...
All photos by me, Ridou Ridou - and all the great answers to my questions by
the great 'Bugman' (www.whatsthatbug.com)
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PALM PLANTHOPPER FROM AUSTRALIA
Posted by bugman February 3rd, 2010 at 11:22 pm
Categories
Aphids, Scale Insects, Leafhoppers, and Tree Hoppers
An Australian Cicada?
February 3, 2010
Hello Bugman,
I’ve just published a blog post on a cicada (?) I found in our garden. I don’t seem to be able to identify it, so I’m in need of
help, please.
The post is at theridoureport.blogspot.com
There’re quite a few posts on bugs and critters I’ve found in our garden and inside – you can find all of them, if you click
on the label ‘bugs’. Thanks in advance.
Ridou Ridou
Sydney, Australia
Palm Planthopper
Dear Ridou Ridou,
This appears to be a Palm Planthopper, Magia subocellata, one of the Lophopid Planthoppers in the family Lophopidae.
The Planthoppers are related to the Cicadas, hence your confusion. We identified your Palm Planthopper on the
Brisbane Insect Page. Flickr has a nice image that shows the colors well, but the dead mounted specimens on the New
South Wales Government website have lost their lovely blue and green coloration.
P.S. We would love some of those lovely profile shots from your blog to post on our site.
Palm Planthopper
Well done, I’m impressed! Ridou Ridou
Hi Daniel, here are the photos… Ridou Ridou
Palm Planthopper
Palm Planthopper
PS. I contacted Dr Fletcher from Orange Agricultural Institute about the Planthopper, and as a consequence he added my
photo of it to their website:
“Lovely pictures of Magia subocellata (Family Lophopidae). This species (and one other species of Magia) is native to
North Queensland. It was found a couple of years ago in the tropical palm collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens,
Sydney and may well have spread to your area from there.”
http://www1.dpi.nsw.gov.au/keys/fulgor/species/magiasub.html
Ridou Ridou
Sydney, Australia
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UNKNOWN CUP MOTH CATERPILLAR FROM AUSTRALIA
Posted by bugman February 5th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
Categories
Stinging Slug Caterpillars
Tags
WTB Down Under?
An Australian Grub?
February 5, 2010
Hello Bugman, it’s funny, just as you identified my Palm Planthopper, I came across another mystery on my walk. It’s
about half an inch in length, and looks a bit like a cross between a pillbug anf a colourful grub.
PS. I contacted Dr Fletcher from Orange Agricultural Institute about the Planthopper, and as a consequence he added my
photo of it to their website:
“Lovely pictures of Magia subocellata (Family Lophopidae). This species (and one other species of Magia) is native to
North Queensland. It was found a couple of years ago in the tropical palm collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens,
Sydney and may well have spread to your area from there.”
http://www1.dpi.nsw.gov.au/keys/fulgor/species/magiasub.html
Ridou Ridou
Sydney, Australia
Cup Moth Caterpillar
Hi again Ridou Ridou,
We didn’t do quite as well with this submission. We are nearly certain this is a Caterpillar in the family Limacodidae,
which in the U.S. are known as Slug Caterpillars. Many of them have stinging spines. The Brisbane Insect website,
which has a few species posted, though none resemble your example, indicates they are called Cup Moths because of
the shape of their cocoons, and the caterpillars that sting are known as Spitfires, our new favorite insect name. Your
individual is most probably not one of the stinging species. We next searched the Australian Limacodidae page from an
excellent Lepidoptera of Australia website, and again our search was to no avail. That website states: “In Australia, they
are also called ‘Spitfires’, ‘Battleships’ or ‘Warships’” and additional names for these interesting caterpillars include
Chinese Junks and Bondi Trams.
Cup Moth Caterpillar
Your view of the underside is nice because it shows the lack of prolegs, and the underdeveloped true legs which result in
the sluglike locomotion of the caterpillars in this family. Alas, we are temporarily giving up on a species ID, and we hope
a Family ID will do for the moment. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to assist with this identification.
Cup Moth Caterpillar
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SNAKE MANTID FROM AUSTRALIA
Posted by bugman February 12th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Categories
Praying Mantis
Tags
WTB Down Under?
Australian Mantodea with yellow/red eyes?
February 11, 2010
This Praying Mantis (?) was hovering around me this morning, and then it landed close to me on our outside deck in
Sydney. We see a lot of them here, but this one had such peculiar red striped eyes on yellow, with little black spots, as in
an eye in an eye. I tried to find one like it on Brisbaneinsects website, with now luck. Any ideas?
Ridou Ridou
Sydney, Australia
Snake Mantid
Hi again Ridou,
This presented a bit of a challenge for us, but we are satisfied that we have identified your delicate green mantis as a
Snake Mantid, Kongobatha diademata, but alas, though we have a name, and we know that the Snake Mantid is found in
Australia, we were unable to locate any additional information.
