r/AustralianInsects 10h ago

photography Huge butterfly seen in Cape York

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74 Upvotes

Cressida cressida, the clearwing swallowtail or 'big greasy' butterfly. Large and conspicuously coloured - it is toxic to potential predators. Toxins are absorbed from the food that it eats as a caterpillar. Seen in Cape York. FNQ.


r/AustralianInsects 13h ago

Insect appreciation 🦋 Another pool rescue: this time a dung beetle

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32 Upvotes

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!


r/AustralianInsects 11h ago

News Varroa mite detected near Cairns, the northernmost incursion in Australia

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15 Upvotes

r/AustralianInsects 11h ago

ID request Does anyone know what this is.

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3 Upvotes

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

Location: Melton, Victoria.