on specimen four (S4) highlights the edge of the elytra & rear wings quite well. We have found 6 specimens in May, August, September & December. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Stag Beetle Lucanidae | Black Stag Beetle Figulus regularis iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us ~15mm long. These have a smooth ribbed elytra and are quite hairless. This one has a broken head/face, so it's difficult to discern facial features. One dead specimen found in Dec | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Net-winged Beetle Lycidae | Long-nosed Lycid Beetle Porrostoma rhipidium iNaturalist | Na e m f r | Male are ~13mm to ~15mm long. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Net-winged Beetle Lycidae | Four-ribbed Lycid Beetle Porrostoma sp | Na e m | Similar Species: Lycid Mimic Longhorn (Stenoderus suturalis) Boris said "Note straight costa 1, and also lateral cells of pronotum sharply delimited. " | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Net-winged Beetle Lycidae | Three-ribbed Lycid Beetle Trichalus semicostatus iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Boris Büche for identifying this species for us ~7 to ~13mm long Females. Boris said "Elytra with three complete ribs (costae), instead of four in Porrostoma, plus a short one near scutellum; costa closest to suture bent outwards in anteriour fourth, giving space for extra interval." | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Soft-winged Flower Beetle Melyridae | Red & Blue Flower Beetle Dicranolaius bellulus iNaturalist | Na e m a |
Thank you Gabriele Franzini for helping with the id of this species for us ~5mm long. Males have a cup on their antennae near the base. Notice the red elytral tips here. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Soft-winged Flower Beetle Melyridae | Red & Blue Flower Beetle Dicranolaius sp iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Thomas Mesaglio for helping with the id of this species for us ~5mm long. We have found these feeding on saltbush flowers We thought this was Dicranolaius bellulus Thomas said "lack of red elytral tips should eliminate bellulus" Interestingly we have found both male & female Dicranolaius bellulus, we have only found females of this species. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Pintail Beetle Mordellidae | Zebra Pintail Beetle Mordella australis iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Boris Büche for identifying this species for us ~3mm | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Pintail Beetle Mordellidae | Golden Pintail Beetle Mordella sp ES02 iNaturalist | Na e m | ~4mm | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Wedge-shaped Beetle Ripiphoridae | Wedge-shaped Beetle Macrosiagon cf sp | Na m | Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us Mark said "Most likely female Macrosiagon" We commented that these could easily be mistaken for Pintail Beetles. Mark responded "They are similar to the Mordellidae but in general the Ripiphoridae often (not always) have flabellate antennae (reduced in the females), while the Mordellidae have much simpler antennae (usually filiform or serrate at most). The most obvious difference is in the hind coxae, which is expanded in the Mordellidae, and much more slender in the Ripiphoridae, but this is difficult to see in most photos unless underside shots are taken." | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Scarab Beetle Scarabaeidae | Christmas Beetle Anoplognathus montanus iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Malcolm Worthing for confirming and Ethan Beaver for helping with the id of this species for us ~30mm long. The green to purple reflections is diagnostic, as are the large hooks on the feet. There are a number of similar genera in the Anoplognathini tribe; which this belongs. Mark Hura explained "One of the ways to separate Anoplognathus, Calloodes and Repsimus from the other members in the Anoplognathina tribe is by looking at the hind margin of the pronotum. In those 3 genera, the pronotum is 'bilobed', ie. it has a small deviation around the top of the scutellum. This can sometimes be very slight, so care must be taken not to use this feature alone, however if the base of the pronotum is evenly convex, then chances are that it isn't one of those genera. ... The clypeus also varies ... All Anoplognathus are either convex or at most truncated." Malcolm identified ours as a male and said "Male individuals often have an almost pointed/narrow snout (clypeus) where the edges are concave, like the individual you photographed. Females have a wider blunt snout. This rule generally appears to occur in most SA Anoplognathus species. Also, the two spotted species can be distinguished by the number of teeth (points) on their front legs (foretibia). A. pallidicollis has 3 teeth, while A. olivieri has 2 teeth on each front leg. Mark later said "The metallic sheen is only a useful feature here (SA) owing to the lack of other species, so if something out of it's range did turn up here, that wouldn't be a useful feature to go off." | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Scarab Beetle Scarabaeidae | Red Scarab Beetle Cryptodus sp | Na e m |
Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Scarab Beetle Scarabaeidae | Flower Chafer Diaphonia dispar iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us About 23mm long. The female is basically a black beetle, with 2 "flame" stripes above, 2 orange spots on the rear, along with 4 paler orange/yellow spots on each side of the abdomen. The most interesting visual aspect of this beetle is it's sculptured elytra. The legs are wide and also have abnormally large appendages. Males look a bit like cowboy beetles and are pale brown, with a black 'V' on the pronotum & black edging to the inside edge of the pronotum. These are quite rare and important scientifically, so have included detailed photo's of all our specimens to show any differences between them. We have found 4 specimens (2 dead) in Mar & Apr. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Scarab Beetle Scarabaeidae | Sandy Dung Beetle Euoniticellus fulvus | If a | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Scarab Beetle Scarabaeidae | Scabby Scarab Beetle Melolonthinae sp ES03 | Na e m |
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| Beetles Coleoptera | Scarab Beetle Scarabaeidae | Beige Scarab Beetle Melolonthinae sp ES04 | Na e m |
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| Beetles Coleoptera | Scarab Beetle Scarabaeidae | Brown Scarab Beetle Melolonthinae sp ES05 | Na e m |
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| Beetles Coleoptera | Scarab Beetle Scarabaeidae | Hairy Scarab Beetle Melolonthinae sp ES06 | Na e m |
Possibly Semanopterus sp | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Scarab Beetle Scarabaeidae | Red Chafer Melolonthinae sp ES07 | Na e m |
Very similar to the Brown Chafer. These have different head plate; being wider at the very tip. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Scarab Beetle Scarabaeidae | Long Legged Scarab Beetle Melolonthinae sp ES09 | Na e m a |
We've found quite a few of these. They look identical but range from 17mm down to about 6mm; which would indicate they are different species. We've just shown a couple of the larger specimens here. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Scarab Beetle Scarabaeidae | Hairy Little Scarab Beetle Melolonthinae sp ES12 iNaturalist | Na m |
Thank you Mark Hura for identifying and Reiner Richter for confirming the id of this species for us ~7mm long. Mark found this beetle and we photographed it in his hand. He said "This is a bit of a mystery species. The only thing I could find that came close to a match was Automolius, based on the arrangement if the hind tibial spurs, the fused tergite/sternite near the apical end of the abdomen, and the stout hairs on the pronotum. Automolius generally should be completely clothed, however the extent of the clothing on the elytra varies. There are some species that have scale-like setae on the elytra, which I think this may have had originally, but has since worn off. There seems to be a whitish mark from each of the pores on the elytra, which may be the remnants of scales that have been rubbed off before us finding it. In addition, females also have bare patches (usually near the back of the elytra) which may vary in size and may have contributed to the nakedness of the elytra. There is a chance that it could also be a Liparetrus, however if so, it is very unlike any that I have ever come across. Generally these have very fine pilosity on the pronotum and not the stout hairs so obvious in your image. There may very well be species like this however that I am not aware of. Basically, unless I find another one that I can examine, we will not really know the true identity of it, and so it is best left as a 'Melolonthinae' for the time being. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Scarab Beetle Scarabaeidae | Adelaide Unicorn Beetle Novapus adelaidae iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: ~17 to ~21mm long. Marie found all 3; the first (male) was dead on the ground; the other female & male were found live on the ground. We spent hours trying to id it via photographs and thought it was Novapus crassus, a very similar species. Mark said "It exhibits all the features of this species - pygidium setose on base and apical ridge; mentum setose on disc; deep, abrupt pronotal excavation with shallow vermiform punctures on the disc; large bifurcate cephalic horn; subobsolete upper carina on hind tibia as well as a number of other features." In 1887 Rev. T. Blackburn states of this species (which he described) "I have seen a good many specimens taken in the Adelaide district.". It's a pity they are so rare today. The females don't have the horn, nor the depression. The female was found in May, while the 2 males were found in June. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Scarab Beetle Scarabaeidae | Brown Chafer Pimelopus cf sp | Na e m |
Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us Large hairy rusty brown beetle. There are many very similar species & genera. Mark said "These are in the Dynastinae sub-family and is most likely Pimelopus, however it could also be a Novapus. Difficult to tell with the females." | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Large Carion Beetle Silphidae | Carrion Beetle Ptomaphila lacrymosa iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Reiner Richter for confirming the id of this species for us ~15mm body & head length, ~19mm including elytra. A distinctive brown & black beetle with large elytra & pronotum making it look much larger than it really is. Somewhat reminiscent of a Pie Dish Beetle. We found one dead one in Aug. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Rove Beetle Staphylinidae | Devil's Coach-horse Beetle Creophilus erythrocephalus iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you David (dmail) & Gordon Claridge for confirming the id of this species for us Variable in size, ~12 to ~17mm. While found around carrion (and toilets), they feed on fly larvae on dead animals. In South Australia, the size of the centre spot on the face is a good guide, as only the two Creophilus species (C. erythrocephalus & C. lanos) have been recorded here. Lorenzo Locati said "certainty of species ID comes from terminal segment, orange in lanio, black in erythocephalus". Vik Dunis says of C. erythrocephalus " Head spot: Circular, sharp edged. Elytra: Metalic-blue Tint Terminal Abdominal Segment: Black" Generally the Elytra colour is VERY difficult to pick up in photo's due to the poor colour depth of most commercial cameras. We've highlighted this with 3 different colours (blue, black & green) with 2 different specimens and 2 different cameras. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Rove Beetle Staphylinidae | Torn Rove Beetle Creophilus lanio iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Boris Büche for confirming the id of this species for us Notice the wings are out here. Normally (as can be seen above) the wings are neatly folded under the elytra and not visible. Vik Dunis says of C. lanio " Head spot: Wide, edge not sharp Elytra: Black Terminal Abdominal Segment: Orange/red" | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Rove Beetle Staphylinidae | Small Rove Beetle Lathrobiini sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Boris Büche for identifying this species for us ~5.5mm long | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Rove Beetle Staphylinidae | Pintail Rove Beetle Sepedophilus sp iNaturalist | Na e m | ~3mm long. Note the hairy/spiny abdomen that pintail beetles don't have, and the short elytra typical of rove beetles. This one seems a little damaged as it couldn't retract it's wings. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Rove Beetle Staphylinidae | Tiny Rove Beetle Staphylinidae sp ES01 | Na e m | We can't be sure these 2 sightings are the same species. They are both tiny & we managed to measure the 2nd at ~3mm. At this size our equipement isn't sophisticated enough to get detailed diagnostic photographs, so stay with family level id. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Darkling Beetle Tenebrionidae | Black Comb-clawed Beetle Alleculini sp ES01 | Na e m a | Alleculini is a tribe, commonly called Comb-clawed Beetles and are an understudied group. There are a large number of similar looking genera in the tribe, let alone species. We have left this id at the tribe level for now until further information is more readily available. Note the very hairy body & legs, as well as large eyes. Reminiscent of the introduced Egyptian beetle, but much smaller at only 12mm long (head & body). | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Darkling Beetle Tenebrionidae | Brown Comb-clawed Beetle Alleculini sp ES02 | Na e m | Alleculini is a tribe, commonly called Comb-clawed Beetles and are an understudied group. There are a large number of similar looking genera in the tribe, let alone species. We have left this id at the tribe level for now until further information is more readily available. Note the very hairy body & legs, as well as large eyes. This specimen is quite a bit smaller than the previous at only 8mm long (head & body). Notice also that the legs are shorter and body more parallel than our previous specimen. The head shape, large eyes & padded feet still match. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Darkling Beetle Tenebrionidae | Orange-footed Black Beetle Batessia westwoodi iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us ~20mm long. Many of the beetles in the Cyphaleina sub-tribe can look very similar. The corners of the pronotum vary in size and shape quite a bit within species. There is another similar genus, Nyctozoilus, which has diagnostic hairs on the rear legs of the males. Hence the reason we included hind legs shots to show they are bare here. When we were wondering if it was B. championi Mark said "B. westwoodi and championi have very similar descriptions, but when placed side by side, the differences become a little more obvious. Unfortunately most of the features used to distinguish between the two are variable to an extent, thus further confusing them. This biggest difference externally is in the prothorax, and specifically the hind angles which are preceeded by and abrupt constriction in westwoodi, and by an even sweeping curve in championi. A syntype image for B. championi can be found here. Another major difference is the shape of the elytra which is somewhat tear-shaped in westwoodi (widest near apical third), and almost parallel in championi." We found one specimen in Feb. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Darkling Beetle Tenebrionidae | Egyptian Beetle Blaps polychresta | If e m c |
Large black beetle, approximately 40mm long (head to tail) with a projection out the rear end. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Darkling Beetle Tenebrionidae | Chalcopterus Beetle Chalcopteroides sp ES01 | Na e m | Similar Species: Metallic Dodonaea Leaf Beetle (Callidemum hypochalceum) Thank you Tom Weir for helping with the id of this species for us Very metallic green back Highly reflective. These look similar to Amarygmus sp. Tom said "Amarygmus tend to have the elytra distinctly striate and punctate whereas Chalcopteroides tend to have only superficial striae and punctures. Also Amarygmus have the mandibles apically bifid whereas in Chalcopteroides they are apically rounded or truncate." | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Darkling Beetle Tenebrionidae | Finely-punctuated Chalcopterus Beetle Chalcopteroides sp ES02 iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Darkling Beetle Tenebrionidae | Strongly Striated Chalcopterus Beetle Chalcopteroides sp ES03 | Na e m a | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Darkling Beetle Tenebrionidae | Honey Brown Beetle Ecnolagria rufescens iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Boris Büche & Dianne Clarke for confirming the id of this species for us Male & female ~13mm long. To separate species within the genus the male is needed. These can be recognised by the long thick antennae bases as seen here. In SA we have two very similar species, E. grandis & E. rufescens. To separate them you need to see the antennae segments. The middle & rear leg spines also help. E. rufescens has longer middle leg spines but a slightly smaller rear leg spine than E. grandis. With E. grandis the middle antennal segments also have slight spuring (similar to the 2nd to last two, but not as exaggerated). With E. rufescens the middle antennal segments are relatively symetrical ... round, not spurred. We cannot confirm the females shown here are E. rufescens, but given the one male we found is, and they were found in close proximity it's reasonable to assume they are. We found 7 specimens, one male, in Nov, Dec, Jan & Feb. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Darkling Beetle Tenebrionidae | Transparent Pie-dish Beetle Helea castor iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: We have recently discovered the enclosed head is not a diagnostic feature of Helea sp. Notice how round this species is compared to the next (Helea waitei). It's quite unusual as it's brown plus has a transparent "shell". We're not sure if the "brown fluff" is just plain dirt, or possibly excreted by the beetle as camouflage. Another possibility is cobweb from a tiny spider This specimen was 22mm long including the flanges of the Elytra (rear shield / wing covers) and Prothorax (front shell), 18mm just the head & body without the shell. This specimen has 2 ridges starting at the front of the elytra stopping about 3/4's toward the rear, roughly where a 3rd middle ridge starts. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Darkling Beetle Tenebrionidae | Large Pie-dish Beetle Helea waitei iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Gray Catanzaro for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: Notice the single, central ridge running from the front to the back of the elytra on this specimen. Also a small horn on the prothorax between the head & elytra. When threatened they tilt their whole body up on side to present the shell to the threat (protecting their undersides). They are able to move their head inside the shell like a tortoise, so can close the hole off with nearly no eyes showing, or have half the eye poking through. The body & legs are covered in short thick hair. The elytra is fused, so they can't fly. The last specimen we found is covered in a white substance. Possible fungus of some sort. But other beetles exude a fungus like substance to help with camoflage. The 2 specimens we measured were 27mm & 33mm total length. To be clear, this includes the "shell', tip to tail. The actual head to abdomen extremities were 26mm (of the 33mm). 7mm of "shell" front & back. It can be unclear what "length" means with inverts. Normally we don't include appendages, but the shell doesn't seem like an appendage. So we've included it for now, unless otherwise notified. We have now found 4 of these, in Jan & Feb. