| 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: 409. 47 native species listed, with 39 from Ellura |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) | |||||||
| Mantises Mantodea | Bark Mantis Amorphoscelidae | Boxer Bark Mantid Paraoxypilus tasmaniensis iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Matthew Connors for identifying this species for us These are a small mandid. The females we found range in size from ~8 (nymphs) to ~17mm (adult) long, are wingless, and have a very sculptured body. We haven't found an adult male as yet. Finding 4 females in Apr, Oct & Dec; with 2 juvenile males in Mar & Nov; they have wing buds. However the male nymphs were larger than the female nymphs, at ~13mm long. Matthew said "Distinguished by prominent dorsal spines on the abdomen which it shares only with P. verreauxii" | |||
| Mantises Mantodea | Bark Mantis Amorphoscelidae | Boxer Bark Mantid Phthersigena sp | Na e m | Thank you Matthew Connors for identifying this species for us | |||
| Mantises Mantodea | Praying Mantis Mantidae | Large Brown Mantis Archimantis latistyla iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Matthew Connors & Aidan Beutel for confirming the id of this species for us ~90mm long Female (S2). Normally there are 2 spots on the forewings, but here only one is seen clearly. There is a "smudge" where the second spot should be. You can also see 2 spots on the hindwing. This is actually damage as it's not on the other side. The female, as shown here, has short wings. The adult male has wings that go to the cerci (anal projections). These can be green or brown, colour is not diagnostic of species. It's more about camouflage with their local environment. Matthew indicated that the cerci are helpful in determining species (ie diagnostic). Notice here how thick the cerci are compared with the very similr A . sobrina. We found 2 females in Mar. | |||
| Mantises Mantodea | Praying Mantis Mantidae | Mallee Grass Mantis Archimantis sobrina iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Ethan Beaver for identifying and Matthew Connors & Mark Hura for confirming the id of this species for us Adult females have short/half length wings; while adult males have full length wings. The adult females we have measured are from ~85mm long (excluding cerci) to over 100mm!. Older nymphs have wing stubs which are similar to adult female short wings. But on comparison are obviously different. The white stripe down the back is diagnostic for this species; easy to spot in all but the adult male. These can be green or brown, colour is not diagnostic of species. It varies as camouflage in their local environment. We have photographed them in Jun (nymph), Nov, Jan, Feb & Mar. | |||
| Mantises Mantodea | Praying Mantis Mantidae | Dryland Mantis Coenomantis kraussiana iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Matthew Connors, Aidan Beutel & Matthew Hildabrand for confirming the id of this species for us Adult males ~52-55mm long, while the female nymph was ~29mm long. The female nymph was very colourful. At first we didn't recognise it as the same species as the adults. Matthew Hildabrand said of S3 "Some A. latistyla can have similar very similar colouring but the stripy eyes are a dead giveaway, if it's the south half of Australia." Matthew Connors said "I don't think any other large Australian mantis has dorsal lobes on the abdomen" (he's referring to the protrusions on top, not the flappy paddles at the end). Photographed 3 in Jan, May & Dec. | |||
| Mantises Mantodea | Praying Mantis Mantidae | Green Mantid Orthodera marginata iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Matthew Connors for identifying and Ethan Beaver for confirming the id of this species for us We thought this was Orthodera gracilis, but Matthew said "Orthodera are an utter mess at the moment". He & Ethan Beaver, another expert who has helped us out tremendously, are working on a paper at the moment to try and resolve the genus. | |||
| Mantises Mantodea | Praying Mantis Mantidae | Australian Green Mantid Orthodera ministralis iNaturalist | Na e m a r |
Thank you Matthew Connors & CesDaMess for confirming the id of this species for us The nymph we found at Ellura (S4) was ~33mm long, the adult in the Adelaide (S3) Hills only ~35mm, so the nymph was close to adult size. Matthew Connors said "You can sex any mantis of any age by counting the segments on the underside of the abdomen - males have 8 and females have 6 (can sometimes look like 7)" | |||
| Mantises Mantodea | Praying Mantis Mantidae | Grass Mantid Rhodomantis disparilis iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Matthew Connors, MrRHydon & Norbu (Nysfour) for confirming the id of this species for us Females have been measured at ~50mm, males ~40mm & the nymph ~30mm. They have a dark red hind wing not visible in the photo's. Males have nearly full length wings, whereas females have very short wings. Note the colour under the thorax, a very smooth/plain chestnutty brown; compared with the dapled top. We have photographed them in Dec (nymph), Feb, Mar, Apr & May. | |||
