The Mediterranean Wood-Boring Bee (Lithurgus chrysurus) is an insect in the Megachilidae family of wood-boring bees.
The Mediterranean Wood-Boring Bee has a slightly flattened, elongated body. It is black with pale-yellow or white bands. It has six legs, two pairs of wings, and three body parts: (1) head, (2) thorax, and (3) abdomen. Its wings are translucent (see-through). Its body has bristly hairs on its sides.
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The Bird Dropping Spider (Celaenia excavata) is an arachnid in the Araneidae family. The toxicity of the Bird Dropping Spider is unknown. It is also known as Death’s Head Spider, Orchard Spider, and Bird-Dung Spider.
The Bird Dropping Spider looks like bird droppings – bird poop – to avoid predators, such as birds. It has a broad, triangular, black-brown body with a pair of bumps near its rear end. Its legs are usually folded against its body.
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The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys) is a small insect in the Pentatomidae family of shield bugs. It is called the Stink Bug because it has an unpleasant smell when it is squashed.
The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug has a dark-brown and bluish hard, shield-shaped exo-skeleton and a cream-coloured underbelly. The shield is called a scutellum. Marmorated means ‘marble-like’ or light and dark bands. Its six greyish-black legs, called tarsi, have three segments. It has forewings (front wings) called hemelytra, and it also has hindwings (back wings). It has a sucking mouthpart.
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The European Mantis (Mantis religiosa) is a large insect in the Mantidae family of mantids, commonly known as the Praying Mantis.
The front pair of legs of the European Mantis has spikes and are bent in a praying position. It is long and green and can be camouflaged in plants. It can also be brown, reddish-brown, or yellow-green. It has a hard shell, called an exo-skeleton. The male and the female have wings, but the wings of the female are too small for flying. It has a triangular head on a thin flexible neck. It has large compound eyes.
Its movement is rhythmic. It sways back and forth or side to side.
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The Red Admiral Butterfly (Vanessa atalanta) is a medium-sized butterfly.
The Red Admiral Butterfly has black wings with orange bands and white spots. Its underside is beige. Its body is light-brown and furry.
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The Violet Valga Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa valga) is an insect in the bee family. It is not a Bumblebee, because a Bumblebee has a hairy body. Xylocopa violaceaand Xylocopa valgaare two species of the Violet Carpenter Bee.
The Violet Valga Carpenter Bee is glossy black all over with sparse black hairs. The opaque wings are dark brown with a blue-coloured sheen. It has six legs, two pairs of wings, and three body parts: (1) head, (2) thorax, and (3) abdomen. Its wings are dark (not translucent like other bees). Its antennae are medium-sized, and the male has slightly bent antennae. The male has a yellow patch on the top of its thorax, whereas the female does not (she has a black thorax). The male does not have a stinger. The female has a stinger on her abdomen, but she is not aggressive.
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The Scarlet Dragonfly (Crocothemis erythraea) is an insect in the Libellulidae family of dragonflies. It is also known as the Broad Scarlet or the Common Scarlet-Darter.
The Scarlet Dragonfly has a long, flattened abdomen. The adult male has a bright scarlet-red abdomen, red-veined wings, and small amber-gold patches at the base of its hindwings (back wings). The female has a yellow-brown abdomen and a pale stripe on the top of its thorax (chest).
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A baby cockroach is called a nymph.
The cockroach is an insect, but it does not undergo a full metamorphosis, because it does not have a pupa or cocoon phase. Its life cycle is: egg, nymph, adult cockroach.
The female cockroach lays 10-40 eggs on the top of soil or other surfaces. They hatch into nymphs after 30-60 days.
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The Protaetia Beetle (Cetonia aeruginosa or Protaetia aeruginosa) is an insect in the Scarabaeidae family of chafers. It is related to the Scarab Beetle.
The Protaetia Beetle has an oval body with six legs. It is metallic iridescent green with a copper-brown head. Its underbelly is coppery brown. The male has dents on its wing cases, whereas the female has fewer or no dents. Its wing cases protect its wings.