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Darkling Beetle Tenebrionidae | Shiny Pie-dish Beetle Pterohelaeus sp ES01 | Na e m | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Darkling Beetle Tenebrionidae | Red-rimmed Blue Pie-dish Beetle Pterohelaeus sp ES03 | Na e m | ~19mm long with basically thread antennae; however the segments are wide & flat. Has a white speckled/dusty look to it's surface that seems to rub off. The red-rim was easily visible to the naked eye, but held up to light here to highight it plus show the semi-transparent nature of it (you can see the leg underneath it) | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Darkling Beetle Tenebrionidae | Rotund Pie-dish Beetle Saragus sp iNaturalist | Na a | ~15mm long. On Bowerbird we all thought these were Cillibus sp, but that's been changed/fixed. While similar, Cillibus sp has much larger flanges on the elytra. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Gnawer Beetle Trogidae | Carcass Beetle Omorgus sp ES01 | Na e m | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Diving Beetle Water: Dytiscidae | Orange Sutured Diving Beetle Allodessus bistrigatus iNaturalist | Na e m | ~3mm long. The two indented lines, or sutures, along the top of it's shoulders from the pronotum to the elytra are diagnostic. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Diving Beetle Water: Dytiscidae | Padded Diving Beetle Eretes australis iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Mark Hura & Saida Noor
for confirming the id of this species for us After the heaviest rainfall since June 2019, we found a large number of these in early Feb 2020. We found 3 dead specimens in the past (Mar, Jul & Aug). The males have padded feet, shown here, used to hold onto the female when mating. The female we measured was slightly smaller than the male, with the female being ~13mm & the male being ~15mm. There did seem to be a lot of size variation in specimens we saw. They can fly, and breath air, taking a bubble of air with them when diving to the bottom of a water source. They are very fast swimmers. They have hair on their middle & hind legs that act link fins. When out of the water these hairs collapse into a row along the edge of each leg. The patterning on their elytra seems to vary quite a bit, but there always seem to be a solid black mark about midway down the elytra, along with 2 or 3 rows of small black marks (mixed in with light & dark patches) that aren't very obvious in the live specimens. Compared to other diving beetles, the head does seem more prominant/protrudes from the body. Pronotum shape is also useful to help with diagnostics. The male feet seem unusual, but are similar to some other diving beetles. The Pictorial Guide to the Diving Beetles of SA says "A distinctive species, unusual in having the surface punctuation on the prothorax much smaller than on the wing cases.", which is quite obvious here. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Diving Beetle Water: Dytiscidae | Green Diving Beetle Onychohydrus scutellaris | Na e m | Always amazes us how we find water born animals on Ellura; a semi-arid environment. Unfortunately we found this one dead, but am happy to use it to help your identification process About 30mm long, with strange "flippers" on it's front legs. Found one dead in Sept. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Diving Beetle Water: Dytiscidae | Predacious Diving Beetle Rhantus suturalis | Na e m | ~13mm long. Found worldwide, and the first live diving beetle we've found. One specimen found in December. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Water Scavenger Beetle Water: Hydrophilidae | Giant Inland Water Scavenger Beetle Hydrophilus brevispina iNaturalist | Na e m | ~30mm long. Found 2 dead in the watertank overflow. Very dark green, with very thick hind legs. No significant punctuations that can be readily seen thru the detritus. A very large triangular scutellum. Surprisingly not related to Diving Beetles | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Aphid Aphididae | Green Peach Aphid Myzus persicae | Na e m | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | True Spittlebug Cercopoidea, Cercopidae | Brown Spittlebug Bathyllus albicinctus iNaturalist | Na e m | Adults ~6mm long. They make a froth (akin to a frog nest pontoon) in plants for their young to hide in while they suck juices from the plant, as can be seen here. We confused the nymph with a Cicada; at least they are related. Newly emerged speciemens can be very pale. Additionally Les Day said "B. albicinctus does appear to be variable in colouring." | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Tube Spittlebug Cercopoidea, Clastopteridae | Green Tube Spittlebug Chaetophyes sp iNaturalist | Na f | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Tube Spittlebug Cercopoidea, Clastopteridae | Tube Spittlebug Machaerotinae sp iNaturalist | Na e m | We discovered these tiny tubes on gum buds and thought they may be some sort of tiny Paper Wasp nests. We have now found out they are spittlebug houses/shelters/hides. They are known to feed on gum trees. There does appear to be two different types - a smooth nest & a rough one. The tubes are made from excretions from the larvae contained inside. Whether this rough texture indicates a different species or not we don't know. The rough bent nest was about 13mm long, and you can see a "closed" cell inside. This is actually the posterior end of the larva. It has a protective plate on it's rear end to seal the tube. The tube contains one larva, similar to a case moth, or psyllid. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Cicada Cicadidae | Cicada Cicadidae sp iNaturalist | Na c | ~22mm long. Notice it's hairy eyes, like a line right through the middle of the back third. This is a nymph and was crawling up our Daughter-in-law's leg. We assume it just dug it's way out of the lawn. They can live underground for up to 7 years, climb up a tree, shed their skin for the last time and emerge as adults. They then mate , with females laying eggs, and they die within ~2 weeks. We most likely won't ever find out what species this is, but it's so rare to find a live nymph we thought it worth posting anyway. If we had put it on some wood in a container, it probably would have shed and we'd be able to determine species. Next time, if we ever find one again. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Cicada Cicadidae | Two-dot Smoky Buzzer Myopsalta binotata iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Prof David Emery for confirming the id of this species for us ~14mm forewing length. ~14mm head & body length. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Cicada Cicadidae | Subcoastal Squawker Pauropsalta accola iNaturalist | Na e m r | Thank you Dr Lindsay Popple for identifying and Ethan Beaver for helping with the id of this species for us Reference Link It's been very useful to have found 2 of the same species as you can now compare the colour variations between the teneral stage & a full coloured adult; which is much blacker. The following relates to Specimen 2: ~20mm body length with red wing veins and a bronze body. There are 3 large, red, ocelli just in front of the middline of the eyes. It has some strange green "milky" colourations on the wings and body which, on closer inspection, is the same on the pale abdomen stripes. The hind wings make a dark pointed "peak" above the abdomen. The forearms are armed with heavy set spines. Lindsay said "The specimen is still partly teneral, which makes it difficult to identify. The dorsal portion of tergite 1 is clearly visible, which actually rules out both P. confinis and P. extensa. So need to consider other alternatives. Given consideration of its size, it is most likely to be Pauropsalta accola" | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Cicada Cicadidae | Large Mallee Squawker Pauropsalta infuscata iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Dr Lindsay Popple for identifying and Ethan Beaver for helping with the id of this species for us | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Cicada Cicadidae | Scrub-clicker Platypsalta cf sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ethan Beaver for identifying and Neo Scott Anzai for confirming the id of this species for us Female was about 15mm long Reference Link | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Jumping Tree Bug Cimicomorpha, Miridae | Saltbush Mirid Coridromius chenopoderis iNaturalist | Na e m | A tiny bug at ~2.5mm that has striped legs & face. More like a plant hopper with it's powerful hind legs. It's severely bent wings are another obvious diagnostic feature. Notibly this genus utilises a Traumatic insemination technique to "copulate". | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Jumping Tree Bug Cimicomorpha, Miridae | Green Mirid Creontiades dilutus | Na e m a | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Jumping Tree Bug Cimicomorpha, Miridae | Hairy Large-eyed Mirid Bug Miridae sp | Na e m | Nearly 5mm long | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Jumping Tree Bug Cimicomorpha, Miridae | Colourful Seed Bug Rayieria sp iNaturalist | Na e m | ~6.5mm long | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Assassin Bug Cimicomorpha, Reduviidae | Fury Assassin Bug Coranus sp | Na e m | Similar Species: Brown Senna Bug (Melanacanthus cf scutellaris) | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Assassin Bug Cimicomorpha, Reduviidae | Large Thread-legged Assassin Bug Emesinae sp ES01 iNaturalist | Na e m | ~16 to ~18mm long. Legs & antennae span a huge 70mm! Fairly hairless. White knees, plain body, wings & legs. We'd never seen a thread-legged assassin bug before and suddenly 3 came to the night light. There were 2 species, this one and a smaller one. We photographed 2 in Mar. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Assassin Bug Cimicomorpha, Reduviidae | Small Thread-legged Assassin Bug Emesinae sp ES02 iNaturalist | Na e m | ~7mm long. Looks similar to Ploiaria sp. Fairly hairless. White knees, striped legs, patterned wings & body. Notice the significant spindes on the front legs We photographed 1 in Mar. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Assassin Bug Cimicomorpha, Reduviidae | Tiny Thread-legged Assassin Bug Emesinae sp ES03 iNaturalist | Na e m | ~3.5mm long. Dark, very patterned body with very stipy legs. We photographed 1 in Apr. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Assassin Bug Cimicomorpha, Reduviidae | Assassin Bug Oncocephalus sp ES01 | Na e m | Interesting bugs Assassins (Reduviidae), one of the few predatory/carnivorous true bugs (order Hemiptera). Most are vegetarian. One easy diagnostic difference over the similiar Alydidae family are the large front legs as can be seen here; used to hold it's prey. Not all assassins have them, but no Alydidae's do. A more guaranteed diagnostic, but harder to see, is that Assassin's have a curved rostrum / proboscis | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Assassin Bug Cimicomorpha, Reduviidae | Assassin Bug Oncocephalus sp ES02 | Na e m | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Assassin Bug Cimicomorpha, Reduviidae | Assassin Bug Oncocephalus sp ES03 | Na e m | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Assassin Bug Cimicomorpha, Reduviidae | Orange Spotted Ground Assassin Bug Peirates punctorius | Na e m |
