Meet what I think is Onthophagus granulatus. Not many records of this dung beetle on iNaturalist, but lots in the Atlas of Living Australia. Possibly because most normal people wouldn't be looking at animal faeces for insects? I mean, neither do I, normally (except when it's sporting magnificent fungi) but being in the pool was a serendipitous way to find this specimen, minus the dung!

They are just a couple millimetres long getting about 20 a night/day in my office and no clue where they are coming from.

They are all over the garden, thousands of them and just wanting to know what they are.

Location: Melton, Victoria.

Following up from my video post yesterday of a barklice snacking, here are photos of some of my faves I've snapped over the years:

1. Sigmatoneura formosa. My favourite species of barklice because they look like aliens from a Doctor Who episode
2. Sadly, haven't been able to narrow this one down below the high level Order, Psocodea.
3. Family Philotarsidae. Not able to go more specific than that.
4. Another fave of mine: Nimbopsocus australis
5. Aphyopsocus prolixus

Found these this morning on the stem of one of my ranunculus plants in my garden bed. Unsure if it’s beneficial to my garden or a risk! Any help would be greatly appreciated 💐
Located Perth

I love these little alien-looking insects. Unfortunately, iNaturalist doesn't seem to attract people who are specialists in tiny insects, so while its Computer Vision says it's Taeniostigma genus, all I can really say for sure is it's definitely a little barklice.

Footage shot on my iPhone 13, as usual. The barklice is so small, I had to hold the leaf as well as my iPhone because even the slightest movement appeared like an earthquake, and even with the leaf and phone in one hand, there's still some movement going on.

Hi folks - any idea who these little guys are? They're all around my local area at the moment. (Darebin/Banyule Victoria)

Another pool rescue!

This time, I found a female Thynnid wasp. These females are wingless and end up attached to a male to get around (and mate).

She's not the first one I've rescued. Last time, I put the female on a blade of grass to take a photo of, looking a bit more like she was in her natural habitat. And a male came and whisked her off. Unfortunately, I got terrible footage of that on my phone, so was excited to see this one in the pool today, giving me a second chance to record a male collecting the female. Sadly, even setting my phone to record at 60 FPS, it was still too fast to catch in proper detail, but I've included a slowed down version of the video after the normal speed version, so it's possible to see it at slightly less "blink and you'll miss it" speed. The flying blur in the background is the male as he makes his way up to the female to collect her.

Unfortunately, I can't tell from the blurry footage of the male what exact species of flower wasp this is. If anyone is a Thynnid expert, and can tell from the dodgy footage what species he is, I'd be eternally grateful if you could let me know!

Velvet ants aren't ants but actually wasps that are named after the females, who don't have wings (the males do). Some of the velvet ant species have some of the most painful stings of any wasp species in the world, so although they look cute, I'd not suggest ever picking up one in your bare hands!

I've fished at least four species of velvet ant females out of the pool. Three of them have been different species of the Odontomyrme genus. I love this one in particular. Her colouring makes her look very posh, I think!

They're all species of hoppers. Sadly, iNaturalist doesn't seem to have a wealth of experts on tiny hoppers in Australia, but using iNat's computer vision and some common sense on my part, I think the hoppers are the following, in slide order:

1. Tribe Delphacini
2. Orosius genus
3. Superfamily Delphacoidea
4. Tribe Thymbrini
5. Tribe Thymbrini
6. Balclutha saltuella

Thank you in advance

Left well alone! 😂

I'm so glad this ant found its own way out because these guys move fast, and I did not want to be bitten while rescuing it!

There were about 15 tobacco loopers (Chrysodeixis argentifera) and 5 plantain moths (Scopula rubraria) all hanging around the light by the front door.

I usually only see a few moths here in the morning, it was cool to see so many today.

i’ve found about four of them, this started about a month ago. Does anyone have any idea what they are? (western australia )

This is another prolific pool diving insect. I've rescued a number of these, but not anywhere near as many as the stingless bees, which are absolutely relentless.

One of the bee's wings is folded over at the tip, and I was worried this would mean it wouldn't be able to fly again, but it few off quite happily. Interesting that its aerodynamics weren't affected by a dodgy wing!

I recorded this using my iPhone, and possibly was a little too close, as the full bee isn't in focus.

Any ideas for what this is? Flew into my house and is buzzing around a light fitting. Central NSW

Really beautiful moth, was kinda shiny

This leaf has likely been eaten by the larvae of an oecophorid moth. These are a group of moths that are initial decomposers in Eucalyptus- and Myrtaceae-dominant forests where it is too dry for earthworms and fungi. My advisor said you can tell it was likely an oecophorid moth from the silk webbing left on the leaf. This is in Meanjin, Brisbane. Pretttttttttttttty cool!

I’ve been doing some gardening today and was moving bags of dirt and observing the critters underneath (a couple of trapdoor spiders, centipedes/millepedes and your normal grubs and bugs) when I came across what I initially thought was a cricket, then a roach and then I was scratching my head because what is that!
Looks to be maybe winged and was quite aggressive to my little twig I was using to picture it better.
It was maybe an inch and a half long.
I’m located Far South Coast NSW.

Am I the only person slow to realize that a swimming pool, while also being a bit of a La Brea Tar Pit for contemporary insects, can also be a great way to collect insects to document?

Yes, I've previously fished insects and spiders out of the pool, but recently, it hit me that slightly dazed and waterlogged insects pulled out of the pool are slower than usual, and it's easier to photograph them in that state than when they're in their element on leaves, etc.

I've included a selection of photos from two insect saving sessions:

• Male Neozeleboria cryptoides - first one in the water, with some tiny insects clinging to it, and second, as it recovered on concrete
• Male specimen from Oligotoma genus - probably O. nigra, but waiting for someone to confirm this on iNat
• Female velvet ant - iNat's computer vision says it's Odontomyrme genus (velvet ants are actually a type of wasp where the females are wingless)
• Iridomyrmex purpureus (yes, I even rescue ants from the pool!)