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Kinkajou Tells You What Really Happened. The Truth Is Out There!

BUGS of BRISBANE

 

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Knowing your insects can make you look really cool and smart.

Plus the ones to keep away from, aren't always the dangerous looking ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Well-known Groupings Amidst Insects Include:

Order Ephemeroptera: Mayflies
Order Odonata: Dragonflies and Damselflies
Order Blattodea: Cockroaches

Order Isoptera: Termites
Order Mantodea: Praying Mantids
Order Orthoptera: Crickets and Katydids 

Order Orthoptera- suborder Caelifera: Grasshoppers
Order Homoptera: Cicadas
Order Phasmatodea: Stick Insects 

Order Hemiptera: Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. They include the superfamily Coccoidea, previously placed in the now obsolete group called "Homoptera"Suborder Sternorrhyncha (Soft Bugs). Aphids, Scale Insects and Mealy Bugs 
Hemiptera suborder Heteroptera,  Reduviidae:< Assassin Bugs 

Order: Hemiptera. Suborder: Heteroptera. Infraorder: Pentatomomorpha. Superfamily: Lygaeoidea.
Family Lygaeidae - Lygaeid Bugs, Seed Bugs, Milkweed Bugs, Chinch Bugs Big-eyed Bugs, Coon Bugs, Largid bugs and Cotton Stainers Bugs.
Subfamily ISCHNORHYNCHINAE - Brown Lygaeid Bugs Subfamily LYGAEINAE - Milkweed Bugs">: Hemiptera. Superfamily: Pyrrhocoroidea. ">Family>Pyrrhocoridae; "> Order PYRRHOCOROIDEA: includes the, Big-eyed Bugs, Coon Bugs,


Family Pentatomoidea: Stink Bugs - Any shield-shaped insect. Often called Shield Bugs.
Family Cicadllidae: Leafhoppers and Planthoppers

Family COREOIDEA: Coreid Bugs - include - Tip Wilter, Leaf Footed Bugs, Squash Bugs,
Family Alydidae - Broad Headed Bugs
Family Rhopalidae - Red-eyed bugs


Order Neuroptera: Many families are included such as Lacewings 
Order Coleoptera:  Many families are included such as  Beetles  

Order Diptera: Many families are included such as Flies
True flies are insects of the order Diptera. Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced mechanosensory organs known as halteres, which act as high-speed sensors of rotational movement

Order Hymenoptera:  many families included such as bees, wasps and ants

Order Lepidoptera includes moths and butterflies
Lepidoptera are morphologically distinguished from other orders principally by the presence of scales on the external parts of the body and appendages, especially the wings. Lepidopterans undergo a four-stage life cycle: egg; larva or caterpillar; pupa or chrysalis; and imago (plural: imagines) / adult. They are quite diverse in their basic body structure, allowing advantageous adaptations to diverse lifestyles and environments.

Kinkajou.Kinkajou Tells It True

 

 

 

Order Ephemeroptera: Mayflies

Mayflies are regarded as a rare and primitive insect order. They can be distinguished by their three long abdominal appendages. They are unique among insects in that they moult one more time after acquiring functional wings.

Male adults may patrol individually, but most congregate in swarms a few metres above water with clear open sky above it.

When mating they perform a nuptial (courtship) dance. Each insect has a characteristic up-and-down pattern of movement; strong wing beats propel it upwards and forwards with the tail sloping down. When they stop moving their wings, they fall passively with the abdomen tilted upwards. Females fly into these swarms, and mating takes place in the air.

 

Mayfly Brisbane Insect

 

Order Odonata: Damselflies and Dragonflies

 

Generally they are large conspicuous insects, generally found near freshwater habitats. They lay their eggs in fresh water where the larvae grow. Larva may spend one to three years in water; depend on species, while adults may live only a few weeks.

Damselflies – Damselflies are usually smaller than Dragonflies and with slender bodies. They spend more time resting and not flying in air cf dragonflies. When they are at rest, damselflies usually fold up and hold their wings vertically.

Dragonfly Brisbane SketchDRagonfly Brisbane Picture

Dragonflies

One species that lived around 250 million years ago was the largest insect known to exist and had a wingspan of over 70 cm. Their success as a group is largely because of their fantastic flying abilities and their well-developed eyes. They are excellent hunters of other flying insects and can hover, move in zigzags, and even fly backwards. They can be very swift - some of the larger dragonflies reaching flying speeds of 70 km per hour - possibly the fastest flying insects on Earth

Dragonflies can intercept prey mid-air.

They don't simply chase down their prey. Instead, they snag them from the air with calculated aerial ambushes. Dragonflies can judge the speed and trajectory of a prey target and adjust their flight to intercept prey. They're so skilled that they have up to a 95 percent success rate when hunting.

One research team has determined that the nervous system of a dragonfly displays an almost human capacity for selective attention, able to focus on a single prey insect as it flies amid a cloud of similarly fluttering insects, . Other researchers have identified a nexus of 16 neurons that connect the dragonfly's brain to its flight motor centre in the thorax. This simple package of neurones allows the dragonfly to track a moving target, calculate a trajectory to intercept that target and subtly adjust its path as needed.

Dragonflies are exceptional predators with incredibly sharp mandibles.