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| True Bugs Hemiptera | Assassin Bug Cimicomorpha, Reduviidae | Pale Assassin Bug Perissopygocoris pallidus | Na e m |
About 14mm long. Predominately pale brown with darker brown patches. Also has hairy antennae. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Scale Insect Coccoidea, Coccidae | Wattle Tick Scale Cryptes baccatus iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Thomas Mesaglio for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Scale Insect Coccoidea, Coccidae | Scale Insect Pulvinaria cf sp ES01 | Na e m | Thank you Prof Lyn Cook for identifying this species for us Primarily brilliant white (which is the egg sack) with a brown cap (the actual insect). Found on saltbush (Atriplex sp). This is a tentantive id, the cf indicating "it looks like", "it might", but not definate. Lyn said "They’re coccids with a long ovisac. Possibly Pulvinaria but the whole group needs revision." | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Scale Insect Coccoidea, Eriococcidae | Eucalypt Gall Apiomorpha strombylosa | Na e m | Similar Species: Mealybug (Pseudococcidae cf sp) We've cut galls open before to see what's inside, but this is the first time we've found something. We thought it was a larva, but it's actually a female adult. You can see the 6 "legs", more like claws, in the photo's. Clearly not required anymore, but a left over ancestral "artifact"; living it's life inside the mutated Eucalypt stem. We're still not quite sure how the males, that live a whole 2 days outside the "casing", manage to mate with females embedded inside their "casing". We found this specimen on a very stunted, sick looking, mallee "bush". You know when you have a native plant when it's attacked by insects. Insects don't know what to do with introduced species; so generally treat them like a lump of rusty steel (ie not interested, leave it alone, so the introduced species thrives - oops!). | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Giant Scale Coccoidea, Monophlebidae | Large Mealybug Monophlebulus sp ES01 | Na e m |
We are not sure why one of the group was orange; they are clearly cohabiting and have the same body shape so reasonably sure they are all one species. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Giant Scale Coccoidea, Monophlebidae | Small Mealybug Monophlebulus sp ES02 | Na e m |
It's possibly a nymph, and at 2mm body & head length is not very big. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Mealy Bug Coccoidea, Pseudococcidae | Mealybug Pseudococcidae cf sp | Na e m | Similar Species: Eucalypt Gall (Apiomorpha strombylosa) Many thanks to Ken Walker at Bowerbird who contact Dr Gullan (Australia's expert in scale insect group) on our behalf. She said "Male scale insects are hard to ID, but if it has 4 simple eyes, it's probably a male mealybug (or perhaps an eriococcid). It's not really possible to go further." As such, it's not possible to know if this insect is introduced or native. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Broad-headed Bug Coreoidea, Alydidae | Brown Senna Bug Melanacanthus cf scutellaris | Na e m a |
Similar Species: Pacific Damsel Bug (Nabis kinbergii) : Fury Assassin Bug (Coranus sp) : Green Seed Bug (Lygaeidae sp) There are 5 families that look similar 1. Broad-headed Bug (Alydidae; tend to be longer & thinner), 2. Jumping Tree Bug (Miridae), 3. Seed Bug (Lygaeidae), 4. Damsel Bug (Nabidae) & 5. Assassin Bug (Reduviidae; highly variable family, but have curved rostrum/proboscis tucked underneath. Easy to see in a side shot - but you have to photograph the side of it to be sure). Sometimes we take photo's that look nothing like the bug we see with our eyes. This is one case, so we've published both "naked eye" looking shots and others with more detail that we still want to share. An interesting species this, apart from the talk above, it's usual venacular name is "Brown Bean Bug" .... now it annoys us to find common names of natives that have nothing to do with natives. Here, eg, there is no native bean that we are aware of. BUT these guys love senna (and probably acacia), in fact probably any legume ... guess what! Beans are legumes. So how about we name them after a native species of plant that they love, rather some agricultural pest term. There is another species that is very similar to this one also found in SA; M. margineguttatus. According to the original description, it "Differs from M. scutellaris, Walk., by the prominently spotted connexivum, differently coloured markings through-out, posterior area of the pronotum more distinctly raised and wrinkled, &c.". When Danilo Lüdke id'ed one on iNat he said "see the spotted connexivum, the lateral line only distinct along head and prothorax and the darker scutellum". Danilo also highlighted a 3rd, M. funebris, but this isn't recognised by Atlas (or the AFD) as yet. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Broad-headed Bug Coreoidea, Alydidae | Long Broad-headed Bug Mutusca brevicornis iNaturalist | Na e m a | Similar Species: Pacific Damsel Bug (Nabis kinbergii) Thank you Tony Daley for confirming the id of this species for us About 15mm long, with varying levels of green colours on the body. 2 specimens found in June (Ellura) & November (Adelaide Hills) | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Leaf Footed Bug Coreoidea, Coreidae | Wingless Coreid Bug Agriopocoris froggatti iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Danilo Lüdke for identifying this species for us ~10mm long, chocolate brown and very spiny. Males have a narrower abdomen than the females. The speciemen we recently found at Ellura is slightly longer and has some minor differences in colour, shown here as S3. Possibly location variations, or a different species. Tony Daley on Bowerbird said "There are a couple of differences in the form of the abdomen to separate the wingless adults from the similar nymphs, but easiest to point to is the two pairs of abdominal dorsal scent glands down the middle which are active in nymphs and thus clearly seen but not active, and thus not distinguished from surrounding surface in colour, in adults." The scent glands Tony refers appear like 4 black lumps in the nymphs that are missing from our two specimens. These can have wings apparantly, but we haven't seen any photo's of them. Danilo said "A. dollingi (known only from WA) and A. porcellus are out as the shape of the male abdomen is different (connexival segment VII) and the remaining A. chadwicki is not confirmed for SA and differs in lacking the bristle-bearing tubercles, the legs and the lateral margins of the pronotum are rather smooth. And this leaves us with A. froggatti" We photographed 2 males in Lobethal in Dec & Jan, and 1 male at Ellura in Aug. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Leaf Footed Bug Coreoidea, Coreidae | Eucalyptus Bug Amorbus obscuricornis iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Anthony Paul for confirming the id of this species for us When we asked Danilo Lüdke about gender differences with Amorbus in general, he said "Indeed there's a distinct dimorphism. Males differ from females in having the hind femora much more thickened, the spines more produced, and the shape of the tip of the abdomen is different, females are also bigger." | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Leaf Footed Bug Coreoidea, Coreidae | Eucalyptus Tip Wilter Amorbus rhombifer iNaturalist | Na e m a | The instar we caught was ~14mm long. The adults get a lot larger. The name refers to the fact they suck the juices out of the new growth of Eucalyptus trees, which then wilt and brown off. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Leaf Footed Bug Coreoidea, Coreidae | Crusader Bug Mictis profana iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Danilo Lüdke for confirming the id of this species for us A dark grey/black bug with orange stripes on its back, legs & antennae. The common name of course comes from the Orange Pattern on the back of the Adults. S6 was the only one we measured at ~8mm. We are estimating the instar stage based on the colour of the wing buds (more orange=older); along with views on-line of other instar patterns. Photographed 6 specimens in Jan, Feb, Apr & May. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Ground Dwelling Bug Coreoidea, Hyocephalidae | Ground Dwelling Bug Maevius sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Danilo Lüdke for identifying this species for us ~9mm long and flightless. These dark bugs live under stones in sandy soil & gravel. They are very rarely found or seen. We thought this might be Hyocephalus aprugnus. But Danilo said "The fore femora are armed with spines", making it Maevius sp. They look very similar to juvenile assassin bugs, but their proboscus is straight, not curved. Also their wings are "squared off", nearly all true bug invert wing-buds are rounded. Usually the number of antennae segments is diagnostic. But you can see here one side has 4 & the other 3. A mutation perhaps? We find this occurs with bugs sometimes. Ratios/lengths of the antennae with 4 segments is diagnostic. Further Danilo provided a key "The key is as follows (A1-4 = antennal segments) A3 > A4, A1 > 1.95 mm (at least as long as head), profemora unarmed = Hyocephalus aprugnus A4 > A3, A1 shorter than head, profemora armed with spines = Maevius". | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Scentless Plant Bug Coreoidea, Rhopalidae | Red Eyes Bug Leptocoris mitellatus iNaturalist | Na e m r | Similar Species: Peaceful Seed Bug (Spilostethus pacificus) Thank you Karen Weaving for confirming the id of this species for us ~13mm long. A mainly dark grey bug with red/orange highlights. The instars are very orange/red. Apparantly they like dark moist places. They don't cause wood rot, but like to live in it. So finding them near a wooden dwelling is an indicator of a leaky roof. Genital examination is required to separate species within the genus. Accordings to Gross, "This is apparently the commonest of the Australian species and is the only species in Southern Australia." As such we have identified these to species based on location. On Atlas, SA Museum has since found Leptocoris tagalicus in SA, but they look different; they don't have any black on the body. We have photographed 20 specimens in Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Oct, Nov & Dec. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Water Boatman Corixidae | Water Boatman Agraptocorixa cf eurynome | Na e m | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Water Boatman Corixidae | Striped Water Boatman Sigara sp | Na e m | ~7mm long with horizontal stripes on the pronotum, transverse grooves on the rostrum with no ocelli. Notice the curved inside of the forewing. Found several at the night light in February. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Achilid Planthopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Achilidae | Black-laced Planthopper Plectoderini sp iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Won-Gun Kim for helping with the id of this species for us | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Achilid Planthopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Achilidae | Vertical Wing Achilid Hopper Tropiphlepsia badia iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Mark Ridgeway for confirming the id of this species for us Of those we've measured, they range from ~3mm to ~4mm. That's quite a size variation. We're not sure if this is due to gender, normal variation, or actually different species that look the same. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Lacehopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Cixiidae | Speckled Lacehopper Aubirestus semicirculatus iNaturalist | Na e m | 1st Live Photo on-line: | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Lacehopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Cixiidae | Mallee Lacehopper Ozoliarus sp | Na e m | ~6mm body length. Lacehoppers have very chiselled faces which can be useful for id, so always best to get anterior shots. As well as wing venation, dorsal and alantennae & ocellii location. Notice here the ocelli below the eye in front of the antenna. Found one specimen in November. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Dictyopharid Planthopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Dictyopharidae | Curved Longheaded Hopper Thanatodictya sp | Na e m | We have found that all specimens have different wing venation. It's quite possible that the curved snout and wing venation are not diagnostic. We don't count these as separate species now; until some research is done on them to determine what diagnostic features separate the species. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Dictyopharid Planthopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Dictyopharidae | Longheaded Hopper Thanatodictya sp ES02 | Na e m | This is the more usual type seen, with the straight snout | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Dictyopharid Planthopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Dictyopharidae | Longheaded Hopper Thanatodictya sp ES03 | Na e m | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Dictyopharid Planthopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Dictyopharidae | Longheaded Hopper Thanatodictya sp ES04 | Na e m | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Planthopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Eurybrachidae | Pale Wattle Hopper Dardus abbreviatus iNaturalist | Na e m |
~3.5mm long Notice the emarginate eye around the antennae (underneath the eye). There is a knob like process on it, this is diagnostic for the Eurybrachidae family. Notice the frons (face) is evenly rugose, with no major lumps & bumps; this is diagnostic for the genus. Notice the red body (barely visible under the wings), one of the diagnostics for the species. Found one specimen in February. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Planthopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Eurybrachidae | Wattle Hopper Dardus sp iNaturalist | Na e m | A little hopper ~4-5mm long. You'll notice our specimen has lost one of it's middle feet. With very dark specimens like these we bump up brightness to highlight details, making the background unrealistically bright. It can be considered a camera artifact and highlights the need to be careful when considering colours in photo's. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Planthopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Eurybrachidae | Gum Tree Hopper Platybrachys sp iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Dr Ken Walker for identifying and Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Flatid Planthopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Flatidae | Grey Planthopper Anzora unicolor iNaturalist | Na a | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Flatid Planthopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Flatidae | Green Planthopper Siphanta sp | Na e m a | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Lantern Fly Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Fulgoridae | Lantern Fly Rentinus dilatatus | Na e m | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Ricaniid Planthopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Ricaniidae | Broad-winged Planthopper Aprivesa varipennis iNaturalist | Na e m r | 1st Live Photo on-line: | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Ricaniid Planthopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Ricaniidae | Undescribed Planthopper Ricaniidae sp ES01 | Na e m | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Ricaniid Planthopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Ricaniidae | Broad-winged Planthopper Scolypopa australis iNaturalist | Na a |
Thank you Alan Melville for confirming the id of this species for us I don't know what it is, but insects with clear wings and black patterned edges just enthral me Marie saw this "moth" on the kitchen fly-screen. As soon as I saw it, straight into the insect box into the fridge. Didn't want to miss any important details. Thought it'd be easy to id; never having seen one, and being so unique. The only issue was the location component shows only the eastern seaboard. This is the 1st record for this species in South Australia on the ALA website (www.ala.org.au). | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Ricaniid Planthopper Hopper: Fulgoroidea, Ricaniidae | Broad-winged Planthopper Scolypopa stipata | Na e m | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Leafhopper Hopper: Membracoidea, Cicadellidae | Mottled-brown Leafhopper Bakeriana rubra iNaturalist | Na e m | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Leafhopper Hopper: Membracoidea, Cicadellidae | Yellow-headed Leafhopper Brunotartessus cf fulvus | Na m | A fierce looking little hopper as an instar. Quite pretty when fully grown. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Leafhopper Hopper: Membracoidea, Cicadellidae | Milky Planthopper Cicadellidae sp ES01 | Na e m | There are many species of these little hoppers that have the same body shape, but many different colours & patterns. Body length of this one is ~5mm. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Leafhopper Hopper: Membracoidea, Cicadellidae | Black-spotted Planthopper Cicadellidae sp ES04 iNaturalist | Na e m | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Leafhopper Hopper: Membracoidea, Cicadellidae | Mottled-head Gum-leafhopper Eurymeloides punctata | Na e m | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Leafhopper Hopper: Membracoidea, Cicadellidae | Seed Mimicking Leafhopper Notocephalius hartmeyeri iNaturalist | Na e m | 1st Live Photo on-line: What a curious little brown bug this is. ~9mm long (body & snout). Interestingly appendages aren't included in invert lengths; ie wings, legs, antennae, palps, etc. However, the snout on this is so long it doesn't seem fair The antennae seem tiny, but inspecting underneath shows they start as the typical club like, then finish of as a fine haired, antennae of this family of Hemiptera. The snout & body is concave under and the whole upper surface is covered in dimples, which reflect in the flash of the camera. It would be difficult for most animals to feed with the mouth in the middle, but being a true bug, this has a proboscis to such the juices out of plants. It can articulate quite well in the middle to over come obstacles in the terain and can certainly hop; as it's name implies. We didn't see if fly though. It's snout seems to mirror it's wings, perhaps a defensive trait; like the false eyes on butterflies. There seem to be two pale spots on the snout in front of the eyes, these are possibly defunct ocellii. Ventrally it's snout is primarily black, with a black stripes on the abdomen. It also seems to be covered in small scales underneath. