The creepy crawly thread.....

[mikewint]

Agreed, absolutely fantastic pics. Never seen anything like it before. As to the first two pics I'd need to see more details. My first thought was a type of leaf-hopper but i see no legs and secondly a type of moth but i see no antenna, third thought a type of crysalis. Keep watch and see if an adult form emerges or just croak one and spread it out

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Very inginuitive spider.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Thanks guys and Mike I've done a bit of looking on that bug and have come up with a Greenhouse Whitefly, these fellows are different from the normal whitefly in that the wings overlap to form a heart shape whereas the normal fellow has it's wings slightly open and the body can be seen.

 

[Gnomey]

Nice shots Vic!

 

[mikewint]

Vic, glad that you ID'ed the critter. I could not see enough details to make a more definitive guess. Plus there are some strange down under critters

 

[Wayne Little]

We got weird and wonderful here Mike!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Just thought I'd chuck this one in, nearly stood on it while walking the bush a couple of weeks back. It's a Shingle Backed Lizard about 36cm long.

 

[RabidAlien]

Hey, its Bob's bigger cousin, from Australia!

 

[vikingBerserker]

Great shot!

 

[GrauGeist]

Cool shot, Vic...heck, the previous photos are cool, too...especially the Spider with the shell. Has anyone checked to see if that's been done before?

 

[Vic Balshaw]

As a follow on from the shell spider, it has now abandoned its rental accommodation and moved into more desirable residence, a leaf house.

The shell still hangs by a thread, literally. Swinging aimlessly in the breeze.

 

[Gnomey]

Nice stuff Vic!

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

An engineering arachnid.

 

[beaupower32]

The shell is where the inlaws will sleep from now on....

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

 

[mikewint]

Really neat stuff vic, I'm waiting for spring here. We have tent caterpillars and ants that build nests in trees but I've never seen a spider do anything like that

 

[Florence]

Any volunteers to remove these buggers for me?

They have strategically placed their nest in the middle of a cactus plant.
This and the fact I am not very brave when it comes to wasps (been stung before - more than once) causes me great concern.
It is one of the larger size nests I have ever had the horror to find in my garden. I must have counted a thousand of the bloody things swarming over and around it.


Rather not kill them but they are too close to the back door.

David.

 

[mikewint]

Not an expert on downunder insects, but those are a species of paper-wasps which are agressive stingers. Make sure you know exactly where the nest is located, wait until late at night (wasps do not fly at night, they all return to the nest) get a couple of cans of jet-stream spray (most spray 6m or more) wasp killer and using both at once spray and soak the entire nest. If you do not get all do it again the next night,

 

[Florence]

Cheers for the advice. Paper Wasps alright. On closer examination the cactus appears to have browned off/ died on a major stem and I think they are using that to build their nest.

Night attack eh? Sneaky.

As an aside, I have clear memories of my grandfather dousing a wasp nest in petrol and setting it alight with a rolled up newspaper he used as a match.
The smell of singed hair and the black mark up the side of the house did not impress my nan.

David.

 

[GrauGeist]

I hate Wasps, so my first thought was napalm...lots of it...

But that's just me...you might want to try Mike's advice, though...it'll do the job nicely and won't get you into trouble with the neighbors and/or local authorities...