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.

All Images found online | No copyright infringement intended | All rights belong to their rightful owners

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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The Zombie Apocalypse, Caterpillar Style!

A virus which has struck the caterpillar world sends hypnotized victims running for tree tops. An action that is unusual for this type of caterpillar species. In a normal scenario the caterpillar would feed on leaves at night and hide during the day in cracks and crevices of the tree branch, however this virus has managed to change the natural habits of this caterpillar, by sending it up higher in the trees, not to feed but to die.

Once dead their bodies melt and fall down onto their brothers and sisters below, enabling the virus to continue to spread. This virus is known as Baculovirus and has seen to affect gypsy moth caterpillars.

This virus has turned caterpillars into Zombies!

When the caterpillar dies its body turns to liquid!

Each single drop of liquefied caterpillar contains millions of viruses.

One more worrying thing that has been discovered is that the virus is able to survive in the bellies of birds that have fed on the caterpillar; the virus is spread wider by the bird’s droppings.

All Images found online | No copyright infringement intended | All rights belong to their rightful owners

Bug of the Week - 3

The Golden Spider Beetle

 

The Golden spider beetle is a pest of stored food items such as seeds, dried meat, tea, seeds and grains. It can also be found in leather, books, paper, cotton silk and feathers and is covered in silky golden hairs and fine scales.

This nocturnal beetle spends the days in cracks and crevices and looks like a spider as it has a round abdomen, long thin legs. Its larvae are yellow white grubs with a brown head.

The adult beetle is about 4-5mm in length while the larvae can grow up to 3.5mm long.

The female beetle lays anywhere from 20-40 eggs and between 11-30 days after being laid and become adults just 18-26 days later.

The life cycle of the golden spider beetle is around 9mths.

All Images found online | No copyright infringement intended | All rights belong to their rightful owners

Think before you lick...

The envelope or stamp!!!

Lets face it, we all do it, 

we lick the envelope to seal and the stamp to stick!  

After reading this I am sure you will think of other means to seal the envelope and stick the stamp....

Did you know.....

The favorite food of cockroaches is the envelope glue and the glue behind postage stamps! 

YUCK!