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The Balta Wood Cockroach (Balta spuria) is an insect in the Ectobidae family (formerly the Blattellidae family) of cockroaches.
The Balta Wood Cockroach is mostly golden brown with some darker parts on its wing cases. It has a white band at the back of its shell. The female has shorter wings than the male. The male’s wings cover his whole abdomen, whereas the female’s wings cover part of her abdomen.
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The Black Mud Bee (Megachile parietina) is an insect in the mason bee family. It is a pollinator.
The Black Mud Bee is small, black, and shiny. It has a narrow, cylindrical body with a large head. It has black legs and black antennae.
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The Violet Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa violacea) is an insect in the bee family. It is not a Bumblebee, because a Bumblebee has a hairy body.
The Violet Carpenter Bee has six legs, two pairs of wings, and three body parts: (1) head, (2) thorax, and (3) abdomen. It has a shiny black body with short dark-grey hairs, called bristles. Its wings are dark (not translucent like other bees) with a violet-blue sheen. Its antennae are medium-sized, and the male has slightly bent antennae.
The male has a yellow patch on the top of its thorax, whereas the female does not (she has a black thorax). The male does not have a stinger. The female has a stinger on her abdomen, but she is not aggressive.
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The Spiriflex Mud Dauber Wasp (Sceliphron spiriflex) is a medium-sized insect in the Sphecidae family of wasps. It is a sphecid wasp.
The Spiriflex Mud Dauber Wasp has a dull black body with a long yellow waist, called a petiole. Its legs are black with yellow bands. Its antennae are black, and its wings are translucent (clear).
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What is the difference between the Large White Butterfly (Pieris brassicae) and the Small White Butterfly (Pieris rapae)?
Both the Large White Butterfly and the Small White Butterfly are white insects in the Pieridae family of white and yellow butterflies.
The Large White Butterfly is about 5-7 centimetres (2-3 inches) across its wings, whereas the Small White Butterfly is about 3-5 centimetres (1-2 inches) across its wings.
The Large White Butterfly has a black band at the tip of its forewings (front wings), whereas the Small White Butterfly has no black bands.
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The Large White Butterfly (Pieris brassicae) is a small insect in the Pieridae family of white and yellow butterflies. It is also known as the Large Cabbage White. It is a close relative of the Small White Butterfly (Pieris rapae).
The Large White Butterfly is white with black tips on its forewings (front wings). The female has two black spots in the middle of its forewings. The male has no black dots. Its upperside is creamy-white, and its underside is pale-greenish. Its body is black.
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The Small White Butterfly (Pieris rapae rapae) is a small insect in the Pieridae family of white and yellow butterflies. It is also known as the Small Cabbage White.
The Small White Butterfly has a white upperside—the male is creamy-white and the female is brighter white. Both the male and the female have two black spots in the middle of its forewings (front wings). Its underside is yellowish with black speckles.
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The Small Scissor Bee (Chelostoma campanularum) is an insect in the mason bee family. It is also known as the Hare-Bell Carpenter Bee. It is a pollinator.
The Small Scissor Bee is small, black, and shiny. It has a narrow, cylindrical body with a large head. It has black legs and black antennae.
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The Buff-Tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) is an insect in the Apidae family of bees. It is also known as the Large Earth Bumblebee. It is a pollinator.
The Buff-Tailed Bumblebee has a white-tailed abdomen and yellow bands. Its body has fluffy hairs. It has a rounded head with short antennae.
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The Yellowjacket Hoverfly (Milesia virginieusis) is an insect in the Syrphidae family of hoverflies. It is also known as the Virginia Flower Fly or the Syrphid Fly. It is a syrphid. It is also a pollinator. It is related to the Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax).
The Yellowjacket Hoverfly looks like a hornet, bee, or wasp, but it does not have a stinger on its tail. It is harmless. It is bright, glossy yellow with dark bands on its abdomen. It has six short yellowish legs. It has very large, black compound eyes. It has one pair of translucent (clear, see-through) wings with dark veins.
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