Bug of the week - Giant Dragonfly

The giant dragonfly is one of the largest dragon flies in the world and the 3^rd largest in Australia. The male species has an abdomen length of 6-7.5cm and their wings when expanded can reach up to 11cm! The female is larger with an abdomen length of 8-9.5cm and a wingspan of up to 12.5cm. The giant dragonflies’ larvae are also quite large in comparison to other species, growing up to 5cm in length.

The dragonfly can be found along the NSW east coast. There have been occurrences in the Blue Mountains and southern highlands.

The giant dragonfly lives in swamps and their life cycle is quite short as they only appear from late October to the end of summer. They feed on flying insects, and the males may often wait together in a group for a female to mate with.

Females lay their eggs in moss, under soft ground layers of vegetation. Once hatched the larvae dig along burrows under the swamp and as they are slow growing they may exist in the larval stage for more than 10 years.

The larvae leave their burrows at night to feed on insects and other invertebrate. Underwater entrances provide ideal hunting grounds for food.

The giant dragonfly is under threat, if you happen to come across one of these amazing insects or their larvae do not kill it, it could be the difference between future generations having the pleasure of seeing this amazing insect.

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What am I ?

I recently posted this photo on our Facebook page and asked for peoples opinions on what it was. 

Here is the photo

If you guessed a mosquito or daddy long legs then you would be wrong. 

There are over 700 species of crane flies in Australia alone and are often mistaken for mosquitoes. They have slender bodies, long wings and very long legs and can grow over 6cm in length.

Crane flies belong to the order Diptera, as they have two wings and the female has a sharp egg laying organ on her abdomen

They are mostly found near creeks or in damp areas and are frequently found in suburbia in damp moist areas.

Their larvae can be found in fresh water, damp soil or rotting plants and is worm like, cream, greyish to brownish in colour. They feed on eat decaying plants, dead leaves, fungi, or roots of plants.

Did you know that the crane fly is a beneficial insect as they aid in the decomposition of vegetation.

The Adults and larvae are also a source of food for birds, reptiles, fish, spiders and a large range of insects such as dragonfly’s centipedes and beetles.

Crane flies are attracted to lights, and have been seen to swarm around bright lights at night.

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Bug of the Week -4

The insect world is pure science fiction with many Star Wars characters coming to mind. Most of these amazing insects are dependent on native vegetation and some totally dependant on very specific plants.

Long nosed Weevil is only 20mm long as an adult. Very little information is available for this bug that looks more like an Echidna than it does a bug!

The long nosed beetle has an elongated snout with a mouthpiece which is used to feed by boring along the stem of plants by raising itself up on its fabulous legs and grips the stem strongly

The reason I have chosen this bug this week is because we were asked to identify a bug that had invaded a home, at first it was believed to may have been a tick, but upon further investigation it was found that the bug was in fact a long nosed beetle!

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