Dragonfly Brisbane Heads Up Dragonfly Brisbane Heads UpDragonfly Like Fighter Aircraft Brisbane Dragonfly Like Fighter Aircraft Brisbane

 

 

Order Blattodea: Cockroaches

The small number of pest species of cockroaches in Australia are all introduced and have given cockroaches a bad name. Most cockroaches are active, flattened insects with long spiny legs. Their heads are usually covered by an overhanging, shield-like thorax. Their body is usually flat and broad. Adults may or may not have wings. Their much flattened shape enables them to slip into very narrow spaces under loose bark and in rock crevices. Common habitats include open forest and rainforest in eastern Australia and south-west Western Australia.

Bush Cockroach Brisbane Bush Cockroach Brisbane

The head of the Bush Cockroach, Methana marginalis, is covered by the shield-like thorax.

 

Pest Cockroaches

Australia has ten introduced pest species of cockroaches. In Queensland the three common household pest cockroaches are the American Cockroach, Australian Cockroach and German Cockroach.

All three are found in houses in towns and cities, although American Cockroaches are more common in compost heaps, sewers and industrial areas. All are active at night; feeding on food scraps, book bindings and other household organic litter.

They lay seedlike, brown egg capsules in concealed situations, such as crevices and among folds of fabric.

 

  • American Cockroach: Periplaneta americana
    Large, length about 40 mm, reddish-brown with an indistinct brown pattern on the thorax and no yellow edges on the fore wings. 

  • Australian Cockroach: Periplaneta australasiae
    Large, length about 40 mm, reddish-brown. The thorax is yellowish with dark brown edges and a central patch, and the forewings have yellowish edges at their bases. Despite its name, this species is introduced, possibly from Asia.

Australian Cockroach (Periplaneta australasiae)

  • German Cockroach: Blattella germanica
    Length 10 mm. Pale with two dark bars running lengthwise along the thorax. This is the common small household pest cockroach in south-east Queensland. 

American Cockroach in BrisbaneAustralian Cockroach in Brisbane

German Cockroach in BrisbaneThis German cockroach is much smaller than the American or Australian species.

 

Usual Brisbane Pest Cockroach

 

Wood Cockroaches

Panesthia cribrata, a species of Wood Cockroach found in coastal eastern Australia from south-east Queensland to Tasmania

Panesthia species

Wood cockroaches are powerful burrowers that live inside and feed on rotten logs in rainforest and open forest in coastal northern and eastern Australia. They have special micro-organisms in their intestinal tract (flagellate amoebae) that help digest the cellulose in the wood on which they feed.

Wood Cockroach Brisbane Wood Cockroach Brisbane

  • Giant Burrowing Cockroach: Macropanesthia rhinoceros
    The Giant Burrowing Cockroach is the world's heaviest cockroach, weighing up to 30 grams and reaching 7.5 cm in length.
    They can live up to 10 years.


Giant Burrowing Cockroach Brisbane A female Giant Burrowing Cockroach .

Wood Cockroaches live on Organic Matter on the Forest Floor. BrisbaneFriendly Brisbane CockroachPretty Cockroach Brisbane


Order Isoptera

  • Termites – The Termite is very closely related to Cockroaches. They are soft-bodied and live in enclosed environments. All termites are eusocial. They live in a family group as a colony. Each colony has several castes, with different body shapes and behaviours to perform different jobs. Usually there are three major castes, the reproductive kings and queens, soldiers and workers. Nymph stages of all those castes are also present in the colony.

    All Termites build large nests in soil or wood and can occasionally cause damage to wooden structures. They are sometimes called "white ants"; however they belong to a completely different insect group (Order Isoptera) to true ants (Order Hymenoptera)Termite Body Plan Sketch Brisbane Termite Body Plan Sketch Brisbane

 

Nesting

Nests are formed either in trees, in soil mounds or underground. There are 5 main nest types and many species will build more than one type of nest:

  • Ground mounds
  • Tree nests (outside tree, connected to internal cavity)
  • Pole nests (on human structures such as fence posts and telegraph poles)
  • Subterranean nests (underground, in soil, stumps and tree bases)
  • Tree wood (inside the tree)

Nest humidity and temperature maintenance

Termite colonies are maintained at a high humidity. This protects the thin-skinned workers from drying out. Only when the external humidity is close to 100% can workers leave the nest to forage. This is especially the case for subterranean termite species, which gain most of their water from the soil. T These species can only become pests in buildings where a constant water source is available. Indoor plants on pavers are a major cause, as are leaking pipes or roofs). Termites that nest in dry wood don't have such strong water requirements and may attack wooden structures that are not necessarily very damp.

Feeding and Diet

Not all termites eat wood. Many species feed on grass and other matter, and are not pests in buildings. Those species that do eat wood, get cellulose, sugars and starches (all carbohydrates) from the sapwood (outer wood) of trees and can also eat any wooden structures, including logs, stumps and human constructions. They usually cannot eat the heartwood (innermost wood) as it tends to be much harder and can have toxins that repel the termites. Protein is obtained by eating fungi growing either in the humid nest - which also helps to keep the nest clean - or from moist wood surfaces.

Many termite species have special gut organisms that help them to break down the woody cellulose into sugars that can be digested. Some species have protozoa (single-celled organisms) that produce enzymes to digest the cellulose while others have bacteria. These organisms are transferred from termite to termite during grooming sessions, especially from adults to young.

Grass and spinifex-eating species are very important in the savannah ecology of Northern Australia. The large amount of biomass that they process makes them the equivalent of large mammals that eat grasses in similar savannah or prairie habitats in other parts of the world.

