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: 169. 36 native species listed, with 25 from Ellura |
Animals (Animalia) - Segmented Worms (Annelida) - Earthworms (Oligochaeta) | ||||||
Earthworm Crassiclitellata | Giant Worm Megascolecidae | Giant Mt Lofty Earthworm Gemascolex cf stirlingi | Na a | Our id here is based on location and size of worm. There's a whole science based on identifying worms, much of which involves dissection. We noticed these in Lobethal in heavy rain periods. They came up onto the concrete verandah as when the soil gets too sodden they can drown. |
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Centipedes (Chilopoda) | ||||||
Centipedes Scolopendromorpha | Centipede Scolopendridae | Giant Centipede Ethmostigmus rubripes | Na e m | A large (~90mm) common centipede with 4 simple eyes (per side), that hides under rocks, etc. | ||
Centipedes Scolopendromorpha | Centipede Scolopendridae | Giant Centipede Scolopendridae sp | Na e m a | |||
House Centipedes Scutigeromorpha | House Centipede Scutigeridae | House Centipede Allothereua maculata | Na e m a |
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Springtails (Collembola) | ||||||
Hairy Springtails Entomobryomorpha | Hairy Springtail Entomobryidae | Hairy Springtail Entomobryidae sp ES01 | Na e m a | Very small, ~3mm long. They have a very scaly like surface. Similar to silverfish. There are two different body shapes here, which may be due to gender differences; or different species. We have found a number of these in July & August. | ||
Hairy Springtails Entomobryomorpha | Hairy Springtail Entomobryidae | White-spotted Hairy Springtail Entomobryidae sp ES02 | Na a | We only found one of these in August, in a Helmet-hood Orchid leaf. As with other springtails, very small. | ||
Plump Springtails Poduromorpha | Plump Springtail Poduromorpha | Plump Springtail Hypogastrura sp | Na e m | Not a true insect. They are small (up to 3mm) and have 6 legs, 2 stumpy feelers & 2 eyes (made up of 8 ocelli). Dark pink underneath with dark purple backs. | ||
Globular Springtails Symphypleona | Globular Springtail Symphypleona | Brown Globular Springtail Symphypleona sp ES01 | Na e m | Similar Species: Varied Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus verbasci) | ||
Globular Springtails Symphypleona | Globular Springtail Symphypleona | Green Globular Springtail Symphypleona sp ES02 | Na a | Not a true insect. They are small (we've measured under 2mm) and have 6 legs, 2 feelers & 2 eyes (made up of 8 ocelli). Look more like a spider with a distinct head and abdomen; unlike the other springtails. | ||
Globular Springtails Symphypleona | Globular Springtail Symphypleona | Globular Springtail Symphypleona sp ES03 | Na e m | Eating a bracket fungi. These are tiny at <2mm long. We didn't realise it was there until publishing the bracket fungi photo |
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Millipedes (Diplopoda) | ||||||
Millipedes Polydesmida | Millipede Paradoxosomatidae | Native Brown Millipede Somethus castaneus iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Dr Bob Mesibov & Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming and DaBugBoi for helping with the id of this species for us Bob said it could either be S. castaneus or S. lancearius based on location. DaBugBoi said "They differ in distribution, and size. Judging by his paper, S. castaneum is found in the Adelaide metro region and the south and eastern MT. lofty ranges, while S. lancearius is smaller (from memory) and found typically north of adeladide" | ||
Juliform Millipedes Spirostreptida | Juliform Millipede Spirostreptida | Juliform Millipede Spirostreptida cf sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Dr Bob Mesibov for identifying this species for us Of this specimen, Bob said "Very interesting, and probably a (native) spirostreptidan - never seen this patterning before, though!" The legs on the 1st-5th segments are diagnostic, as are the eyes & genetalia. So it's important to try and photograph these areas clearly for id. As you can see, I wasn't able to. Everytime I turned it over, it turned back and ran. In terms of colour (ie darkness & amount of orange coming through); this specimen varied considerably depending on the camera settings. |
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) | |||||||
