Invertebrates of January 2017

As may be inferred from the title this post includes some beasts with 8 legs, so arachnophobes may wish to be alert to avoid their buttons getting pressed.  I have got a bit out of practice at identifying these animals so many of the names will be generalised to start with and I will update them as research reveals the details.

I will begin with a run through the life cycle, beginning with where life starts.  . These are Spotted Flower Chafers Polystigma punctata although it looks like something other than the flower is getting chafed here.  I am intrigued about the legs getting waved in the air!
The next day I found some much smaller beetles also reveling in throes.  The image is pretty bad, as light was lacking, but I have included it because again the rear legs are raised!
I haven't found any interesting eggs yet, so will pass on to the larval stage.  I'm pretty sure this is an Orchard Butterfly Papilio aegeus.  I love seeing the adults fluttering around, but the young have unfortunate habits wrt the leaves of our lemon trees. Rather severe discipline tends to get administered.
 I have no idea what species this was.  Note use of past tense: it also was on the lemon.
 Some beetles on the daisies.
 A Melyrid beetle, related to the Red and and Blue Bettle.
Sticking with Beetles my next offering is a weevil Gonipterus sp. dining on a eucalypt leaf.
 So was this "standard" Christmas beetle Anoplognathus rugosus.
 Its less common close relative Anoplognathus chloropyrus was exploring some Bursaria spinosa (Blackthorn - which is usually an excellent place to go insect hunting).
 So was Eupoecila australasiae (Fiddler beetle from the pattern looking like a violin).
 A very basic leaf beetle.  I will take a punt on the family Chrysomelinae perhaps Paropsisterna sp.
I always think of true bugs as being closely related to beetles. I am pretty sure this is a bug of some type.
We can now move in to the Order Lepidoptera.

 A rather battered Swift Moth found on the floor.  Very unwell.
 Staying with Lepidoptera here are two pix of what I think is a Silky Hairstreak (Pseudalmenus chlorinda) but was actually a Stencilled Hairstreak ( Jalmenus ictinus): thanks to the lepidopterist known as Laika Andlara for the ID!

 and possibly a male Common Brown (Heteronympha merope).


A spider about to dine on an ant.
 Another spider  having a meal.
 This one was just cruising a daisy flower.
 A rather elongated spider: I'm hoping the body shape will enable a little refinement of the ID, although in many cases attaching a name seems to involve close analysis of the eyes.
Having found a few of the long spiders in this pose ...
... I am tempted to call them "Shrimp-imitating spiders".

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