| Mantises Mantodea | Praying Mantis Mantidae | Burying Mantis Sphodropoda tristis iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Matthew Connors for confirming the id of this species for us Here we have a big old fella. These Mandids grow to 40mm ... hmm, sorry this great, great, great grandpa is 50mm. They are brown & white .... hmmm sorry, he's so old he's litterally turned grey. Oh and they have a white patch on their wings .... hmmm, sorry, that's faded long ago. The shot of him in the Melaleuca lanceolata is when we released him. Seconds after that shot he flew to the top of the bush to find dinner. How's that red-topped abdomen! And the orange lipstick. Notice the black mouth parts. Normally you'd think that's shadow in a photo, but by using lots of light, we are able to see it's black pigment. The wings aren't supposed to be clear like that, they've just worn off any pigment that was originally there Why Burying? We suspect because the female has a large scoop/shovel like ovipositor she uses to bury her eggs in the ground. | |||
| Mantises Mantodea | Praying Mantis Mantidae | Purplewinged Mantid Tenodera australasiae | Na a | ||||
| Mantises Mantodea | Praying Mantis Mantidae | Green Mallee Mantis Trachymantis dentifrons iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Matthew Connors for confirming the id of this species for us Female, ~65mm long She didn't settle until we released her in the Melaleuca, then got some better shots; particularly of the blueness of the inside front legs. As well as the blue tinge on her back/front of her wings. Found the one female specimen in April | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Owlfly Ascalaphidae | Split-eyed Owlfly Megacmonotus magnus iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you John Luck for confirming the id of this species for us This has to be the platypus of the insect world. Damselfly wings & tail, butterfly head & antennae and massive eyes from who knows where. Thank you to Ken Harris for pointing out this specimen is a male. Ken said "Only the male has the forked and tufted prominence on a front segment of its abdomen" Photographed 3 in Feb, Mar & Nov. | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Beaded Lacewing Berothidae | Beaded Lacewing Spermophorella sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ken Harris for identifying this species for us | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Beaded Lacewing Berothidae | Slender-wing Beaded Lacewing Trichoma gracilipenne iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Mark Hura for confirming the id of this species for us ~11mm long. To the naked eye this looked like a grey moth with very little markings. The white chequered wing edges are difficult to see. We found one in Oct. | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Green Lacewing Chrysopidae | Green Lacewing Chrysopidae sp | Na a | ||||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Green Lacewing Chrysopidae | Green Lacewing Dictyochrysa peterseni | Na e m a | Thank you Ken Harris for identifying this species for us | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Green Lacewing Chrysopidae | Green Lacewing Mallada signatus | Na e m | Thank you Ken Harris for identifying this species for us | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Green Lacewing Chrysopidae | Large Eyed Green Lacewing Mallada sp | Na e m | Thank you Ken Harris for identifying this species for us This species has incredibly long antennae. Ken Harris said "Probably Mallada signatus, but the colour is just a bit different from most that I have seen". | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Green Lacewing Chrysopidae | Green & Blue Lacewing Mallada tripunctatus iNaturalist | Na e m a |
Thank you Ken Harris for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Dusty Lacewing Coniopterygidae | Dusty Wing Coniopterygidae sp iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Dr Chris Lambkin for confirming the id of this species for us Tiny white lacewing with apparant dust covering it's body. It does seem to come off, as this is one specimen and looks less dusty after it's been in the fridge for a while. | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Dusty Lacewing Coniopterygidae | Tiny Lacewing Heteroconis maculata iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ken Harris for identifying this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: With only ~2mm body & head length, with a wingspan of only ~5mm, this little insect is easy to miss! | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Brown Lacewing Hemerobiidae | Small-footed Brown Lacewing Carobius pedicellatus iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Matt Campbell, Ken Harris & Vladislav Grigorenko for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: ~5mm long, came to night light. The wing venation is asymmetric, making it difficult to use only venation to id these. | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Brown Lacewing Hemerobiidae | Brown Lacewing Hemerobiidae cf sp | Na a | ||||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Brown