Earwigs Dermaptera | Earwig Forficulidae | European Earwig Forficula auricularia iNaturalist | If e m a p | Thank you David Muirhead for confirming the id of this species for us ~14mm long plus pincers are a further ~7mm. Found in the kitchen, so most likely came from produce (fresh vegetables). | |||
Earwigs Dermaptera | Striped Earwig Labiduridae | Brown Native Earwig Labidura riparia iNaturalist | Na e m |
~17mm long, pincers ~5mm long. A very distinctive orange "V" on the thorax. Very parallel sided abdomen. Came to a night light sheet. Found one specimen in March. | |||
Earwigs Dermaptera | Striped Earwig Labiduridae | Black Bush Earwig Nala lividipes iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you David Muirhead & Konstantinos Kalaentzis for confirming the id of this species for us Both male & female were measured at ~11mm long, excluding ~2.5mm pincers. The genders can be separated as the male pincers are much further apart than the female. We have found 4 specimens, 2 male & 2 female, in Oct, Dec & Feb. | |||
Web-spinners Embioptera | Web-spinner Embioptera | Winged Web-spinner Aposthonia gurneyi iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Matthew Connors for identifying this species for us Matthew said: "There are several subspecies and specimens from Adelaide are apparently intermediate between A. g. gurneyi and A. g. centralis" "The principle difference between the families is the structure of the male left cercus, which is heavily modified in the Notoligotomidae and Australembiidae (so that makes this one Oligotomidae - take a look at site)." "From there we have two genera - Oligotoma, which is introduced and currently only known from Qld and NSW (and with slightly different proportions), and Aposthonia which is widespread. Two species are restricted to WA and a third to Qld, with A. gurneyi widespread. Full details of subspecies are at this site (although still under genus Oligotoma)" Not all web-spinners are winged. | |||
Mayflies Ephemeroptera | Mayfly Baetidae | Mayfly Centroptilum cf elongatum iNaturalist | Na a | 1st Live Photo on-line: This male was about 5mm long (head & body). The tail cerci are just under 9mm. The specimen we found keyed out to Centroptilum, and C. elongatum is the only one in this genus found in SA. It could of course be an undescribed species. Notice the weird overhead eyes of the male; used for searching for a female (thank you to Ian Gibbins for confirming this assumption When we mentioned we couldn't think of another invert' with a 2nd pair of compound eyes, Ian also told us that they are not strictly a 2nd pair of eyes; but a genetic situation where the normal eyes split during development. This is a similar trick to the way mantids, eg, have striped eyes; and other insects have different zones in their eyes for varying purposes. Pretty fascinating stuff | |||
Mayflies Ephemeroptera | Mayfly Baetidae | Mayfly Cloeon cf paradieniense | Na a | This female was about 6mm long, with 10mm long tail cerci, found dead. Notice it has no hind wings (a species trait), nor the strange eyes of the male. To re-iterate, Mayflies are the only insects other than Flies (Diptera order) where some species have 2 wings not 4. | |||
Stick Insects Phasmida | Stick Insect Diapheromeridae | Rough Pachymorpha Stick Insect Pachymorpha squalida iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Aidan Beutel for confirming the id of this species for us ~45mm long male. Found in Lobethal, SA, and a possible range extension of the species. It is quite orange compared with other specimens; which tend to be grey-brown. | |||
Stick Insects Phasmida | Stick Insect Diapheromeridae | White's Stick Insect Sipyloidea whitei iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Matthew Connors & Aidan Beutel for confirming the id of this species for us ~60mm long. Found at a night sheet. When looking into what species it was we discovered that the shape of the anal segment, & whether it has wings or not, splits our stick insects into major groups. The other thing that makes this one easy to identify is the black stripe running the full length down it's back ... well we couldn't check that exactly as the wings covered a lot of it | |||
Stick Insects Phasmida | Stick Insect Phasmatidae | Spur-legged Stick Insect Didymuria violescens iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Ethan Beaver & Aidan Beutel for confirming the id of this species for us The only one we measured was the Adult Female on Ellura at only ~57mm long (excluding appendages). This is very small compared to the expected 75-110mm. As can be seen from the mating shot, they can be quite brown, but still with green highlights; or they can be completely green. The colour isn't gender specific (ie you can get brown females & green males). In regards to the Male nymph, Aidan said "One moult until adulthood" | |||