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Leafhopper Hopper: Membracoidea, Cicadellidae | Tamarix Leafhopper Opsius stactogalus iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you Solomon Hendrix for identifying this species for us Here's an Australian gov' site: NSW DPI The antennae are quite long and thin with these (you have to look closely at the 1st photo to see it). There are slight differences with above link and our photo's but this could be due to head tilt & dead vs alive specimens. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Leafhopper Hopper: Membracoidea, Cicadellidae | Brown Leafhopper Orosius orientalis | Na e m | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Leafhopper Hopper: Membracoidea, Cicadellidae | Flat-head Leafhopper Thymbrini sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Solomon Hendrix for identifying this species for us ~10mm. Originally thought this was Stenocotis depressa. However, you can see the snout is too short and the eyes too large, compared to other images of this species. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Horned Treehopper Hopper: Membracoidea, Membracidae | Acacia Horned Treehopper Sextius virescens iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Big-eyes Bug Lygaeoidea, Geocoridae | Grey Big-eyes Bug Unicageocoris griseus iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Danilo Lüdke for identifying this species for us ~4.5mm long. We thought the different coloured bugs shown here (red abdominal marks vs green) may have been a different species. But Danilo considers them to be the same species. We can only assume the colour variation is perhaps due to their food source; or perhaps gender. The green specimens also have have less black on their abdomen. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Seed Bug Lygaeoidea, Lygaeidae | Green Seed Bug Lygaeidae sp | Na e m | Similar Species: Brown Senna Bug (Melanacanthus cf scutellaris) Thank you to Fabien Piednoir for correcting our error with these He said "Lygaeidae have 4 antenna segments; 4-segmented antennae are plesiomorphic feature, not characteristic to Lygaeidae, but rather non-Pentatomoidea Pentatomomorpha : Aradoidea + Lygaeoidea + Pyrrhocoroidea + Coreoidea. Lygaeoidea are actually characterized by the low (4 max) number of wing veins in wing membrane." | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Seed Bug Lygaeoidea, Lygaeidae | Red-banded Seed-eating Bug Melanerythrus mactans iNaturalist | Na e m r | Similar Species: Peaceful Seed Bug (Spilostethus pacificus) Thank you Stephen Fricker, Anthony Paul, Fabien Piednoir & Lila (fairypossum) for confirming the id of this species for us ~8mm long. This specimen seems to have an extra ocellus. We assume this is an aberant mole of sorts, as the ocelli are just above the compound eyes. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Seed Bug Lygaeoidea, Lygaeidae | Rutherglen Bug Nysius vinitor iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Dr Marina Cheng for confirming the id of this species for us It's important to clarify that Marina comfirmed our identification on the 1st photo only. She hasn't seen the others, which we have extrapolated ourselves. As always, id of invert's by photo is always suspect but is the only tool we have. Any photographic site like ours can only be considered a guide. But if you only have photo's too, then matching to ours here is a reasonable guess. Our site is a good start for locals to then begin your research to confirm elsewhere. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Seed Bug Lygaeoidea, Lygaeidae | Peaceful Seed Bug Spilostethus pacificus iNaturalist | Na e m | Similar Species: Horehound Bug (Agonoscelis rutila) : Red-banded Seed-eating Bug (Melanerythrus mactans) : Red Eyes Bug (Leptocoris mitellatus) Thank you Danilo Lüdke for confirming the id of this species for us ~11mm long. A very orange and black bug which is covered in short, fine hairs. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Seed Bug Lygaeoidea, Rhyparochromidae | Ant-mimicking Seed Bug Daerlac cephalotes | Na a | Thank you Prof Előd Kondorosy for identifying this species for us We thought it looked very similar to D. cephalotes; but we weren't sure because of the excess red on the shoulders and lack of black lateral lines on the back. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Seed Bug Lygaeoidea, Rhyparochromidae | Black & White Seed Bug Dieuches nudus iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Prof Előd Kondorosy for confirming the id of this species for us ~9mm long. 4 segmented antennae, with wings are shorter than the body. Note the large spur, along with other smaller spines, under each front femur (thigh). We photographed 2 specimens in Nov & Dec. Both lost the end of one of their legs. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Damsel Bug Nabidae | Pacific Damsel Bug Nabis kinbergii | Na e m | Similar Species: Brown Senna Bug (Melanacanthus cf scutellaris) : Long Broad-headed Bug (Mutusca brevicornis) Like Assassin Bugs, these are predatory on other insects (ie carnivorous). Notice the strong front legs as well, to hold the prey. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Water Scorpions Nepidae | Needle Bug Ranatra dispar iNaturalist | Na m | Thank you Dr Matthew Pintar for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Backswimmer Notonectidae | Golden-shouldered Backswimmer Anisops cf deanei | Na e m | |||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Backswimmer Notonectidae | Yellow Backswimmer Anisops cf planifascies | Na e m r | ~7mm long, didn't register on the scales, so less than 10mg. Mainly yellow with orange patch on top and black stripes underneath (which is what would normally be seen from above). A quantity (~10 or so) came to a night light in February. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Shield Bug Pentatomoidea, Cydnidae | Burrowing Bug Adrisa sp iNaturalist | Na e m f | Thank you Danilo Lüdke for confirming the id of this species for us ~9mm long Danilo said "Adrisa simply has 4 antennal segments (3 visible from above) and the second (first visible) extremely long." | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Shield Bug Pentatomoidea, Cydnidae | Segmented-antennae Burrowing Bug Geotomini sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Danilo Lüdke for identifying this species for us ~5mm long, smaller than Adrisa We thought these were Adrisa. Danilo said, when comparing to Adrisa, "All other Geotomini have 5 segments of more or less equal length." | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Horehound Bug Agonoscelis rutila | Na e m | Similar Species: Peaceful Seed Bug (Spilostethus pacificus) Even though Horehound is introduced, this bug is native. Bright orange with black blotches on top and black stripes under. Black legs. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Acacia Shield Bug Alcaeus lignicolor iNaturalist | Na e m | ~17mm long. Notice the side spines one the pronotum are very much reduced compared with A. varicornis. It's surprisingly difficult to see, but the leading edges of the pronotum also have small spines/teeth (this occurs on both Alcaeus species we have depicted here). Note though the edges of the abdomen seem less serated compared to most pentatomids, looking almost smooth edged. We have found 3 adults in Oct, Dec & Feb. We also found 3, that we think are nymphs, in May & June. We have separated out our species based on the "shoulder" spines. However this could be gender based, so will need to revisit, as Danilo Lüdke said "A. uniformis & A. hermannsburgi lack any subdivision of the 2nd antennal segment. From Gross: "females with lateral angles of pronotum acute, angles in males generally less spinously produced". I usually consider the black lines on the head on either side of the midline. According to Gross, the lines are "usually" not continued forward onto jugum to the antennae in lignicolor, while angling exteriorly about halfway the length of the head and continued forward to the antennae in varicornis." | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Spined Acacia Shield Bug Alcaeus varicornis iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us Very similar in appearance to A. lignicolor, but larger insects along with heavier/longer spines on the side of the pronotum. The scutellar spine (the body armour at the back of the body where the wings start, that curls up slightly and has the pale patch on it) appears to be thicker with these that A. lignicolor. Found one in January. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Short Rostrum Exocarpos Bug Aplerotus maculatus | Na e m | Thank you Martin Lagerwey for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Brown Soldier Bug Cermatulus nasalis ssp nasalis iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Danilo Lüdke for confirming the id of this species for us ~10mm long. This is the only sub-species found in Australia. The other 2 are from New Zealand. 1. It's VERY dark brown, with a golden metallic sheen. Photo's on-line show lighter coloured specimens out there as well. 2. Has a VERY heavy/thick rostrum/proboscis; indicating it's predatory nature. Not a plant sucking bug. 3. A black spot on each "corium". 4. Rear-ward pointing spines on rear edge of the pronotum, which are very difficult to detect. These are quite unique in our local bug world. 5. Pale bands on the legs. 6. 5 antenna segments (including the base). A predatory bug that feeds on caterpillars. We found one adult in April. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Black-spotted Shield Bug Cuspicona intacta iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Won-Gun Kim for confirming the id of this species for us ~10mm long, covered in punctuations, randomly splattered with black. The black patches are not easily visible to the naked eye. Most Cuspicona are green, but turn yellow brown after death (ie Museum Specimens). Gross didn't find one during his work, and the holotype was lost. As such, he didn't realise they are yellow brown in life too. These are supposed to have 5 antennal segments, but as we have been found before with this family, this one has 5 segments on one antenna and 4 on the other. A deformation, not a lost tip. The 1st segments are very pale, with the 3rd segment turning red/brown towards the far end. The head looks quite long and pointy, yet is wider (at the eyes) than long. This is probably due to the face narrowing quickly below the eyes. Notice the transparent wings that look white, compared to normally dark/black wings. We have noted the Keels on this type of bug before. Notice here how it is definately used as a support for the proboscis; it's cupped to fit. These are known to feed on Eremophila freelingii, which is not found in our region but much further North. However it was found on a flyscreen adjacent to a patch of Eremophila longifolia. One can surmise the one we found feeds on that species of emu bush too. It does look similar to an E. longifolia drying fruit. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Long-spined Shield Bug Cuspicona longispina iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Thomas Mesaglio for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: Basically a green bug, ~6mm long. The one we found has an orange head, yellow go stripes that form a 'v' on it's back, with white under The main diagnostic features are the massive horns/spindes protruding up & slightly forward from it's pronotum, as well as the horizonal black band made by punctuations across the pronotum (between the horns). Of interest is the large ventral keel. While this occurs to some degree in some other shield bugs, here the proboscis is pushed to one side. It also had a habit of folding it's antennae underneath. Pinned specimens loose their striking colours, becoming a pale brown. Live photo's in this case make field recognition so much easier | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Visible Net-veined Shield Bug Dictyotus conspicuus iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Danilo Lüdke for confirming the id of this species for us ~8.5mm long. Photographed one specimen in Nov | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Pink-rimmed Shield Bug Diemenia rubromarginata iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Danilo Lüdke for confirming the id of this species for us ~11mm long, which is reasonably small. Primarily black top & bottom, with a beige to pink rim around the body. The black sometimes protrudes to the outside edge. Here they don't and used to be considered different sub-species where they did. While they generally have 4 antennae segments, you'll notice one here only has 3 on one and 4 on the other. Normally you'd consider this a loss of one tip, but the remaining tip seems longer and rounded. Possibly a malformed antenna rather than a broken one. At each antenna base, they have a large hooked spine protruding forward. This is called the "antennophore". When we saw one on iNat with a strange wing shape, Danilo said "The genus exhibits considerable wing polymorphism. Also thanks to the many users who share their observations in iNat, we now know much more about it. In the past, specimens with distinctive wing differences were actually considered new species, but this soon turned out to be wrong. The distinctive feature is the shape of the pale lobe just in front of the eyes, which fits D. rubromarginata, while in the three other described species it is more or less spinously produced." An uncommon find. We found two one year in Jan & Feb. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Large Snouted Stink Bug Kalkadoona enchylaenae iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Danilo Lüdke for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: ~7.5mm long. You can see here the "spots" are actually dark coloured punctuations in the exoskeleton. Danilo said "It leaves me with some very tiny doubts about K. confinis (length of 2nd antennal segment, shape of the anterolateral margin of the pronotum, coloring of the connexivum). But as Gross himself doubted and ended up considering the big and dark ones as enchylaenae and the small and pale ones as confinis, we can do the same as your specimen matches the key and is dark and over 7 mm :)" Two specimens photographed in Oct & Jan. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Small Snouted Stink Bug Kalkadoona sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Danilo Lüdke for confirming the id of this species for us ~5.5mm long. It seems with some inverts, size does matter! We thought this might be a smaller specimen of Kalkadoona enchylaenae, but Danilo said "It's somehow also close to K. confinis as particularly the description of the black portions fits well. But the antennal segments 2 & 3 are indeed of almost equal length as you said. If the two forms are really closely related, even mating is possible." One specimen photographed in Jan. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Variable Shield Bug Kapunda tepperi iNaturalist | Na e m | 1st Live Photo on-line: From ~4.5mm to ~6mm long Differentiating K. tepperi (rarely observed) & K. troughtoni (observed more) is not easy as they both vary somewhat. The easiest way to differentiate them is by the trailing edge of the pronotum (posterolateral margin); it's bent in sharpely (angulately incised) in K. troughtoni, while smoothly curved in K. tepperi. Another way is the shape of the face edges (lateral margins) in front of the eyes; they are bent in sharpely (acutely concave) in K. tepperi, while smoothly curved in K. troughtoni. But this 2nd difference is VERY prone to error as the angle of the camera has a significant impact on viewing the facial angles. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Variable Shield Bug Kapunda troughtoni iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Dr Mallik Malipatil for identifying this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: From ~4.5mm to ~6mm long. This genus has a distinctively blunt snout for a shield bug; with relatively short antennae that come from under the snout, not the side or front like most others. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Dusky Plant Bug Minchamia hubbardae iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Dr Ryan Shofner
for confirming the id of this species for us ~14mm long. A very scoop like snout and striped body. Came to a night light sheet. One specimen found in March. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Spiny Shield Bug Neagenor spinosus iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Karen Weaving & Danilo Lüdke for confirming the id of this species for us Adults ~18mm. Males & females are separated by the shape of their rear end. They seem to be the same size. Neagenors are highlighted by heavy shoulder spines. Note the unusual black tip to the scutellum here; typically it's pale or the same colour as the body in other Pentatomids. Also note how it's curled up; typically being flat or slightly raised. Danilo noted this as "the reflexed tip of the scutellum". We can't be sure the nymph is the same species as the adults. However, we have only found one 1 adult Neagenor species here so far, and think it's a reasonable assumption it is the same species. We think we have photographed 4 specimens in Jan (M), Feb (M), Mar (F) & Oct (Nymph) | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Forward-spined Shield Bug Neagenor transcontinentalis iNaturalist | Na r | Thank you Danilo Lüdke for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Atlas record since 1909 1st Live Photo on-line We are really VERY excited While we love helping people and discovering the wildlife we have around us, moments like this are like the gold nugget to the prospector. In our recent pit trapping adventure we found a shield bug, a Neagenor sp of some sort. Only 2 records on Atlas, with 2 photo's of a dead specimen from 1909, which Gross eludes to in his 1971 description. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Spined Predatory Shield Bug Oechalia schellenbergii iNaturalist | Na e m a |
Thank you LifeIsAmazing & Simon Ong for confirming the id of this species for us ~8mm long. As the common name suggests it has spines (that lift up and back from the shoulders). It preys on & consumes insect larvae. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Gum-tree Shield Bug Omyta centrolineata ssp siccior iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you David Muirhead for confirming the id of this species for us ~17mm long. These only have 3 antennae segments, which is less than most others at 4 or 5. However, the colour banding makes them look like 4 segments, so you need to pay close attention to the actual segment separtion; not just colour. Notice the spurs on each antenna base under the head. It seems some specimens have longer spines than others. Possibly a gender difference? We have photographed 9 adult specimens in Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May & Nov. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Toad Stink Bug Platycoris rugosus iNaturalist | Na a |