Out of the 258 described (90 undescribed) termite species in Australia, only a few wood-damaging species are of concern to humans.

The main destructive species of termites in Queensland

  • Coptotermes acinaciformis
  • Coptotermes acinaciformis can be found in widespread areas throughout Australia. They are predominantly found in urban areas and where eucalypts are abundant.
  • Schedorhinotermes intermedius
  • Nasutitermes Walkeri
  • Nasutitermes exitiosus
  • Mastotermes darwiniensis
  • Coptotermes frenchi
  • Heterotermes ferox

Brisbane Test Termite
Brisbane Test Termite

 

 

Order Mantodea: Praying Mantids

Mantids are predators to other insects. They wait motionless with their forelegs together. The praying mantis is named for its prominent front legs, which are bent and held together at an angle that suggests the position of prayer.

These insects are formidable predators. They have triangular heads poised on a long "neck," or elongated thorax. Mantids can turn their heads 180 degrees to scan their surroundings with two large compound eyes and three other simple eyes located between them.

Typically green or brown and well camouflaged on the plants among which they live, mantis lie in ambush or patiently stalk their quarry. They use their front legs to snare their prey with reflexes so quick that they are difficult to see with the naked eye. Their legs are further equipped with spikes for snaring prey and pinning them in place.

Moths, crickets, grasshoppers, flies, and other insects are usually the unfortunate recipients of unwanted mantid attention. However, the Mantids will also eat others of their own kind. The most famous example of this is the notorious mating behaviour of the adult female, who sometimes eats her mate just after—or even during—mating.

 

 

Praying Mantis Brisbane Praying Mantis Brisbane

 

Order Orthoptera: Crickets and Katydids

The main difference between a grasshopper and a cricket is that crickets tend to have long antennae, grasshoppers have short antennae. Crickets stridulate ("sing") by rubbing their wings together, while grasshoppers stridulate by rubbing their long hind legs against their wings. The auditory organs located on the fore legs. Their stridulation is produced by mechanisms on the base of their forewings

Mole Cricket Brisbane Mole Cricket Brisbane

 

 


Order Homoptera: Cicadas

Cicadas are the loudest insects in the world and there are more than 200 species in Australia.

It is thought that the sound produced by some communal species can act as a defence against predatory birds and some are even loud enough (120 decibels) to be painful to the human ear. Cicadas also often sing in chorus, which makes it more difficult for a predator to locate an individual.

Cicadas are so conspicuous that many of their common names were initially given to them by children. As a result cicadas probably have the most colourful common names in the insect world. Some of these include: Black Prince (Psaltoda plaga), Double Drummer, Floury Baker, and the Green Grocer or Yellow Monday, Cyclochila australasiae.

Cicada facts:

  • Only male cicadas sing. They do this in an attempt to find a mate. Cicadas are familiar in Brisbane because their 'song' is the back ground noise here in summer. Their empty shells often seen on tree trunks and fences.
  • Different species have different songs to attract only their own kind. Many species of cicada sing during the heat of the day. The loud noise produced by some day-singing cicadas actually repels birds, probably because the noise is painful to the birds' ears and interferes with their normal communication. The males of many cicada species, including the Greengrocer/Yellow Monday, and the Double Drummer, tend to group together when calling which increases the total volume of noise and reduces the chances of bird predation.

  • Some cicada species only sing at dusk. Often these species are weak fliers (as in the case of the Bladder Cicada). They gain some protection from predatory birds by confining their activity to dusk.
  • Adult cicadas have short lives, usually only a few weeks.
  • Most of their lives are spent as nymphs underground. For some species this can be up to several years.

  • It has been suggested that some of the large, common Australian species of cicada may live underground as nymphs for around 6-7 years.
  • Cicadas feed on a huge range of plants, including eucalypts and grasses. The young nymphs live underground suck the roots of trees. They may live underground for years, come up from soil in summer, have the final moulting and leave those empty shells. 
  • Birds, bats, spiders, wasps, ants, mantids and tree crickets all prey on cicadas.

  • Most cicadas are more than 20 mm in length (from head to tip of membranous forewings at rest).
  • Cicadas feed only on plant sap using their piercing, sucking mouthparts. .
  • Cicadas feed by piercing the surface of plants with their mouth stylets. They then suck up the sap through a tube formed by the concave surfaces of two of the stylets. This piercing and sucking kind of feeding apparatus can be contrasted with the biting and chewing kind found in grasshoppers, cockroaches, beetles and caterpillars.

 

Cicada Brisbane Sound of Summer Cicada Brisbane Sound of Summer

 

 

 

Order Orthoptera Suborder Caelifera

Grasshoppers - Grasshoppers hind legs are highly developed, much stronger and larger than the front four legs. A Grasshopper does not actually ‘jump’. What they do is use their legs as a catapult. Grasshoppers can both jump and fly and they can reach a speed of 8 miles per hour when flying. There are about 18,000 different species of grasshoppers.

The adult insects have four wings. The front wings, known as tegmina, are tough and narrow when compared with the hind wings. Most species feed on grass and low bushes. Grasshoppers are most active during the day, but also feed at night.

The auditory organs are on the first segment of their abdomen. They produce their love song, the stridulation, by lateral part of their forewings. Females normally larger than males and with short ovipositors.

They do not have nests or territories and some species go on long migrations to find new supplies of food. Most species are solitary and only come together to mate, but the migratory species sometimes gather in huge groups of millions or even billions of individuals. Species that change colour and behaviour at high population densities are called locusts.