Lacewing Hemerobiidae | Tasman's Lacewing Micromus tasmaniae iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Matt Campbell for confirming the id of this species for us ~6mm body & length, ~20mm wingspan. The eyes can be either green or red. We removed a 11 dead ones from the car in Sept 2017 after one trip. We have found some individuals with darker wing patches (on the outer costa or leading edge) than others. We've shown this in one photo to highlight both the patch & the wing venation, which is very difficult to see properly with live specimens. Typical lacewing shaped wings, with clear zig zag patterns. They are quite hairy all over (including the wings). They have been found in June, Sept, Oct, Nov & Dec. | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Brown Lacewing Hemerobiidae | Bowing Brown Lacewing Psychobiella occidentalis iNaturalist | Na m | Thank you Vladislav Grigorenko for identifying and Dr Chris Lambkin for helping with the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: ~6mm body length, with a much larger ~19mm wingspan. We think this is a female. Came to a night light. They look very similar to Tasman Lacewings, but the wing venation doesn't have the tell tale dark streaks. While these shots are all of the same specimen, we flipped the images so the head points to the left (as is our practice anyway) but here it shows both sides in the same orientation. Notice the wing venation along the leading edge (at the arrow) varies considerably from side to side. This can also be seen on the ventral shot as well. | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Mantidfly Mantispidae | Mantis Lacewing Campion callosus iNaturalist | Na e m | ~9mm long. Distinctive red patch on each of it's fore & hind wings. As the name suggests, the front legs are very mantis like. They have a large black patch on the inside which we weren't able to show clearly. | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Mantidfly Mantispidae | Black-striped Mantis Lacewing Campion tenuistrigus iNaturalist | Na e m | ~6.5 mm long. Smaller with quite different wing venation to our other Campion. Also having a notable black stripe down it's side. | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Antlion Myrmeleontidae | Small Antlion Bandidus sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ken Harris for confirming the id of this species for us ~23mm long, with 2 pairs of claws per leg, which look very large compared with it's small size. Came to the night light. Small, barely visible, white patches on each wing. Ken said of this specimen it's similar to ".... Bandidus ocellonotus for which all known specimens come from South Australia, but there are several reasons why I don't believe it to be that species." Thanks Ken | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Antlion Myrmeleontidae | Buzzing Antlion Compsoleon cf bembicidis iNaturalist | Na e m | 1st Record in SA on Atlas 2nd Record in Australia on Atlas: ~18mm long We had 3 come to the night light on one night. Not observed before nor since. Perhaps they are short lived, so not observed very often? Photographed 3 in Jan. | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Antlion Myrmeleontidae | Striped-wing Antlion Distoleon bistrigatus iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ken Harris for confirming the id of this species for us ~31mm long. Came to the night light. Very distinctive stripe on it's rear wing (which are longer than the fore wings). | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Antlion Myrmeleontidae | Patched-wing Antlion Glenoleon meteoricus iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ken Harris for confirming the id of this species for us A small specimen at ~23mm. It's been 2 years since we've seen an Antlion, and suddenly 2 on one night. Came to our night light. A very distinctive dark patch on the rear wing. | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Antlion Myrmeleontidae | Striped-antennae Antlion Glenoleon osmyloides iNaturalist | Na e m | ~16mm long (head & body) | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Antlion Myrmeleontidae | Large Hairy Antlion Heoclisis fundata iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ken Harris for identifying and Vladislav Grigorenko for confirming the id of this species for us ~42mm long, ~90mm wingspan | |||
| Net-winged Insects Neuroptera | Antlion Myrmeleontidae | Small Hairy Antlion Heoclisis sp | Na e m | ~35mm long, ~85mm wingspan. Notice the wing & abdomen patterning are quite different H. fundata. Appears to be the same gender as the H. fundata ruling out gender variations. | |||
| Dragonflies Odonata | Hawker Dragonfly Epiprocta: Aeshnidae | Blue-spotted Hawker Adversaeschna brevistyla iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Reiner Richter & Anthony Paul for confirming the id of this species for us Notice with Dragonflies, they sit with their wings out flat, horizontally. The different sizes of the appendages between the male and female is very obvious in these images | |||