Stick Insects Phasmida | Stick Insect Phasmatidae | Dog-eared Stick Insect Hyrtacus tuberculatus iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Matthew Connors & Aidan Beutel for confirming the id of this species for us The adult male was about ~55mm long, the adult female was considerably larger and just over 80mm. The body parts of stick insects are a little harder to work out than most insects. It looks like they have 5 main parts rather than 3. This is because the thorax is broken up into 3 distinct parts, where it often looks like one. The head is obvious, then the thorax starts with the pronotum (looks like a collar behind the head). The 2nd part of the thorax is the Mesonotum & the 3rd part is the Metanotum, followed up by the abdomen from the hindlegs back. We have found 3 specimens, a male & 2 females, in Dec & Jan. | |||
Stick Insects Phasmida | Stick Insect Phasmatidae | Orange Stick Insect Lysicles sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Aidan Beutel for identifying and Ethan Beaver & Matthew Connors for helping with the id of this species for us Originally thought to be Children's Stick Insect (Tropidoderus childrenii), named after zoologist John George Children, not because children like them. More details about him can be found here John George Children Thank you to Frank Prinz & Martin Lagerwey for the link; via Bowerbird. | |||
Bark Lice Psocodea | Bark Louse Ectopsocidae | Bark Louse Ectopsocus sp | Na a | ||||
Bark Lice Psocodea | Bark Louse Psocidae | Bark Louse Clematostigma cf maculiceps iNaturalist | Na e m | ~3mm long. Not quite sure on this one. It looks very close to C. maculiceps in terms of markings and wing venation. But the wings are cloudy and it just seems too small. Found one in Oct. | |||
Bark Lice Psocodea | Bark Louse Psocidae | Bark Louse Trichadenotecnum enderleini iNaturalist | Na e m | 1st Live Photo on-line: At only 2.5mm body & head length, it wasn't the easiest animal we've tried to photograph It's seems to be a relatively common species but isn't described in Smithers (1990) that we can see. However, it matches very closely Ptycta enderleini, in the paper "Systematic Position of Trichadenotecnum enderleini" by Yoshizawa & Smithers. We use the ALA for naming, which still uses the old name; Trichadenotecnum enderleini, not Ptycta enderleini as described in the above paper. | |||
Thrips Thysanoptera | Thrips Phlaeothripidae | Giant Thrips Idolothrips spectrum iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us ~8mm from the front of the eyes, to the base of the abdomen; not including antennae nor tail. This is a bit of a scientific joke we think "Giant" as in much bigger than others, but still tiny. Note the hairy wings. We photographed 2, in May & Oct. | |||
Thrips Thysanoptera | Thrips Phlaeothripidae | Thrips Phlaeothripidae sp | Na e m a | A strange note on the English language - it seems it's one thrips or two thrips, not one thrip. | |||
Caddisfies Trichoptera | Caddisfly Hydropsychidae | Caddisfly Cheumatopsyche sp | Na e m | Body & head are only about 4mm. Often surprises us we find water born insects on Ellura given we don't have any standing water & it's semi-arid. But they keep turning up, to our wonder & enjoyment | |||
Silverfishes Zygentoma | Silverfish Lepismatidae | Striped Silverfish Lepismatidae sp ES01 | Na e m | ||||
Silverfishes Zygentoma | Silverfish Lepismatidae | Silverfish Lepismatidae sp ES02 | Na e m | ||||
Silverfishes Zygentoma | Silverfish Lepismatidae | Silverfish Lepismatidae sp ES03 | Na e m | ||||
Silverfishes Zygentoma | Silverfish Lepismatidae | Orange Spotted Silverfish Lepismatidae sp ES04 iNaturalist | Na e m |
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Crustaceans (Malacostraca) | |||||||
Crustaceans Amphipoda | Landhoppers Talitridae | Terrestrial Amphipod Talitridae sp iNaturalist | Na a |