When a grasshopper is picked up, they ‘spit’ a brown liquid which is known as ‘tobacco juice’. Some scientists believe that this liquid may protect grasshoppers from attacks by insects such as ants and other predators – they ‘spit’ the liquid at them then catapult up and fly off.

 

GRASSHOPPER PREDATORS

The grasshoppers’ greatest enemies include various kinds of flies that lay their eggs in or near grasshopper eggs. After the fly eggs hatch, the newborn flies eat the grasshopper eggs. Some flies will even lay their eggs on the grasshoppers’ body, even while the grasshopper is flying. The newborn flies then eat the grasshopper. Other enemies of grasshoppers include beetles, birds, mice, snakes and spiders.

Grasshopper Brisbane Grasshopper Brisbane

Grasshopper

There are two main groups of grasshoppers:

(1) Long-horned grasshoppers

(2) Short-horned grasshoppers

Grasshoppers are divided according to the length of their antennae (feelers), which are also called horns. Short-horned grasshoppers are usually called ‘locusts’.

 

Grasshopper Brisbane

 

Order Phasmatodea Stick Insects

Mantids are often confused with phasmids due to their body shapes and similar use of camouflage While mantids use their skill of blending in to avoid predators as well as remaining undetected by their potential prey, phasmids only use camouflage as a defence against being seen by predators and therefore becoming a meal. Phasmids have the general features of the leaves and sticks of the plant that they hang from and feed on.

Stick insects are large to very large insects. They tend to resemble sticks and twigs; usually they are green to brown in colour. Some of them look like leaves. They spend most of their time hanging motionless in plants. Even if they move, they sway slightly, as if caught by the movement of the wind. They are not easily seen for their camouflage. Stick insects have powerful mandibles. They are herbivorous; they eat plant leaves only, usually feed on broad-leaved plants. In general, females are much larger than males. The male can fly, but the female can only glide.

Australian stick Insects range in size from a few centimetres long to the longest species; the Titan Stick Insect, Acrophylla titan, which can grow up to 250mm from head to tail, and often appears longer when the front legs are stretched forward.

See our section on Keeping stick insects as pets.

Stick Insect Brisbane Stick Insect Brisbane

 

 

 

 

Order Hemiptera Suborder Sternorrhyncha: aphids, Scale insects and Mealy Bugs

In the insect world, the word bug applies to a particular group of insects, the Order Hemiptera, that have special mouthparts designed for sucking up liquids. Consequently, these insects are best known as sucking bugs or true bugs. Most Hemiptera feed on plant sap, extracted by piercing and sucking the stems, roots, leaves, bark, fruit or seeds of plants. Many of these plant-feeders live on our food plants and become serious pests. Insects we know as ‘stink bugs’ and ‘shield bugs’ belong to this group.

A true Bug

 

They feature an incomplete metamorphosis and their young, the nymphs, look much the same as their adults except smaller and wingless. They usually have flat and soft bodies.

Many people use the word 'bug' for any sort of insect, or for insects that crawl rather than fly, but this is strictly speaking incorrect scientific usage.

assassin Bug Brisbane assassin Bug Brisbane

Some “bug” examples:Assassin Bug

  • Aphids are small size with soft body, usually wingless. Scale Insects covered with wax secretion and do not look like insects. Mealy Bugs are flat with waxy excretions of white powdery substance.
  • True bugs also include the familiar stink and shield bugs and the predatory assassin bugs. There are also several groups of sucking bugs that live in freshwater such as backswimmers, waterboatman and water scorpions.
  • Assassin Bugs - All Assassin bugs are predators. They prey on all small animals such as snails, insects including caterpillars, spiders and other arthropods.
  • One large family of Assassin bugs (the Reduviidae) are predatory and feed on the body juices of other animals, mainly other insects. These are called assassin bugs because of their habit of hiding in ambush for their prey. Bedbugs are serious pests for humans, commonly infecting travellers be colonising bedding. They can be distinguished from other bugs by their elongated head and short curved proboscis.

Scale Insect Brisbane sap sucker Scale Insect

 

All other plant-feeding bugs have their proboscis flat against under their head when not in use. The Assassin Bugs' proboscis is curved outwards from the head. To catch prey, Assassin Bugs swing their proboscis forwards to attack.

Once the prey is held and punctured, a salivary secretion is pumped into a canal running down between the fine stylets. This secretion immobilises the prey and dissolves its internal tissues into a pre-digested ‘soup’ that the assassin bug can then suck up. A TV Example is the “Brain Bug” in the movie “Starship Troopers”. At the end of the meal, all that is left of the prey is a dry, empty shell. Bites may be extremely painful to humans because the bugs inject the same salivary secretion used to dissolve the tissues of their prey. This results in the death of a small area of cells at the site of the bite. Infection may follow. The symptoms are an intense burning sensation, often followed by a small, itchy lump that may persist for several days. However, no true toxin is involved so it is rare for the reaction to last long or to extend beyond the site of the bite.

 

 

 

 

Family Cicadllidae: Leafhoppers and Treehoppers (aka Membracids).

Leafhoppers and Treehoppers have the most aerodynamic-shaped body in the insect world. All of them are strong and fast jumpers. Most nymphs can jump as well. Most ambush predators do not target at them because of their high speed of escape. They feed by sucking the sap of plants.