| Dragonflies Odonata | Hawker Dragonfly Epiprocta: Aeshnidae | Australian Emperor Anax papuensis iNaturalist | Na e m a |
Thank you John Tann, Karen Weaving & Arthur Yang for confirming the id of this species for us We caught 2 at the same time, a male and a female. They were the same length, ~64mm, but the female had a slightly larger wingspan of ~110mm, vs ~100mm for the male. These are superficially similar to Tau Emeralds, but the abdominal (tail) patterns are quite different; and these are larger. Notice the one with a damaged head; once we'd worked out this was a female, we surmised she has already mated as this is the area where the male clamps to. Separating the genders is not as easy as with others in the odonata order. John kindly sent us his descriptions which highglighted more differences between the genders than we had found. The most obvious difference to us was in profile view, the male's thorax kicks up sharply where it joins the abdomen. The female has a gentle join. In dorsal view, we found very little noticable difference in the wings. We find it easier to see the colour difference of the posterior pattern, and the male's significant waist, which the female is missing. John describes the female's appendages as split oval's; while he describes the male's a 'P' shaped. We were able to show these difference here, but it's not obvious in the field. We have photographed 7 specimens in Dec, Jan & Mar. | |||
| Dragonflies Odonata | Emerald Dragonfly Epiprocta: Corduliidae | Tau Emerald Hemicordulia tau iNaturalist | Na e m a f r | Thank you Stephen Fricker for confirming the id of this species for us Different to the Australian Emerald (H. australiae) in a few ways. The Tau has: 1. Orange leading wing veins & wing patch (pterostigma), rather than black 2. An orange spot at the end of it's tail (segment 10) 3. An inverted "T" on it's face (unfortunately we didn't capture this in the photo's, yet) | |||
| Dragonflies Odonata | Skimmer Epiprocta: Libellulidae | Wandering Percher Diplacodes bipunctata iNaturalist | Na e m a |
Thank you Reiner Richter & John Tann for confirming the id of this species for us Notice with Skimmers, they sit with their wings out down, below horizontal. The males are similar to Scarlet Percher (Diplacodes haematodes), but with more black markings. | |||
| Dragonflies Odonata | Skimmer Epiprocta: Libellulidae | Scarlet Percher Diplacodes haematodes iNaturalist | Na f | Thank you Dr Christopher Burwell
for confirming the id of this species for us As the name suggests, very bright red males; but not always. The redder specimens have very few black markings compared with Wandering Percher males. Found 2 male specimens in November | |||
| Dragonflies Odonata | Skimmer Epiprocta: Libellulidae | Blue Skimmer Orthetrum caledonicum iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Reiner Richter for confirming the id of this species for us The recent male we measured was ~47mm long with ~77mm wingspan. These can be difficult to distinguish as both genders are yellow and black when young. As they age they turn blue. The males go a bright, light sky blue; the females become grey blue. All males have 3 longer appendages on the rear, the females 2 shorter appendages. If you are able to take a ventral photo, the males have additional genetals near the join between body & tail. This is what the female connects to when they are mating. There is another very similar species found in SA, called a Black-headed Skimmer (Crocothemis nigrifrons). As the name suggests, the male has a black head & face (the blue skimmer has a yellow face). The female is very pale grassy brown, with a think black line down it's abdomen. | |||
| Dragonflies Odonata | Damselfly Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae | Eastern Billabongfly Austroagrion watsoni iNaturalist | Na e m | Similar Species: Red & Blue Damselfly (Xanthagrion erythroneurum) Thank you Dr Christopher Burwell for identifying this species for us Females ~27mm to ~29mm long, our male was ~27mm. Our 1st 2 females were very yellow compared to most, and quite different to the blue males normally seen. S2 has more blue. They are impossible to see when flying, for such a long species they are so thin. We originally thought this was an Orange Threadtail (Nososticta solida), but on capture realised the head markings were different. So then thought Red & Blue Damselfly (Xanthagrion erythroneurum) ... but it was sooooo yellow! Christopher kindly helped us out and said "One of the best characters to separate Red and Blue Damsel from Eastern Billabongly - especially useful for the females which are most similar - it the black streak low down on the side of the thorax the starts near the base of the abdomen. That streak is quite long in Eastern Billabonfly but very short in Red and Blue Damsel. It can get a bit tricky if there are shadows as the groove that the streak runs along can sometimes look dark." We've marked the photo's to highlight the suture that Christopher is discussing. We've photographed 4 specimens (1M, 3F) in Jan & Feb. | |||
