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!