As a by-product of ingesting large quantities of plant sap (phloem), treehoppers secrete a sugary substance called "honeydew", which serves as food for a variety of opportunistic ants, bees, and wasps. Thus, treehoppers frequently benefit from interactions with ants that provide "house cleaning" services and sometimes protect the hoppers from predators in exchange for the honeydew secretions.

Most membracids, however, insert the eggs into plant tissue; in so doing, a few species injure their plant hosts so seriously that they are considered pests. 

Planthoppers –

  • True Bugs - All bugs suck juice from plants or other insects.
  • Mirid Bugs 
    Common names include plant bugs, leaf bugs, and grass bugs.
Leafhopper Brisbane Leafhopper Brisbane Leafhopper Brisbane Leafhopper Brisbane Leafhopper Brisbane Leafhopper Brisbane

 

 

Miridae

Most mirids are important agricultural pests and some of them are predators. Mirids are known to be predators of aphids, whiteflies, and mites .The mirid: Macrolophus caliginosus (Wagner), is found in plants infested with the two-spotted spider mite or green peach aphid, Myzus persicae, and is a useful predator to use in greenhouses and orchards .It is used in European greenhouses to control multiple pests, including aphids, whiteflies, and mites .

Red Spotted Myridae Bug  Brisbane Red Spotted Myridae Bug Brisbane

 

 

 

 

Family Lygaeidae - 
Seed Bugs, Milkweed Bugs, Chinch Bugs,
Big-eyed Bugs, Coon Bugs, Largid bugs and Cotton Stainers Bugs.

Bugs in family Lygaeidae are elongate to elongate-ovoid insects. The body is either dark grey-brown or brightly coloured, contrastingly marked with orange to red and black. They have bright colours to advertise their own toxicity while some species live among leaves litter where they hunt for fallen seeds. Some are predaceous. They often have bright colours to advertise their own toxicity while some species live among leaves litter where they hunt for fallen seeds. Some are predaceous. 

Lygaeid bugs in other subfamilies are usually small and cryptically coloured ground dwellers.

Most species feed on plant seeds. They specialise on seed feeding, using their sharp proboscis to pierce the hard seed coat and suck the nutritious sap from the inner tissues.

Anyone who’s had a citrus tree will be familiar with bronze orange bugs. Also called stink bugs, they produce a foul-smelling secretion and suck the sap from stalks, causing flowers and fruit to drop. . Wear goggles to control bronze orange bugs, as they expel a caustic liquid that can cause severe irritation.

You may also notice green bugs with sharp shoulder spines. Native to Australia they’re called spined citrus bugs. They like lemons and mandarins but suck sap from other citrus fruit.

This pest causes young fruit to develop flat patches of skin and brown stains on the flesh.

Milkweed Bugs Brisbane

Milkweed Bug nymphs 

 

 

Subfamily ISCHNORHYNCHINAE - Brown Lygaeid Bugs

Subfamily LYGAEINAE - Milkweed Bugs

 

Coreid Bugs - 

The Coreidae generally feed on the sap of plants.

Coreid Bug Brisbane

Stink Bugs -

Any shield-shaped insects of the Family Pentatomoidea, are called Shield Bugs. They may also be called Stink Bugs. The stink glands usually give off a foul odour when the insect is disturbed. Stink bugs have the common characteristic of their sucking mouths. All of them suck juice from plants or other insects

Nymphs can be harder to spot as their green colour helps them blend with leaves 

 

Stink-Bug-Brisbane

Stink-Bug-Brisbane Stink-Bug-Brisbane

 

 

 

 

 

Order Neuroptera : Lacewings

Lacewings have two pairs of delicate wings, usually with a dense network of veins. Most have a weak, floppy flight, but some such as owl flies and the uniquely Australian stilbopterygines (a special group of antlions) are fast, agile fliers that resemble dragonflies.

Australia’s largest group of lacewings are the antlions (around 250 species) which are particularly common in arid and semiarid areas. Adult and larval lacewings are mostly predators. Some groups such as green lacewings (Family Chrysopidae) and brown lacewings (Family Hemerobiidae) are beneficial in crops and gardens feeding on plant pests such as aphids, scale insects and moth eggs and caterpillars.

They are the predators of other insects.

Stilbopteryx walkeri (Stilbopterygidae).

Mantid Lacewing (Austromantispa imbecilla).

 

Mantid-Lacewing-Brisbane Mantid-Lacewing-BrisbaneLacewing Insects Brisbane Lacewing Insects Brisbane

 

 

 

 

 

Order Coleoptera: Beetles

Beetles, order Coleoptera, are the largest and most diverse order of insects. Beetles are one of the most successful groups of organisms on the planet, occupying most habitats and taking advantage of many food sources. One of the major factors contributing to the success of beetles is their compact body design and in particular their tough protective front wings.

Their size is ranges from 0.5mm to 200mm.

There are more kinds of beetles than any other group of animals. Almost a third of all animal species are beetles. In Australia alone, almost 23 000 different species have been named, but there may be as many as 80 000 Australian beetle species.

Thousands of Washing Beetles Phyllotocus rufipennis (Scarabaeidae) emerge in summer to feed on eucalypt blossoms but often mistakenly swarm on other white objects, most famously drying washing.

Washing-Beetles-Brisbane- Washing Beetle

Adult Giant Pine Weevils, Eurhamphus fasciculatus (Curculionidae), congregate on the trunks of dying Hoop Pines (Araucaria cunninghamii) in south-east Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales. Their white, legless larvae feed on the inner bark of the same trees.

