AusBonsai

Was checking out the kangaroo apples and noticed a grub hanging out, tapping his tail, as
some of my previously posted assassin bugs were all up in his//her face ..
I thought at first they were going to 'attack', but no .. nada
Then I found a group of them all huddled up, and they would raise their tails as u got close ...
.. got a cool snap of them, though a little out of focus - DOF a liitle slim ...
ANYONE know what these grubs are? I have no idea..
Matt.

Another of my little friends

Matt, Just saw your grub photos and request for id. They are the larvae of some sort of sawfly. Not sure how many different sawflies we have in Aus. We get them mostly on eucalypts and they are commonly called 'spitfires'. I have never seen them on kangaroo apple - maybe they were lost? or maybe a different species? The ones you have captured appear to be quite young. The ones I know grow to about 5 cm long and thicker than a pencil.
They gather in clusters during the day for protection and spread out over the tree to feed at night. As well as waving their tails and heads around to deter predators they also exude a blob of foul smelling 'spit' from their mouths. A large cluster of spitfires is quite intimidating when upset.

Thanx shibui...

Hi Matt,
Shubui is correct, they are spitfires. Dont get to close with unprotected skin. They spit that stuff and it is very sore and irritating on bare skin.

Regards Panda

Very brave to get so close to them, hahaha
Regards Panda

Any one else care to share some bugs from around their yard? Please feel free, as I am fascinated with all kinds.

Wasps are my passion though, I regularly spray food/attractant around my yard. You know the wasp and fly traps at Buzzings, take the wasp sachet, mix with water, put in a spray bottle and away you go. I called the manufacturer and it is safe and non-toxic for them to consume, just in the trap they drown in the liquid.

We have a dark metallic blue wasp here in Melbourne which is one of my favorites. It is about 50mm long and very good at hunting, the female burrows into the ground to build a small nest for her young.

Also, has anyone seen a face off between a Black House Spider and a Red Back Spider, guess who wins???
The winner seems to have hung the carcass of its prey out at the front of its nest as a trophy.

The winner was the Black House Spider, frighteningly quick and very strong, their bite is known only to cause local pain and nausea, not known to be lethal unless you are allergic. The moral of this one is that it is good to have these critters around (although they do like to make nests in my Azalea which cause foliage to die off).

"We have a dark metallic blue wasp here in Melbourne which is one of my favorites. It is about 50mm long and very good at hunting, the female burrows into the ground to build a small nest for her young."

Interesting! Haven't seen that one round here, do you get many of them? Fascinating things, would love to see a pic next time they are out and about.