#rattyexplores

[identifying-ladybugs-in-posts]

Coccinellini

Black-spotted lady beetles

Black-spotted Lady Beetle Pupae

Unidentified, tribe Coccinellini

24/03/23 - NSW, Dapto

[documentary-surrealist]

A large gathering of Steelblue Ladybirds! (Halmus chalybeus). 16/09/20 via: tumblr.com/rattyexplores

[greyphitus]

@rattyexplores So here is the first little dude I found, I found more this weekend that I’ll try to get uploaded in a more timely manner since they have more detail than this noodle. It was on the shelf fungi in the post previous to this one.

[onenicebugperday]

@greyphitus submitted: Back with the weird caterpillars. I already asked rattyexplores for their input but additional ideas can’t hurt. Texas (and link has more habitat/behavior info).

Not surprising it looks just like Artigisa melanephele, they're in the same tribe. Yours is likely in the genus Metalectra, though. The common fungus moth, Metalectra discalis, is probably the most common in your area, and the caterpillars do look like your photos, but it could be another similar-looking species in the same genus. Metalectra diabolica is common there too but I couldn't find a positively IDed photo of a caterpillar for that species. Cute friend either way though!

[fabrikrattejaks]

𝑴𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒔

@rattyexplores, my Bug Hunting Journal. Filled with photos and videos of insects, and the occasional frog.

@rattejakreblogs, my art sharing blog. Filled with art I either reblogged, or reuploaded. I try to give credit when I can.

[technoxenoholic]

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[rattyexplores]

I returned to Microporus affinis, and was delighted to see that the fungus was brighter and fruitier than ever!

I snapped as many photos as I could before my battery ran out (I think I took too many...) And went home immediately, only to go to bed.

I hope the rain returns so we see more.

(More photos on Instagram, @ Rattyexplores

[futurebird]

Why long for astrobiology when real biology is so fantastic and wonderful.

[Image Descriptions: rattyexplores has covered most of it. But, to give a better idea of exactly what it looks like there are white, ribbed creatures of various sizes, they have something of the trilobite and xenomorph about them. They look like they are made of cotton. Attending them are shiny black ants with pointed gasters. The tree limb looks at first diseased with speckles and blotches, then when you look closer it resolves into an alien landscape. ]

There's a lot happening in this big mess of bugs. Firstly, it seems the palm tree already had a problem with scale insects, there's probably thousands just on this part of the tree alone. Despite the large amount of scale insects, some mealybugs decided to join the party also, bringing along their protective ant colony, which milk the mealies for honeydew. With the ants protecting their honeydew source, the mealybugs should be safe right? Well no, the larvae of the Mealybug Destroyer ladybug is also present. You may have noticed that some of the mealybugs are much larger than they should be. That's because, of course, these are not mealybugs at all, but predatory lady beetle larvae, mimicking the appearance of their food source: the mealybugs. I don't know why there's a huge, layered ecosystem on a decorative palm tree outside the conference room, but here we are.

Here's a list of the insects present (there's also the fat maggot-looking things in the first photo, but I don't know what they could be):

Technomyrmex sp. - large black ants

Pseudococcidae sp. - mealybugs (white, dusty bugs)

Cryptolaemus montrouzieri - suspiciously large mealybugs

Coccoidea sp. - weird speckes and round shapes on the bark (literally layers upon layers of scale insects)

14/09/23

QLD:CQC - Woppa (Great Keppel Island)

[machudson]

This lichen is so so so gorgeous that I immediately felt compelled to try to identify it. I did some iNaturalist scouting (used some of your bug IDs to guesstimate your corner of the globe, and then literally just scrolled through nearby species of Peltigerales until I found something that fits) and I may have an ID for you: Coccocarpia pellita or a relative! While iNaturalist doesn't have all that many observations of it in general, GBIF has plenty and a lot of them are in your area. (Had to remove links lest tumblr hide this reblog. Hellsite.)

This bright blue lichen is a common sight in this area. Yet, I still cannot find ID…

04/05/22