Piedish Beetles, Helea spp. (Tenebrionidae), are inhabitants of arid and semi-arid sand country. Their broad, oval shape, with an upturned edge all the way around, is thought to protect their legs from predators.

Cockchafer Beetle BrsisbaneCockchafer Beetle

The larvae of cockchafer beetles like Rhopaea magnicornis (Scarabaeidae) are white curl-grubs that feed on plant roots. Large numbers of these adult beetles emerge from the ground after summer rains and fly backwards and forwards above lawns at dusk. They are commonly called Christmas beetles, although a number of different species can claim this title.

 

Scarab Beetles Scarab-Beetle-Brisbane Scarab Beetle

 

 

 

Jewel Beetles -. They are brightly coloured and often have a metallic sheen which make their common name Jewel Beetles.

Jewel-Beetle-Brisbane Jewel Beetle

 

Click Beetles 

Ladybirds - Ladybird Beetles are also known as Ladybugs and Lady Beetles.. Most Ladybird Beetles are brightly coloured. This is a warning signal to tell predators that the ladybirds are distasteful and toxic. When disturbed ,some ladybirds may emit a strong smelling yellow liquid as a deterrent against predators.

Ladybird-Beetles-BrisbaneLadybird-Beetles-Brisbane

 

Darkling Beetles - Most are fungal feeders live within rotting wood or on ground with rotten plant materials. A few others are predator or parasitic.Darkling-Beetle-Brisbane Darkling-Beetle-Brisbane

Longicorn Beetles - Most Longicorn Beetle larva are wood borers. Usually they are host specific of living or dead trees. Their life cycles are from few months to more than a year.

Longicorn-Beetle-Brisbane Longicorn-Beetle-Brisbane

Leaf Beetles - Leaf beetles adults usually range in size from 5 to 15 mm in length and are brightly coloured. Many feed on eucalypts and acacias. Both the adults and larvae eat plant material, store those plant chemicals in their body, and are poisonous to the predators. They often have bright warning colours, to advertise their toxicity.

Weevil Beetles

Weevil larvae are usually legless grubs or with very minute legs. They have hard round heads and are often blind. They feed on vegetable parts includes wood, bark, shoots, buds, leaves and roots, some on grain and stored vegetable products.

Weevil-Beetle-BrisbaneWeevil

 

 

 

 

 

 

Order Mecoptera : Scorpion Flies 

Scorpion flies look similar to true flies; however, they have two pairs of wings. The males feature the end of the abdomen curved and held forward, very much like that of a scorpion's sting, so their name Scorpion fly. Scorpion flies are predatory insects. They live in loose soil or debris.

 

 

Scorpion-Fly-Brisbane- Scorpion Fly

 

 

 

 

Order Diptera : Flies and mosquitoes 

True Flies are found everywhere, and include delicate craneflies, mosquitoes, and midges, as well as robust horseflies, house flies and blowflies. Many sorts of insects are described as flies but "true flies" are a distinct group of insects which have only one pair of wings. The second pair of wings is reduced to small knobs, for the purpose of balancing.

Fly Brisbane the common pest Brisbane Pest Fly

Other insects which are commonly called flies, but which cannot be scientifically classified as such are the caddis flies, scorpion flies, mayflies and butterflies. These have two pairs of wings.

Most flies are not pests, but are important decomposers of plant and animal matter. Many flies are predators and parasites of other insects, and some are used in the bio-control of insect pests and weeds.

The body of a fly is relatively soft and hairy. They have a pair of large compound eyes, a pair of very short antennae and a sucking mouth. 

Most species use external digestion. Foods are liquidized by their enzymes before being sucked up by their sucking mouths. Some species, like the mosquitoes, pierce the prey skin with their sharp mouthparts and suck up the blood.

 

The large crane fly Nephrotoma australasiae is not a mosquito. There are more craneflies (over 700 species) in the family Tipulidae than in any other group of flies in Australia.

Crane-fly-Brisbane Crane-fly-Brisbane

Mosquitoes like Aedes vigilax (Family Culicidae) are true flies as they have one pair of wings.

The Green Signal Fly, Lamprogaster imperialis (Family Platystomatidae), has a bright metallic green thorax and abdomen and wings patterned with dark spots and streaks.

Green-Signal-Fly-Brisbane Green-Signal-Fly-Brisbane

Mosquito 

Mosquito-Brisbane Mosquito-Brisbane

 

The superfamily Tabanoidea includes the March Flies Family Tabanidae and other smaller size families. Their mouth has a strong straight proboscis for piercing and sucking. 

March-Fly-Brisbane March-Fly-Brisbane

Robber Flies - These flies are aerial hunters. They are also known as Assassin Flies or Bee Killers.

Bee Flies 

Bee Flies are hairy. Most of them mimic wasps or bees. However, they have a stout and woolly body and do not have a narrowed waist. Bee Flies favour warm and sunny localities. Most have a strong, hovering flight and are usually found hovering on blossoms or patches of bare soil. 

Long-legged Flies 

Hover Flies 

Hover Flies are also known as Flower Flies. Some species are called Drone Flies. Hover Flies may sometimes confused with stinging bees or wasps because of their mimic coloration. Hover Flies visit flowers as do bees and wasps. They are major pollinators of some flower plants. They are usually seen hovering or resting on flowers.

Hover-Fly-Brisbane Hover-Fly-Brisbane

Acalyptrata Flies. 

