Image credit: Canberra nature map under licence These ground dwelling insects have a unique diet and distinctive appearance, and can be found in gardens across much of Australia. They can also deliver a very painful sting like their more notorious relatives. Could you identify a blue ‘ant’?
These nocturnal insects have a head like a prawn and feet like a mole, are as long as your finger and their song is as loud as a rock concert or leaf blower. Would you be able to identify a mole cricket?
These land-dwelling crustaceans are most often seen when they’re red, pink, and dead. Would you be able to identify a lawn prawn?
They look like tiny termites and can swarm in their millions, sometimes forming a moving carpet in grain storage areas. Would you be able to identify Liposcelis?
There are a number of borers that are pests of trees and timber in service. Correct identification is essential to determine the nature of the issue and the treatment. One genus only infests eucalypt trees and has become a major pest of timber plantations. Would you be able to identify a Eucalyptus Longicorn?
Most pest managers will know the pests with the nasty bites and stings, but if there’s one insect you want to avoid swatting, this could be it! Would you be able to identify a rove beetle?
Every now and then pest managers have to deal with a pest infestation in customers’ gardens. One of the more common of these infrequent invaders is the red and black seed bug. Would you be able to identify and red and black seed bug?
American and Australian cockroaches would be the most common large cockroaches encountered by pest managers. But there are plenty of native cockroach species, many of which are found around the house and garden. Would you be able to identify a shining cockroach?
As pest managers we regularly get asked to identify spiders. For some spiders, and people, this is an easy task but for many this is a challenge. Formal spider identification typically requires some sort of magnification and a very good understanding of spider anatomy. With so many spider species, you would think this is a task best suited for a professional arachnologist, however, there are a few short cuts or ‘dead giveaways’ to at least help identify the spider at […]
