Need ID on an insect and some sort of egg please.
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Need ID on an insect and some sort of egg please.
Hi guys, a couple of specimen I need ID on.
Do you know what this thing is? the only word I can think of is "egg". If it is an egg, what species does it belong to? It's stuck on a leaf about 3mm in size.
Next one is this insect. Sorry I can't show you better photos, it was a flighty little fella.
Thanks for your time.
Do you know what this thing is? the only word I can think of is "egg". If it is an egg, what species does it belong to? It's stuck on a leaf about 3mm in size.
Next one is this insect. Sorry I can't show you better photos, it was a flighty little fella.
Thanks for your time.
- augusthouse
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- Location: New South Wales Australia
P_T,
I'm pretty sure the second image is of a native Australian stingless bee. Wikipedia link below (scroll down to the Australian section) . Still trying to find some CSIRO information.
I didn't realise Australia had so many varieties.... and the big one that I always thought was a bumblebee - may not bee.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingless_bee
Craig
I'm pretty sure the second image is of a native Australian stingless bee. Wikipedia link below (scroll down to the Australian section) . Still trying to find some CSIRO information.
I didn't realise Australia had so many varieties.... and the big one that I always thought was a bumblebee - may not bee.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingless_bee
Craig
To use a classic quote from 'Antz' - "I almost know exactly what I'm doing!"
- rovebeetle
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- augusthouse
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- Location: New South Wales Australia
Hi Harry,
To bee or not to bee (couldn't help myself). Do hover flies make nests in hollows and do they have a faint 'buzz' like a small wasp which is audible when they are 'inside'?
Some info at link below on Australian hover flies.
http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane ... PHIDAE.htm
Craig
To bee or not to bee (couldn't help myself). Do hover flies make nests in hollows and do they have a faint 'buzz' like a small wasp which is audible when they are 'inside'?
Some info at link below on Australian hover flies.
http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane ... PHIDAE.htm
Craig
To use a classic quote from 'Antz' - "I almost know exactly what I'm doing!"
- rovebeetle
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Craig, I know stingless bees (or sweat bees as we also call them) quite well - I have a love/hate relationship towards them. OOH, I like them and their intricate waxy entrance funnels, OTOH, they can be a nuisance when they swarm round your head during an expedition when you're dirty and sweaty [sic!].
Back to the ID: in the right pic you get an idea of the antennae - it clearly shows an Aschiza antenna, also, bees hardly ever have such glabrous legs and pronotum. And nothing speaks against occurrence in the same place. The depicted species belongs to the group in Eristalinae which, in resting position, fold their wings above the body. Also, the long hind legs are quite unusual.
In the website you provided, it comes closest to those at the bottom of the page (genus Eumerus). Although I am not sure whether it is the same genus, it surely belongs to same tribe (Merodontini - bulb flies).
Unfortunately, there is little pictorial information on Australian insects on the web.
My limited experience with Australian insects derives from an expedition to Ambon and Ceram (1989) and mostly is confined to beetles.
Cheers
Back to the ID: in the right pic you get an idea of the antennae - it clearly shows an Aschiza antenna, also, bees hardly ever have such glabrous legs and pronotum. And nothing speaks against occurrence in the same place. The depicted species belongs to the group in Eristalinae which, in resting position, fold their wings above the body. Also, the long hind legs are quite unusual.
In the website you provided, it comes closest to those at the bottom of the page (genus Eumerus). Although I am not sure whether it is the same genus, it surely belongs to same tribe (Merodontini - bulb flies).
Unfortunately, there is little pictorial information on Australian insects on the web.
My limited experience with Australian insects derives from an expedition to Ambon and Ceram (1989) and mostly is confined to beetles.
Cheers
Last edited by rovebeetle on Sun Jul 27, 2008 1:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
Harry
Thanks guys!! I managed to find another one today, not sure if it's the same one or not. It didn't hover at all though, it just sort of hop from leaf to leaf then fly away.
It's around 1.5 to 2cm long and the abdomen is very slender like a stick.
Another not so great shot. I don't think it's possible to take a decent photo of this fella unless he's eating or knocked out. It just kept moving.
It's around 1.5 to 2cm long and the abdomen is very slender like a stick.
Another not so great shot. I don't think it's possible to take a decent photo of this fella unless he's eating or knocked out. It just kept moving.
- rovebeetle
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- augusthouse
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- Location: New South Wales Australia
Thanks Harry,
Here's another link following your trail. There are a few images missing among the listing; but I like Exaireta spinigera (Wiedemann)? New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania - right location. P_T is in Sydney NSW.
http://www.ento.csiro.au/aicn/system/stratiom.htm
http://bugguide.net/node/view/77011/bgpage
Craig
Here's another link following your trail. There are a few images missing among the listing; but I like Exaireta spinigera (Wiedemann)? New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania - right location. P_T is in Sydney NSW.
http://www.ento.csiro.au/aicn/system/stratiom.htm
http://bugguide.net/node/view/77011/bgpage
Craig
To use a classic quote from 'Antz' - "I almost know exactly what I'm doing!"
- rovebeetle
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I was trying to search for that prawn like insect when I came across this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_insect
It's scale insect also in the Order Hemiptera. I guess that solved the mystery of that "egg" aka ceroplastes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_insect
It's scale insect also in the Order Hemiptera. I guess that solved the mystery of that "egg" aka ceroplastes.
-
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- Posts: 5786
- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
- Location: Reading, Berkshire, England
Having noted the directional arrangement of those small protruberances, I realised a possibility.
This Pink Wax Scale has an uncanny resemblance.
http://www.geocities.com/brisbane_softb ... /wpeA1.jpg
See also:
http://www.saveourwaterwaysnow.com.au/0 ... asp?ID=918
And the Florida Wax Scale for good measure:
http://woodypest.ifas.ufl.edu/159.htm
Harold
This Pink Wax Scale has an uncanny resemblance.
http://www.geocities.com/brisbane_softb ... /wpeA1.jpg
See also:
http://www.saveourwaterwaysnow.com.au/0 ... asp?ID=918
And the Florida Wax Scale for good measure:
http://woodypest.ifas.ufl.edu/159.htm
Harold
Last edited by Harold Gough on Sun Aug 10, 2008 4:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.
Yeap, they're actually adult insects.
http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane ... Insect.htm
http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane ... Insect.htm
The insects in this family are covered with wax secretion. The covering may be scale-like or mussel-shaped. From their appearance they do not look like insect. Young scale insects may still look like an insects, but they are very small. When they grow, most of their external organs, such as their legs, wings and antenna, are reduced and become functionless.