Calyptratae Flies- They include the House Flies, Bush Flies, Blowflies, Flesh Flies and Tachinid flies.. The can be distinguished by their common wing vein patterns.

Tachinid Flies

All Tachinid Flies share a parasitoid habit. Their larvae are parasites of other insects. They mainly parasitic on larvae of moths or butterflies, larvae or adults of beetles, adults of bugs, or adults of various orthopteroid orders, such as grasshoppers and stick insects. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Order Lepidoptera- Moths

Moths are usually dull in colour and active at night. However there are some exceptions. Some moths are day flying and as colourful as butterflies. The larva is caterpillar, with a head and soft thorax and usually a 10- segmented abdomen. They have a complete metamorphosis. The adults are usually feed on nectar and pollen, while most caterpillars feed on plant leaves, but some feed on wood or roots.

Case moths, bag moths or bagworms .

Case moths, bag moths or bagworms are names given to a group of moths (Family Psychidae) whose caterpillars make portable homes from silk, usually attaching plant material, detritus or sand grains to the outside of the silk cocoon.

Case-Moth-Brisbane Case-Moth-Brisbane

 

Superfamily TINEOIDEA includes Case Moths and Leaf-miners. Larvae in this group live in silken tubular shelters or portable case. In most species the caterpillars live in a mobile case. 

Concealer Moths and Leafrollers

Day Flying Moths : The moths in this group we found include many different families. Most of them are colourful and active during the day. They include COSSIDAE, TORTRICIDAE, CASTNIIDAE, CHOREUTIDAE, ZYGAENIDAE and LIMACODIDAE.

Moth Brisbane Moth Brisbane

Pyralid Moths

Looper Moths

Their caterpillars move with curving their bodies into loops. This is why they commonly called Loopers. They are also known as Inch Worms because they apparently measuring off one inch at a time as they move. Some of them are called Twig Caterpillars because their resting posture looks like a twig. 

Bombycoid Moths.

Notodontid Moths: They include the Prominent Moths, Tussock Moths, Tiger Moths and Noctuid Moths. 

Tussock Moths - Moths in this family are from small to medium in size with a furry hairy body.

Tiger Moths belong to either Family Arctiidae or Family Aganaidae which are very close related. The moths in these two families are brightly coloured in orange, yellow and black. Their abdomens are usually striped with black and yellow-red colour. Most Caterpillars of the two families are covered in dense dark hairs, which give them the name "Woolly Bears". The hairs can cause irritation in sensitive skin.

Noctuid Moths - Family Noctuidae. The Caterpillars are usually smooth or with little hairs. Some Noctuidae caterpillars are called Cutworms, some called Armyworms and some called Semi-loopers. Cutworms live in the soil surface. They bite off young plants at ground level and pull them into their burrows. Armyworms eat their way across like an army on the march. 

Owl Moths 

Owl-Moth-Brisbane Owl-Moth-Brisbane

 

 

 

Skipper and Darter Butterflies 

Swallowtail Butterflies - Most of the butterflies in this family are large in size and with brilliant colours. They are called Swallowtails because some of species have tailed hindwings. However, not all family members have tails. Most Swallowtails found in Brisbane have no tails. Caterpillars in this family have a special method to defend themselves against predators. They have a special fork-shaped organ called an “osmeterium” on their heads. When disturbed it will shoot out and produce a pungent smell that may make predators avoid them.

White and Yellow Butterflies 

Yellow-Butterfly-Brisbane Yellow-Butterfly-Brisbane

 

Nymph and Danaid Butterflies

Blue and Copper Butterflies. The butterflies are from very small to medium size. Most of them have metallic colours, either blue or orange-brown in colour. They fly rapidly and erratically close to the ground. Most species males have their fore legs reduced, normal in female.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Order Hymenoptera 

Wasps and bees, together with ants, belong to a group of insects called the Order Hymenoptera. This is one of the largest insect groups. There may be as many as 44 000 Australian species of Hymenoptera, most of them wasps and bees.

Wasps and bees have bad reputation because of the aggressive nature and painful stings of a few species. In fact, there is no other group of insects that is more beneficial to humans. Most wasps are parasites or predators of other insects, including many pest species, helping control their numbers. There are many examples of exotic pest insects being successfully controlled by introducing their wasp larval parasites from overseas.

Bees are vitally important for pollinating plants, including many orchard trees, vegetables and crops that we rely on for food. Some flower wasps pollinate orchids and the world’s many species of fig trees are pollinated by minute fig wasps. The honeybee also produces honey in commercial quantities.

Wasps and bees encompass a far greater variety of insects than most people realise. They include the vegetarian sawflies, the most primitive of wasps. The vast majority of wasps are parasites including many that are minute. Honeybees are familiar to most, but few people know about Australian native stingless bees that also live in hives.

Even less well-known is that the vast majority of Australian bees don’t live in hives but are solitary, each female making her own nest.

 

A Sawfly, Pterygophorus insignis, whose caterpillar-like larvae feed on Paperbark leaves.

A parasitic ichneumon wasp, Netelia sp. These wasps lay eggs inside moth caterpillars. The eggs hatch and the wasp larvae consume the caterpillar from the inside.

A cuckoo wasp, so called because they lay their eggs inside the nests of other wasps. The cuckoo wasp larva either consumes the larva of the host wasp or its food supply.