Males are considerably smaller than females at ~8mm long, while larger females are ~11mm. We found two copulating allowing us to show the difference in sizes & posterior shapes. As their common name suggests, they are very rotund bugs compared with other Pentatomidae. This species is quite brown, with some reddish overtones. Rugosus indicates the rough text of it's upper body. Directly translated means "full of wrinkles, folds or creases". We photographed 5 specimens in Jan, Mar & Apr. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Reddish Shield Bug Poecilometis alienus iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you David Muirhead for confirming the id of this species for us The males were ~11mm & ~12mm, while the female was ~13mm long. The 2nd specimen, male, is much redder than the others, which is possibly caused by freshly moulting. We have photographed 3 specimens in June (M&F) & December (Male). | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Shield Bug Poecilometis cf vermiculatus | Na e m | Thank you Mark Newton for identifying this species for us Varies from black to light brown (tan) to cinnamon Adults are quite distinguished with white "bow tie" spot at the end of their wing shield, finishing with jet black diamond vest formed by the wing tips. Found on Senna and Beyeria opaca. Without ventral examination, we can't be sure this is the correct id. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Brown Shield Bug Poecilometis fuscescens iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Mike Burrell for confirming the id of this species for us ~17mm long. When identifiying Poecilometis, leg colour, antennae colour & segments, body colour and shoulder spines (or not) are all useful diagnostics. They can have different shades of colour, but generally the patterns are consistent. Notice here the spiny shoulders, pattern of beige blotches on the dark reddish base colour. Legs have pale sections and the antennae generally have orange on one side of the segment joins but not the other. We have found Poecilometis with different antennal segment counts on the specimen, so these can't be relied on completely. We have photographed 7 specimens in Jan, Feb, Mar, Jul, Aug & Nov | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Long Gum-tree Shield Bug Poecilometis strigatus iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you David Muirhead for confirming the id of this species for us ~16-17mm with 4 antennae segments. The proportion of the length of one segment to another is diagnostic. Gross gives the ratio of these as 45:95:70:65. Importantly the shoulders/pronotum are not spined with these. The binomial name of "strigatus" implies these are "longer than wide" Overal size is also important when id'ing these Poecilometis, as < 15mm involves a different subset of bugs. Notice the colour of the emerging adult is nearly white. It's easy to find different colours from very pale to almost black as they age. We have also found nymphs having a large range of colour density (pale to dark). Shown here is a dark nymph. It's only a guess that this nymph is this species, but given the large number of adults we've found in the area, and the other diagnostic features fit (antennae segments, antennae & leg colour, etc), except for size of course. Also called Stink bugs. While we've never smelt the odour they produce, some species can emit a cocktail involving cyanide as a defence mechanism. Shown here is the "efferent of scent gland" or orifice that the foul smelling odour excudes from. Also shown here are the spiracles (breathing holes), which are black, along the ventral side of the abdomen. We have photographed over 50 specimens of these in every month except December. We suspect they were about then too, just didn't photograph them. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Beautiful Plant Bug Poecilotoma callosa iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Danilo Lüdke for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: ~10mm long. Danilo said "Antennal segment IV seems shorter than III and the shape of the luteous patch of the scutellum is distinctive and different in any other described species. Also fits the allotype well." We photographed 2 specimens in Mar & Dec. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Pittosporum Bug Pseudapines geminata iNaturalist | Na m a | Thank you Dee Petersen & Danilo Lüdke for confirming the id of this species for us These are quite small bugs. We haven't measured one, but adults are ~7mm long. Early instars are circular, elongating to an oval shape as they age. 1st instars only have 2 white spots (one on each site), getting more as they molt. Instars are black with white spots/patches and orange antennae, while adults attain some orange/chestnut highlights to the edge of the body. The adult patterns are very consistent between specimens Underneath, they are very pale, and the legs have a blue tinge to them. We have photographed these in Feb, Mar, Apr, May & Sep. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Stink Bug Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae | Green Shield Bug Rhynchocorini sp iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Danilo Lüdke for identifying and Won-Gun Kim for helping with the id of this species for us A mainly green bug, ~8.5mm long. Notice the lack of any horns protruding from the sides of the pronotum. Small horns would indicate C. simplex Like the Long-spined Shield Bug, this species has a keel, but is not as noticeable. You can just see it in the profile shot. The ventral shot shows the shorter proboscis & little evidence of the keel. Originally thought to be Cuspicona simplex, then C. eremophilae, then Cuspicona privata, Ocirrhoe prasinata. As you can see, difficult to separate. Won-Gun also said "the shapes of the posterolateral pronotal margin, the scutellum, etc. For example, the posterolateral margin is relatively straight and relatively horizontal in C. privata when compared with O. prasinata. In addition, the dorsal surface of this bug is much closer to C. simplex than the species of the genus Ocirrhoe." Notice that the wings are almost clear, and the edges of the abdomen have small black tipped spines on the edges of the "laterotergites" (abdominal segments). Danilo said "The laminate anterolateral margin of the pronotum is continuing onto the region of the humeral angle, which explicitely mentioned by Gross separates O. prasinata and allies from the C. thoracica group including C. privata. Also the basal scutellal foveae are visible here." After exploding the images up, and adding more of the same specimen Danilo downgraded the id saying "From the pygophore we can at least clearly say that this is NOT Ocirrhoe prasinata." A case of needing the specimen under a microscope to differentiate. Of course it's always possible it's undescribed. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Shield Backed Bug Pentatomoidea, Scutelleridae | Red Jewel Bug Choerocoris paganus iNaturalist | Na e m a r c |
Thank you Danilo Lüdke for confirming the id of this species for us ~12mm long. We suspect the different coloured shield (ie all dark vs wine glass shaped stripe) relates to different gender; with the females having the wine glass shape. We've included some shots of them mating to prove their variation in colour occurs within the same species and to show the size differences. Males seem thicker at the back, while females are wider and larger overall. An amazing array of fire engine red and deep metallic green head and shield. There are 6 small white dots around the rear edge of the abdomen. We have photographed them in Jan, Mar, Apr, May, Oct & Dec. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Shield Backed Bug Pentatomoidea, Scutelleridae | Variable Shield Bug Choerocoris variegatus iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Matthew Connors for confirming the id of this species for us Similar in shape to the Dodonaea bug above, but very different colours and patterns. While still shiny, doesn't have the metallic lustre. The instars of these are similar to the adults. As the name suggests they are very variable; ranging from off-white under, to yellow to reddish (examples elsewhere show bright orange). Primarily coloured with black patches. The back is also covered in dimples. The face of our specimens have 3 strong pale longitudinal stripes (which is atypical), topped off by the 2 typical red Ocelli. While they are listed as eating Beyeria lechenaultii, here they are on Beyeria opaca (not listed as a food source). We also found one on Pearl Bluebush; perhaps it was lost. Also notice how the varying thickness of black makes a large difference to the patterns made (and how the specimens look) | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Shield Backed Bug Pentatomoidea, Scutelleridae | Green Shield Backed Bug Coleotichus costatus | Na m a | A lightly toned, large bug. Lots of tiny maroon dots on pale brown around the edge of its back match the Dodonaea fruit perfectly. They can vary from brown to green. Red compound eyes with a red jewel (actually an Ocellus, simple eye) above each compound eye. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Psylloid Psylloidea | Orange Jumping Plant Louse Psylloidea sp | Na e m | Thank you Dr Francesco Martoni for helping with the id of this species for us ~3mm long, ~7mm wingspan. Francesco said "Any psylloid that makes lerps is currently in the subfamily Spondyliaspidinae (family Aphalaridae)." Because we follow Atlas taxon definitions, we had this marked under family Psyllidae. Seems this will change. To keep things correct we've used the super-family name, Psylloidea, for now and applied those we know create lerps under the sub-family. As the family Psyllidae still exists, the common name Psyllid has now been replaced by Psylloid to highlight the group is now referring to the super-family, rather just the single family of old. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Lerp Making Psylloid Psylloidea: Spondyliaspidinae | Melaleuca psylloid Boreioglycaspis melaleucae iNaturalist | Na e m | Many small birds rely on psylloids for survival, so an important cog in the biosphere of Ellura | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Lerp Making Psylloid Psylloidea: Spondyliaspidinae | White Clam Lerp Cardiaspina sp | Na e m a | Thank you Dr Francesco Martoni for identifying this species for us We thought this was Hyalinaspis sp. There is a bit of confussion with the naming of these. The Lerp is the housing. The bug inside is a Psylloid that produces the lerp; the bug isn't a lerp. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Lerp Making Psylloid Psylloidea: Spondyliaspidinae | White Fibrous Lerp Glycaspis brimblecombei | Na e m |
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