What is a group of midges called?
A midge is a very small, two-winged, flying insect.
Continue reading “What is a group of midges called?”What is a group of midges called?
A midge is a very small, two-winged, flying insect.
Continue reading “What is a group of midges called?”What is a group of insects called?
A group of insects (of different species together) is called a horde of insects, a nest of insects, a plague of insects, a rabble of insects, or a swarm of insects.
Continue reading “What is a group of insects called?”Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Continue reading “WHAT ANIMAL IS THIS #18”The Brown-Banded Carder Bee (Bombus humilis) is an insect in the Apidae family of bumblebees.
The Brown-Banded Carder Bee has a yellow-orange fuzzy thorax. It has a broad dark-brown band on its abdomen. Its body has fluffy hairs. It has a rounded head with short antennae. Its rear legs are bare and shiny.
Continue reading “Brown-Banded Carder Bee”Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Continue reading “WHAT ANIMAL IS THIS? #16”The Pearleaf Blister Mite (Eriophyes pyri) is an insect in the Eriophyidae family of leaf mites. It is considered to be a pest in fruit orchards. It is a leaf gall. It is related to spiders.
The Pearleaf Blister Mite is tiny and whitish. It produces visible galls that look like yellow rice on the top surface of leaves. The galls are domed with openings. Initially, the galls are yellow-green, and then they turn brown.
Continue reading “Pearleaf Blister Mite”The Golden Ground Beetle (Carabus auratus) is an insect in the Carabidae family of ground beetles.
The Golden Ground Beetle is iridescent gold to golden-brown and green on its head, thorax, and abdomen. It is flightless, even though it has wings. The wings are hidden under the elytra (wing casings). Its legs, antennae, and mouth parts are orange.
Continue reading “Golden Ground Beetle”The Dark-Edged Bee Fly (Bombylius major) is an insect in the Bombyliidae family of flies. It is also known as the Large Bee Fly or the Large Humblefly.
The Dark-Edged Bee Fly is the similar size and shape of a Bumblebee (Bombus sp.), but its body is more triangular. It is dark-coloured with a brown hairy thorax and abdomen. It has translucent wings with a dark-brown edge. When it rests, its wings are spread out. Bumblebees have two pairs of wings, but the Dark-Edged Bee Fly has only one pair of wngs.
Its long, grey proboscis (nose) looks like a stinger or sword on the top of its head. Its proboscis is always straight (like a unicorn horn) because it cannot curl or retract it. Butterflies, for example, can roll up their proboscis. The Dark-Edged Bee Fly has long legs. It has short antennae. Unlike a bee, it does not have a stinger.
Continue reading “Dark-Edged Bee Fly”The Turkish Crane Fly (Prionocera turcica) is a large insect in the Tipulidae family of crane flies.
The Turkish Crane Fly looks like a giant mosquito. It has six very long, thin, fragile legs. The legs easily drop off and re-grow. It has a large pair of translucent wings. Its segmented abdomen is long and grey. The male has a swollen tip on the end of his abdomen and the female has an ovipositor at the end of her abdomen, which is a tube to lay eggs.
The Turkish Crane Fly has black segmented antennae. Its nose, called a snout or a rostrum, has a beak-like tip, and the apical segment is long and protruded. Its compound eyes are large and dark.
Continue reading “Turkish Crane Fly”The Sabre Wasp (Rhyssa persuasoria) is an insect in the Ichneumonidae family of wasps. It is also known as the Giant Ichneumon Wasp or the Persuasive Burglar.
The Sabre Wasp has a thin black body with several whitish spots on its head, thorax, and abdomen. It has reddish legs. Its antennae are long and thin. It has two pairs of wings. The female has a very long stinger and ovipositor, which is used to lay eggs. The male does not have a stinger or an ovipositor.
Continue reading “Sabre Wasp”The Fruit Fly (Drosophila melanogaster) is a small insect in the Drosophilidae family of flies. It is also known as the Vinegar Fly.
The Fruit Fly is yellow-brown with red eyes and black rings on its abdomen. The male has a black patch on its abdomen.
