Invertebrates of January

This is my set of invertebrate photographs for January 2014, following on, with hopefully not too much repetion, from a set for December.  Some will be named from the start, others will require further research and some will remain simply "insects".

Arachnophobes may wish to avoid this post as there is a close up of a spider and a robber fly.

The initial set were all taken on some large daisies growing in our lawn.  Here we have a beetle - taking a guess - some form of scarab.  Confirmed as  Microvalgus sp.
 A dipterid fly.
 The first Polystgima punctata (Flower Chafers) have appeared.
I suspect more of them are due in the future.  Even when you seek privacy on the underside of a petal the camera still intrudes.
This is a collection of Acacia pravississima seeds around a hole made by some small ants.
 This is a spider (so this is invertebrates, not insects).
A Common Blue butterfly (Zizina labradus).  This image is mainly because of the amount of detail I (or at least the camera) managed to capture.
It seems that these insects Dicranolaius villosus are not the "usual" Melyrid, but this year they are very common at our place.  This was a particularly large grouping.
 I am reasonably sure this is a bee-fly (family Bombyliidae) but I can't get any closer than that.  Wrong: it is apparently Trichophthalma punctata, a member of the Nemestrinidae, sometimes called Tangle-vein flies
Our new creek crossing was enhanced by a Christmas Beetle Anoplognathus chloropyrus.
Frances drew my attention to a spider dealing with a Robber Fly (possibly Zosteria rosevillensis).  I repeat my warning to those who get a little overcome by spiders: shut your eyes here.
 The kiss of the spider woman?
Down at the Creek I found a mid-sized Dragonfly perched on the bank.
The wings being held perpendicular to the body say 'dragonfly' rather than 'damselfly' but I can't get further than that.

Continued here.

Comments

Denis Wilson said…
Nice insects - but why write off the rest of the month, so quickly?
Still awaiting your final wrap of the weather for 2013, especially rainfall total for the year.
Denis
3 January 2014 at 09:43:00 GMT+11
Flabmeister said…
Denis

Thanks for the comment.

This post will get added to as the month progresses with a mention in my update post at the end of the month. Unless it gets horrendously long in which case I will start another post.

If I leave it to the end of the month to start I have trouble retrieving the photos.

Martin
3 January 2014 at 21:00:00 GMT+11
Judi Gray said…
these are great - some of which we have seen here, but I didn't know what they were called - I look forward to the additional photos to come.
4 January 2014 at 09:43:00 GMT+11
Flabmeister said…
Thanks Judith.

Our Bursaria spinosa(blackthorn) is just about to hit its straps so the invertebrate diversity is going to get a major boost.

Martin
4 January 2014 at 11:52:00 GMT+11
Kimberi Pullen said…
A few more names for your insects. The 'bee fly'is Trichophthalma punctata, a member of the Nemestrinidae, sometimes called Tangle-vein flies. The first beetle is indeed a scarab, of the genus Microvalgus (can't give you a species).
8 December 2016 at 01:59:00 GMT+11
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