Shield bug mother and babies

So while on school holidays visiting the grandparents, I had to bring my Spiny Leafs.  Knowing they needed daily misting and new leaves every couple of days, it was the only choice. (Everyone travels with their bugs, right?)   I had no problem feeding them since the town we visited was simply overflowing with gum trees.  I had also read that if you feed them leaves from the wattle family the Spiny’s will turn green instead of brown.  Eager to test this out, I brought the kids and Grammy along for an excursion to relieve a local tree of a few of its branches.

While holding one of the branches with a lovely yellow bloom on it, my oldest excitedly told me she found “a bug mama and babies!!”

You can see all of the adorable babies underneath Mom in the above picture.

In this picture we can even see the egg casings.

I did a little research and I can confidently say the insect is a Shield bug.  I’m going to guess a Brown Long-headed Shield bug.

And let me tell you, she was a good guardian of those little ones.  If I put a finger on the left side of the leaf, she would lean her body over to that side to keep me and the babies on opposite sides.  And she never budged from that spot.  And the babies even stayed put, for the most part.

Fascinating.

In case you’re wondering, we did relocate her and bubs to a new tree that they could feel safe in and still feed from.

Creature catch up

Some of you may have noticed that I had a bit of a hiatus from blogging.  And although it was hard to find the time to post about the things I was seeing, I never stopped taking pictures.  Life can get busy but when you stop seeing the beauty that’s all around you, it’s time to slow down.  So, my apologies for the absence but here are a few pictures to get you caught up.  And remember, although this is an entomology blog, beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.

 

Shield Bug

Male and female Rhinoceros beetles

Bee on Mock orange bush

 

Spangled Drongo

Male and female Galahs

First ever close up of a crow

Female Rhino beetle giving my nose a hug

Red-eye bug nymphs

My brave girl holding a Cotton Harlequin bug

Seriously big dragonfly

Cotton Harlequin Bug

Just a quick post to share some pictures I was able to get of some of the beautiful Cotton Harlequin bugs that are so abundant lately.

Hello out there, there, there…

So, I know, it’s been a while.  Look, I am sooooooo not a fan of bloggers who blog and then don’t, and blog and then don’t.  And I honestly never thought I’d go this long without posting but if you must know, I’m a woman of many, many, many interests-too many, if you ask my husband.  Sometimes, others take precedence and right now I happen to be training for my first (tiny, beginner, don’t get too excited for me) triathlon.  And let me tell you that between three children and swimming, running or cycling 5-6 days a week, (oh yeah, there is all that laundry and cleaning and shopping and sleeping) I just could not have been bothered to sit down and post a darn thing.

But here I am.  Because I’m a glutton for punishment…from myself.  What does that make me?

Anyway, I wanted to share a few pictures I’ve taken over the last few weeks-don’t get too excited, I used the iPhone.  But, now that we here in the Land Down Unda are in summer, there are more and more things to find.  I’ll let you know what everything is but I’ll leave the last picture a mystery for another post.  Any guesses?

Just a hole, right?

Closer…

Well, hi there!

I’m guessing (well, hoping)  the above is a Trapdoor Spider.  (Yes, they’re as cool as they sound.) He looks a bit different from the ones I’ve seen so I’m not sure if he’s a juvenile or something else altogether.  There is one that looks sort of like this that I found in the US and is named after the singer Neil Young, true story.  How cool would that be? Find a new species and get to name it after something you love!  My find would be something like, Insecta Wineandpickles.  Anyway, I’ll do more on this guy as I find out more.  Stay tuned!

Blue Eyes Damselfly

Shield/Stink bug.

That Shield bug actually fell out of a tree and into the inside lens of my sunglasses.  My friend I was with remarked how insects were even falling out of the trees for me…they know me too well.

And here’s the mystery insect.  I found this guy near drowning on the side of the kids’ pool.  I wish I had a better picture than this but when he finally came to and started moving, he was quick, and very cooly robotic!  Not smooth movements but a bit punctuated.  His hind legs, as you can see are much longer and when properly standing, sit like a grasshopper’s.  I will tell you this is not related to a grasshopper but I’ll leave the rest up to you to find out…if you can.  Otherwise, look for my post on it.  And yes, I had to ask for help.  I couldn’t figure this guy out, although I did guess the correct type of insect and family.  

So, good luck!  I’ll try to do another post in a couple of days in between reality shows, I mean, naps, no, I mean after my training.  😉