Sawflies - Sawflies are closely related to wasps. Females have their special egg-laying tool, like a saw, to cut through leaf tissue for their eggs. Sawflies do not sting. However, the larvae may secrete irritating liquid onto the skin or eyes if disturbed.

Sawfly-Brisbane Sawfly-Brisbane

Parasite Wasps - Their larvae are either parasitic or predators. Most caterpillars are the targeted hosts.

Ichneumon Wasps

Braconid Wasps

Members in this family are usually small in size. Their larvae are parasitic. The host will usually survive when the larvae is still living, until the larvae is fully grown. The larvae either pupate inside the dead host or form a cocoon outside. Many aphid parasites are braconid and their life cycles are similar.

Vespoid Wasps

 

 

 

Ants

All ants are in family Formicidae and all of them have a waist. Their waist is composed of one or two knobs which are the first one or two segments of their abdomen. Their antennae have a distinct elbow. Ants live in colonies made up of several castes. These included the winged male, winged female and wingless workers. Ant colonies usually contain: an egg-laying queen and many workers together with their brood i.e., eggs, larvae and pupae. Worker ants carry out different jobs including nest construction, foraging, looking after the brood and queen, and nest defence.

Sugar-Ants-Brisbane Sugar-Ants-Brisbane

 

Apoid Wasps -

Species in these two families, Sphecidae and Crabronidae, are solitary hunting wasps. Female wasps make their nest in soil or build mud cells for her young. The female paralyses her host ,usually other insects or spiders, with her sting. The sting is a modified ovipositor which injects venom that paralyses but does not kill the host. The female wasp keeps the hosts in the nest and lays eggs on host's body. Larva hatch and feeds externally on the stored prey. Larvae are legless and grub-like.

 

 

Bees - 

Most bees live as solitary individuals, although the famous Honey Bees are social insects. The solitary bees live in underground burrows or in tree stems. In their nests, there are chambers for their larvae, beside which there are also chambers for the storage for the nectar and pollen. Some species of bees live together and share the same entry, although each have their own nest and look after their own young. Bees' mouthparts are modified to possess a hairy tongue, which is used for sucking up nectar from flowers. When at rest bees fold their tongue in their mouths into a Z-shape.

Bees-Stingless-Aussie-Brisbane Unlike European Honey Bees, true Aussie bees are stingless.

 

Class Arachnida, Order Araneida

Hunting Spiders-

Jumping Spiders.

Web Building Spiders - Spider once spelt 'spinder' which simply means 'spinner'. All spiders have their silk glands at their bottom of their abdomen, the back side of their body. Some spiders build webs and some do not. But all spiders make a silk egg sac to protect their young. This group includes orb web spiders, tangle web spiders and web casters.

Orb Web Weavers 

Spider-Garden-Orb-Weaver-Brisbane Spider-Garden-Orb-Weaver-Brisbane









Well-known groups Amidst Insects include:

  • Order Ephemeroptera: Mayflies
  • Order Odonata: Dragonflies and Damselflies
  • Order Blattodea: Cockroaches

 

  • Order Isoptera: Termites
  • Order Mantodea Praying Mantids
  • Order Orthoptera: Crickets and Katydids 

 

  • Order Orthoptera- suborder Caelifera: Grasshoppers
  • Order Homoptera: Cicadas
  • Order Phasmatodea Stick Insects 

 

  • Order Hemiptera:
    Aphids, Scale Insects and Mealy Bugs - There are many families in the suborder Sternorrhyncha (Soft Bugs). Aphids
    Assassin Bugs 

 

  • Lygaeid Bugs - in this section. They include the Seed bugs, Milkweed Bugs, Big-eyed Bugs, Coon Bugs, Largid bugs and Cotton Stainers Bugs.
    • Family Pentatomoidea: Stink Bugs - Any shield-shaped insect. Often called Shield Bugs.
    • Family Cicadllidae: Leafhoppers and Planthoppers
    • Family Lygaeidae - 
    • Lygaeid Bugs, Seed Bugs, Milkweed Bugs, Chinch Bugs
    • Order LYGAEOIDEA and Order PYRRHOCOROIDEA: includes the, Big-eyed Bugs, Coon Bugs, Largid bugs and Cotton Stainers Bugs.
    • Order LYGAEOIDEA and Order PYRRHOCOROIDEA
    • Subfamily ISCHNORHYNCHINAE - Brown Lygaeid Bugs Subfamily LYGAEINAE - Milkweed Bugs
    • Family COREOIDEA: Coreid Bugs - include - Tip Wilter, Leaf Footed Bugs, Squash Bugs, family Alydidae - Broad Headed Bugs and
    • Family Rhopalidae - Red-eyed bugs
    • Family Pentatomidae Stink Bugs - Any shield-shaped insect of this family are often called Shield Bug or more commonly also called Stink Bug.

 

  • Order Neuroptera: Lacewings 
  • Beetles (Coleoptera)
  • Flies (Diptera)
    Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced mechanosensory organs known as halteres, which act as high-speed sensors of rotational movement

 

  • Moths and Butterflies (Lepidopterana)
    Lepidoptera are morphologically distinguished from other orders principally by the presence of scales on the external parts of the body and appendages, especially the wings. They undergo a four-stage life cycle: egg; larva or caterpillar; pupa or chrysalis; and imago (plural: imagines) / adult. Their many variations of the basic body structure, give this insect family advantages in diverse lifestyles and environments.

 

  • Class Arachnida, Order Araneida: Spiders