Reader Tony Eales from Australia sends some camouflaged beasties and a brightly colored spider. His notes are indented.
Some camouflage.
A Brisbane Two-tailed Spider, Tamopsis brisbanensis, on a mangrove tree trunk. These are very hard to spot. They have a leg span of around 3 or 4 cm. I believe the one in the photograph has some securely wrapped prey in front of it on the bark but even this is well camouflaged. I found this video of a slightly different species of Two-tailed spider catching prey: https://youtu.be/6uo1rPHxlRI
I’ve sent a Flat-headed Leafhopper (Ledromorpha planirostris) nymph as a spot the before, but I saw another one just recently. I’ve attached a long shot, a close up and the reveal.
At the opposite end of the spectrum from camouflage, I found another species of Peacock Jumping Spider. This one is Maratus nigromaculatus.
I’ve also included a picture of one of our really common and colourful bugs. It is a male Cotton Harlequin Bug (Tectocoris diophthalmus). Females are orange with iridescent green blotches, and the nymphs are iridescent dark blue with red patches. They love hibiscus, especially the tree-sized ones we have around here called Cotton Trees (Hibiscus tiliaceus).
And lastly a katydid genus Polichne. There’s a lot of undescribed and hard to distinguish species in this genera.
Reblogged this on The Logical Place.
Wonderful stuff! I love bugs in the morning, over coffee.
So many variety of insects, all beautiful. Is there an Official Insect on this site? If not, I’d like to nominate Spiders.
But spiders are not insects.
Of course you are correct, but you know what I mean, little critters.. or are spiders not critters either 🙂
I think they are all classified as Arthurpods ,haha ,too lazy to look up the correct spelling .
Arthropods, from arthro-, joint and -pod, foot, are indeed critters.
The camo on the first spider is amazing ,would it bite if you put your hand on it not realising it was there ?
And are those lines in the bug photo made by Leaf Miners ?
The spider is too smalll and timid to bite. The span of the legs can get to an inch or so but the body is quite small. Those marks are made by Scribbly Gum Moth larvae Ogmograptis scribula
Thanks for the info about the spider ,is the moth a leaf miner ,the larvae live inside the leaves ,the tracks they leave get bigger as they grow .
“Scribbly Gum Moth.” Great name! 😀
Cool cryptic creatures. I like the spider too.
Wow, fantastic photos! That spider vid was very cool, too. Most interesting behavior.
Thanks, Tony!
The nymph is great!