Continue reading “Fruit Fly”The White Plume Moth (Pterophorus pentadactylus) is an insect in the Pterophoridae family of moths.
The White Plume Moth is white – with white wings and a white body. Each of its hind (back) wings is divided into three thin feathery plumes. Each of its front wings is divided into two thin feathery plumes. It looks like it has five feathery fingers on each side of its body. It has long white antennae and white legs.
Continue reading “White Plume Moth”The Cabbage Fly (Delia radicum) is an insect in the Anthomyiidae family of crop flies. It is also known as the Cabbage Root Fly, the Root Fly, or the Turnip Fly.
The Cabbage Fly is grey and looks like the House Fly.
Continue reading “Cabbage Fly”The Coffin Fy (Phoridea sp.) is a small insect in the Phoridae family of coffin and scuttle flies. It is a phorid fly. It is also known as the Hump-Backed Fly or the Phorid Fly.
The Coffin Fly resembles a Fruit Fly. It has a brown-black body with a humped back (a humped thorax). Sometimes, it is yellow, orange, pale-grey, or pale-white. Its bristly head is rounded with two compound eyes. The male has close-set eyes, whereas the female has wide-set eyes. This is called dichoptic. It has short antennae with feathered tips. It has a short proboscis, which is a tubular mouthpart for sucking nectar from plants. It has six brown legs. Its wings are translucent (see-through) with black veins. Unlike other flies, its wings do not have cross-veins.
Continue reading “Coffin Fly”The Pauxillum Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum pauxillum) is a common, small insect in the Halictidae family of sweat bees. It is called a sweat bee because it is attracted to the sweat of animals and humans.
The Pauxillum Sweat Bee is metallic black. It has thin, whitish abdominal 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). It has enlarged compound eyes.
Continue reading “Pauxillum Sweat Bee”What is a group of mosquitoes called?
A group of mosquitoes is called a scourge of mosquitoes.
Continue reading “What is a group of mosquitoes called?”The Red Flea Beetle (Sphaeroderma rubidum) is a small insect in the Chrysomelidae family and Neocrepidodera sub-family of flea beetles. It is a chrysomelid. It is also referred to as the Red Altise Beetle or Red Artichoke Beetle.
The Red Flea Beetle is entirely red or rusty-red or orange-red. It has a round domed abdomen (almost circular or globular), with red elytra (wing cases). It has a wide head and large eyes. The pronotum (behind the head) has no grooves. Its six legs are light-red. It has long, thin antennae that are close together. Its hind (back) legs are longer than its front legs, which enables it to hop.
Continue reading “Red Flea Beetle”The Spot Swordtail Butterfly (Graphium nomius) is an insect in the Papilionidae family of swallowtail butterflies.
The Spot Swordtail Butterfly has a line of distinct white spots along the margin of its wings. One of the hind (back) wings has black markings on the underside. On the upperside, it is black and yellowish-cream, with broad stripes on the edge of its front wings. It has both spots and stripes on its hind wings. It has distinct black swordtails. Its body is black with medium-sized black antennae.
Continue reading “Spot Swordtail Butterfly”The Green Leafhopper (Empoasca decipiens) is an insect in the Cicadellidae family of leafhoppers.
The Green Leafhopper is green, and sometimes it has a pale-blue tint. It has strong hind (back) legs that are modified for jumping. The back legs are also covered with hairs. It has short antennae. It has two simple eyes, called ocelli, on the top of its head. It has two sets of wings – the front wings and the hind wings. It has a mouthpart with a sucking and piercing part that enables it to stick into plants to sip the juices.
Continue reading “Green Leafhopper”Why does the Jungle Nymph have spiky legs?
The Jungle Nymph (Heteropteryx dilatata) is a large insect in the Heteropterygidae family of stick insects.
The female is bright green, much larger than the male, but with very small wings and she cannot fly. She looks life a green leaf. She arches her body backwards. The male is mottled brown, much smaller than the female, with large pinks wings and can fly.
Continue reading “Why does the Jungle Nymph have spiky legs?”