What is a garden without bugs?? Some are good and some are ‘bad’ (for the garden), but they all have their place and many are quite beautiful!
- Some are even a little scary….

Potter Wasp-female (photo by Lucky Mac Photography)
- Native bees, being solitary, find holes to lay their eggs, including nail holes-

Resin bee entering a nail hole

Gold tipped leaf cutter

This hole is taken!
They also find available holes in brick work and even under the furniture!

Capped native bee nest in a hole under the outdoor chair

Capping to seal the nail hole nest
- In January, we see a lot of Wanderer Butterflies, sometimes called Monarchs.

Wanderer Butterfly

Wanderer Butterfly settling for the night

Silhouette
- One day when we were out and about we saw heaps of butterflies in what was obviously a breeding ground. There was an abundant supply of the milkweed the caterpillars eat, some with caterpillars! We brought some home to observe, and what a fascinating process metamorphosis is!

Wanderer caterpillar feeding on the milkweed ‘Swan plant’, aka ‘hairy balls’ (note the crusader beetles on the left)

One caterpillar found its way off the milkweed and onto a picture to begin morphing

After its wings were dry and exercised it needed a ride outside, but then was on its way

Moth on the back door

Huge stick insect on a jarrah railway sleeper

Gorgeous katydid

Orb weaver- love the spiders but hate walking into the webs! (Photo by Lucky Mac Photography)

We get plenty of Huntsmen spiders! (Photo by Lucky Mac Photography)

Black Flower Wasp (Photo by Lucky Mac Photography)

Two types of wasp- flower wasps?

Paper wasp?

Ichneumon wasp?

Black flower wasp

Gastaruptid wasp -they lay eggs in the solitary bees that nest in the nail holes!
- We have had problems with many bugs, such as white fly, but eventually the ‘good bugs’ notice the food source and move in and clean up. If you look closely at this photo you will see the Lacewing eggs on their little stalks, ready to hatch into Lacewing larvae and gobble up the zillions of white fly.

Lacewing versus white fly

Tiny predatory wasp working on the aphids
- Similarly, a lemon tree had a severe case of aphids, but we watched and waited and the cavalry arrived! In one viewing there were three types of ladybirds, hoverflies, three or four types of wasps, parasitic flies……. (photos courtesy of Lucky Mac Photography)

Unidentified wasp, perhaps a type of Ichneumon wasp

Common spotted ladybird

Unidentified wasps

Paper wasp

Ladybird, possibly Orcus ausralasiae


Bug community- hoverfly larvae, juvenile and adult aphids, parasitised aphids

Tachinid fly?

Red spotted Mirid

two wasps?
- The home of this Case Moth is is an intricate piece of work!

Twiggy home of a ‘Case moth’- we have seen a few different types of these

Another type of case moth

Fabulous spider, probably an orb

Painted jezebel

baby spiders- seems they just hatched!