#ljsbugblog

[ljsbugblog]

a gentle giant trying to catch some z's on the garden bed last year. she's an Australian 'Hornet' (not a true hornet), and is the largest species of wasp in the country, with a 30mm body length!

it was fascinating to watch her, at first I thought she was injured or dying, as I've never witnessed a wasp sleeping like this before. every now and then a little ant would come along and disturb her, so she'd get up, walk around and find her comfy spot again, and lay back down.

Potter Wasps work so hard, flying back and forth all day with mud and provisions to build nests for their babies. it's nice to know they stop to relax sometimes too.

Australian Hornet, female (Abispa ephippium), April '24.

[ljsbugblog]

one of my favourite moth finds of all time. Comostola laesaria has a wingspan of only 20mm, so it was truly like finding a tiny gem amongst the nighttime gumleaves.

in the closeup below you can even see tiny little hyaline sections (little bits of transparent scales, in the middle of the larger orange spots).

No common name (Comostola laesaria), April '24.

[ljsbugblog]

a Common Assassin Bug, mouthparts extended as she sneaks up on an unsuspecting Grass-dart (who escaped unharmed). definitely some of my favourite photos I've ever taken, and such a fascinating moment to witness!

Common Assassin Bug (Pristhesancus plagipennis) and Narrow-brand Grass-dart (Ocybadistes flavovittatus), April '24.

[ljsbugblog]

a weird horse appreciates the sunset from atop one of our cacti.

Giant Green Slantface, male(?) (Acrida conica), March '24.

[ljsbugblog]

handsome little treehopper resting on some grass. I really love how these photos came out :)

Unknown Treehopper (tribe Terentiini), April '24.

[ljsbugblog]

little lady with some rediculous femora. she is a parasitic wasp in the Chalcididae family, which target the pupae of other insects to lay their eggs in.

she was super hard to get a good photo of, very small and always on the move!

Unknown Chalcidid Wasp (genus Brachymeria), female(?), April '24.

[ljsbugblog]

probably one of the nicest looking moths I've found yet, Joseph's Coat Moth! I'm back from a trip to the northern tropics, and the wildlife did not disappoint.

Joseph's Coat Moth (Agarista agricola).

[ljsbugblog]

had the pleasure of witnessing the growth of some tiny little stinkbugs last year. at the time I had no expectations that any of them would hatch, but sure enough I checked on them one day and 10 perfect little guys were looking back at me.

soon enough they had moulted a few more times, and began to disperse into the garden.

once they dispersed I was no longer able to keep track of them, so I'll likely never know what species they are. around the time I found the eggs, I saw this adult bug hanging around the area, so I like to speculate that they might be the parent.

No common name (Austromalaya lata?), eggs, nymphs, and adult, April '24.