~6mm long. Found in the front lawn of our place in Lobethal, in January on the shady side of a large tree. There's one here with different coloured antennae & legs to the others. They were all collected at the same time in the same location. This variation is possibly due to different species/gender/age. Thomas Mesaglio said "They need moisture/water to prevent drying out, but will drown with too much water. I think there are a few different genera/species as you'd expect, but the most common one in Australia is Arcitalitrus sylvaticus, which has also been introduced to the US, UK, NZ, etc". Chris Lambkin said "Yes we get lots of these on occassions when pan trapping as Thomas described. Even get them in Malaise Traps in moist environments. Interestingly when they die they turn orange, especially in alcohol!" Ian Gibbins said "Amphipods are terrestrial crustaceans. They are probably related to another group of terrestrial crustaceans, the Isopods, which include slaters and so-called pill bugs". "They are not especially closely related to true shrimps, prawns, etc. Amphipods are common in our garden in Belair - turn over a long standing pot or old brick, and they will spring out." | |||
Peracarid Crustaceans Isopoda | Terrestrial Crustacean Armadillidae | Grey Slater Buddelundia sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Agapakis Nikos for confirming and Grant Schiermeyer for helping with the id of this species for us Those we have found vary between 10 to 16 mm long. We've photographed 4 live specimens in March, April, June & July. We found the 5th, dead, specimen to highlight the hour-glass shape We thought this was a Pill Bug (Armadillidium vulgare). It's difficult to see here but the Telson (last posterior plate) has an hour-glass shape. Grant spotted our mistake and also noted: "You can tell the families apart by the telson and the front of the head. Armadillids will have an hourglass telson and Armadillidiids have a triangular or trapezoidal telson. The front of an Armadillid head is usually one smooth line that may be broken in the center while an Armadillidiid will have a nose-like projection in the middle of the head." | |||
Peracarid Crustaceans Isopoda | Terrestrial Crustacean Armadillidiidae | Pill Bug Armadillidium vulgare iNaturalist | If a |
Thank you Grant Schiermeyer for confirming the id of this species for us Interestingly, Atlas only has 2 species described in this family and they are both introduced. Notice the trapezoidal telson of this family mentioned by Grant above. We think the colour variation is due to the specimen #4 recently moulting. Specimen #7 is the colour of an older specimen. | |||
Peracarid Crustaceans Isopoda | Terrestrial Crustacean Philosciidae | Slater Laevophiloscia yalgoonensis iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Agapakis Nikos for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
Peracarid Crustaceans Isopoda | Terrestrial Crustacean Porcellionidae | Common Rough Woodlouse Porcellio scaber iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you Matt Campbell for confirming the id of this species for us ~10mm long |
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Ostracods (Ostracoda) | ||||||
Ostracods Ostracoda | Ostracods Ostracoda | Ostracod Ostracoda sp | Na m |
Animals (Animalia) - Molluscs (Mollusca) - Gastropods, Slugs, And Snails (Gastropoda) | |||||||
Land Snails & Slugs Stylommatophora | Typical Snail Helicidae | Garden Snail Cornu aspersum | If e m a | The shell was ~28mm long & ~23mm high. 4 eye stalks. They don't seem to have an obvious umbilicus (centre hole). They are very variable in colour & pattern making id difficult. | |||
Land Snails & Slugs Stylommatophora | Small Land Snail Hygromiidae | Common White Snail Cernuella virgata iNaturalist | If e m |
Thank you Mike Burrell, Kevin Huang & Dr Kevin Bonham AM for confirming the id of this species for us These are easily confused with another introduced snail, the White Italian Snail (Theba pisana). The centre hole is covered, or nearly covered, with T. pisana. So a photo of the umbilicus is requred for definate identification. It was how we were able to id these specimens. Matt Parr from iNaturalist says that T. pisana has a flatter top/spire and more inflated shell than Cernuella virgata. Thanks Matt |
Animals (Animalia) - Flatworms (Platyhelminthes) - Free-living Flatworms (Rhabditophora) | |||||||
Planarians Tricladida | Flatworm Geoplanidae | Adelaide's Planarian Artioposthia adelaidensis iNaturalist | Na a |
Thank you Dr Leigh Winsor for identifying and Reiner Richter for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line 1st Record on Atlas Very variable in size, ~45mm, as they can easily stretch out or compress. Weight would be a much more useful measure. |
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