| Dragonflies Odonata | Damselfly Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae | Aurora Bluetail Ischnura aurora iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Graham Winterflood for identifying and Matt Campbell, Karen Weaving & Dr Christopher Burwell
for confirming the id of this species for us The green female measured at ~27mm long, while the male was slightly smaller at ~25mm; very small for an odonata. Notice with Damselflies, they sit with their wings in vertically, flat along the body, or just above. In relation to the differences between the females of I. aurora & I. heterosticta, Graham said "The blue spots on I. heterosticta are a larger diameter, and roundish. On I. aurora the spots are smaller and maybe triangular in shape. The location of the spots is slightly different too." | |||
| Dragonflies Odonata | Damselfly Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae | Bluetail Ischnura heterosticta | Na m r | ||||
| Dragonflies Odonata | Damselfly Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae | Red & Blue Damselfly Xanthagrion erythroneurum iNaturalist | Na e m c |
Similar Species: Eastern Billabongfly (Austroagrion watsoni) Thank you Reiner Richter for identifying and Graham Winterflood for confirming the id of this species for us ~29 to ~32mm long. The intensity of red with these varies dramatically. Adults that have emerged for some time go a deep fire engine red. Most of those we've seen though have been young, "teneral"; not yet reach their full colours. Tenerals are an off white / buff Damselfly with red / orange & blue highlights with light red / orange legs. Full coloured adults have red bodies. Finely hairy body & head. The tail has evenly distributed black bars on top, with blue rings at the segment joins. It is off white / buff underneath. Each wing tip has an opaque section, with edges & veins being finely serated. The 1st specimen we caught was was trapped behind flyscreen, so we grabbed a glass & plastic cutting board and caught it. Took these photos and then let it go. You can see it's in poor condition, with over 7 ticks, damaged eye and missing part of it's wing tip. Graham said "Males have rings on segments 8 & 9". This is important when separating teneral males from females (which are often not red in our experience) There's a very similar, but less observed, damselfly in SA, Orange Threadtail (Nososticta solida). Reiner said "Male Xanthagrion erythroneurum shouldn't be an issue as they have a pale start to the tail and the last two segments are half pale. 1. Nososticta solida are always orange (never red) but will be quite pale when newly emerged. 2.Xanthagrion erythroneurum has a pale bar across behind the eyes while Nososticta solida has a pair of pale spots that may get darker and indistinguishable with age or on males (?). 3. Xanthagrion erythroneurum has paler face with some uneven black markings while Nososticta solida has a black face with a prominent rectangular pale bar, but not always." | |||
| Dragonflies Odonata | Spreadwing Zygoptera: Lestidae | Blue Ringtail Austrolestes annulosus iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Reiner Richter & John Tann for confirming the id of this species for us Notice with Spreadwings, they site with their wings in vertically, flat along the body, or just above, the same as Damselflies. The females are a very different colour to the males. Males are vivid blue, where the female are off white, with metallic patches on their dorsal surface & head. We photographed 6 specimens in Jan, Feb, Mar, May & June | |||
| Dragonflies Odonata | Spreadwing Zygoptera: Lestidae | Inland Ringtail Austrolestes aridus iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you John Tann for identifying and Reiner Richter for confirming the id of this species for us ~37mm to ~40mm long. While we recognised the males a long time ago, we recently found a female (shown here as S13) that we thought was a Slender Ringtail (Austrolestes analis). John recognised it as this species and said: "Light-coloured band below humeral stripe has a wobbly boundary. There are about 4 strong wobbles for aridus cf more and flatter for analis L-mark of analis is longer than L-mark of aridus 45% cf 39% to nipple on humeral stripe - here I measured it as 38%. Female analis abdomen 8,9,10 light-dark boundary horizontal more-or-less cf aridus which slopes up - here that part of the tail slopes up which makes it a bit harder to see, but in photo #2, light colour of segment 9 slopes up toward tail tip". It shows how similar the females are of this genus. Photographed 13 in Mar, May, Aug, Sep, Oct & Nov. | |||
| Dragonflies Odonata | Spreadwing Zygoptera: Lestidae | Wandering Ringtail Austrolestes cf leda | Na m | Thank you Reiner Richter for identifying this species for us Reiner says may be either A. leda or A. io When comparing A. leda & A. annulosus, John Tann on iNaturalist said "Female annulosus abdomen has segments 4-7 with more-or-less similar sized light bands (segment 7 band may be marginally thinner), segment 3 band thinner – female leda has segments 3-6 with similar sized light bands, segment 7 usually thinner". | |||
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