Snake Mantid
We found a matching image on the Life Unseen website, and the aerial view nicely illustrates the yellow stripe on the
thorax also found in your image. We located a second photo with no accompanying data on a site called Members
Optusnet, and that image illustrates eyes similar to those in your photos.
Snake Mantid
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ORCHID DUPE WASP FROM AUSTRALIA
Posted by bugman February 12th, 2010 at 1:49 am
Categories
Ichneumons
Tags
Unidentified, WTB Down Under?
Another Australian Flying Bug
February 11, 2010
Another Australian Flying Bug
Hello again, Bugman
I’ve been trying to identify this one, but I’m not sure if it’s a fly or something else.
Ridou Ridou
Sydney, Australia
Orchid Dupe Wasp from Australia
Hi again Ridou,
This is not a fly, but rather, a Hymenopteran, a member of the order that consists of Ants, Bees and Wasps. We believe
this is Brachonid, a parasitic wasp that can be identified in part through the long and slender antennae. Braconids are
quite similar to Ichneumons, another possibility. We have not had any luck finding a matching photo, and we will
continue to search. There are some beautiful Braconids posted on the Brisbane Insect website, but none that match your
specimen.
Thanks Daniel, I think you’re right. Apparently there’re about 800 species of Braconid (or Brachonid) in Australia! I found
this site (this is the google cached version of it, since the actual page didn’t load) with a drawing of a similar species to
mine:
74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:UmIoSwzWsWEJ:www.faunanet.gov.au/wos/factfile.cfm%3FFact_ID%3D232+Brachonid&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au
Hi Ridou,
We couldn’t get your link to work, but we did find images of both Braconids and Ichneumons on the Life Unseen Website.
We now believe your wasp is an Orange Dupe Wasp, Lissopimpla excelsa, one of the Ichneumons. One photo in
particular looks identical to your specimen. The Oz Insects website calls this species the Orchid Dupe, and indicates:
“The Orchid Dupe Wasp is a medium sized wasp with mainly orange body and dark wings. The abdomen has broad
black band with four white spots on each side. The long thin antennae curl upwards at the ends. Females have a stout
black ovipositor that is about half the body length. It is called the Orchid Dupe because some species of orchids mimic
the odour and appearance of female Lissopimpla wasps. The male Lissopimpla wasps mistake the flowers for females
pollinating the orchid.“
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AUSTRALIAN HAWK MOTH
Posted by bugman February 12th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
Categories
Hummingbird Moths, Sphinx Moths or Hawk Moths
Tags
WTB Down Under?
Australian Hawkmoth
February 12, 2010
Hi again Bugman. I think this time I actually was able to sort out the species myself going through your ‘hawkmoth’
search: there it was on page 11 out of 19 pages – (www.whatsthatbug.com/2006/02/16/australian-hawk-moth-might-be-
coequosa-australasiae/) . I confirmed it on this webpage:
www1.ala.org.au/gallery2/v/Sphingidae/Coequosaaustralasiae/coequosa_australasiae_02.jpg.html
Do you agree my identification?
Thanks in advance.
Coequosa australasiae
PS. It was sitting there at night on this deck chair, and I observed it for about an hour, taking occasional photos. It came
as a great surprise for me when it started spreading its ‘underwings’ that turned out to be bright orange. It was quite
large, maybe 3-4 inches long.
Ridou Ridou
Sydney, Australia
Coequosa australasiae
Hi Again Ridou,
My, you certainly are submitting some wonderful images. We agree that your Hawk Moth is Coequosa australasiae. We
actually think a different image on the Csiro website is a better visual match to your individual.
Coequosa australasiae
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PAPER WASP FROM AUSTRALIA
Posted by bugman February 12th, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Categories
Paper WaspS
Tags
PAPER WASP FROM AUSTRALIA
Posted by bugman February 12th, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Categories
Paper WaspS
Tags
WTB Down Under?
February 12, 2010
Well, encouraged by your kind words about my photos, I decided to take my current ‘project’ to the next stage: I’ve been
photographing these wasps building their nest outside our house, behind a window, and today I thought of taking some
outside photos of the progress. I removed the fly screen, stepped on the windowsill, and stretched my hand out with the
camera to record detailed images of the geometric components of their nest. Surprise, surprise, the wasps didn’t like it.
They suddenly turned on my camera, all of them in line, pointing and shaking their whiskers towards it, and before me
realising what was happening, they made their move. I broke my camera when I dropped it, and I’m now tendering about
three wasp bites on my swollen arm and fingers.
I think my camera memory card is still OK, so hopefully the nest photos are still there! In the meantime, can you identify
my attackers from this earlier image:
Best,
Ridou
Australian Paper Wasp
Hi Ridou,
We are so sorry to hear about your unfortunate encounter with these Paper Wasps in the genus Polistes. We believe
they may be the Australian Paper Wasp, Polistes humilis. The Brisbane Insect Website has some amazing photographs
of this species. Paper Wasps are not normally aggressive, but they will attack and sting if the nest is threatened.
Donald Friend
Untitled sketch, signed 'DF', ink on paper, 14 x 19 cm
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