Can you ID any of these?

Mammals

Starting with a cheat, saw this ringtail walking home in Mel

Western grey

Bottlenose dolphin

Lizards

Shingleback

Which gecko? From “The Pinnacles”.

Which skink?

Spiders

Young? huntsman

Which orb weaver? It was bigger than the above huntsman

Lepidoptera

Other insects

Jellyfish

Fungi

nice pics

Nice nest of european wasps. did you report it?

ChrispenEvan said:

Nice nest of european wasps. did you report it?

It’s absolutely in the middle of the Kings park botanic gardens, near the entrance in a pandana palm left of and adjacent to the concrete path. At least 1000 people must walk past the nest every day. I wasn’t sure they were European until seeing a sign several days later. Feel free to report it.

A European wasp visited me at my picnic lunch today here in Mel, so they’re not rare in Mel.

For some reason all insects are rare in Perth, the insect density there is about a tenth of the insect density in Melbourne.

mollwollfumble said:

ChrispenEvan said:

Nice nest of european wasps. did you report it?

It’s absolutely in the middle of the Kings park botanic gardens, near the entrance in a pandana palm left of and adjacent to the concrete path. At least 1000 people must walk past the nest every day. I wasn’t sure they were European until seeing a sign several days later. Feel free to report it.

A European wasp visited me at my picnic lunch today here in Mel, so they’re not rare in Mel.

For some reason all insects are rare in Perth, the insect density there is about a tenth of the insect density in Melbourne.

I just emailed them.

mollwollfumble said:

For some reason all insects are rare in Perth, the insect density there is about a tenth of the insect density in Melbourne.

Show working.

Witty Rejoinder said:

mollwollfumble said:

For some reason all insects are rare in Perth, the insect density there is about a tenth of the insect density in Melbourne.

Show working.

Give or take a factor of three.

No lacewings, hover flies, native wasps, fruit flies, etc. seen in Perth.
Few moths, none at all around city lights at night. Counted 6 or 7 species in all, but most of those 400 km out of the city centre.
Saw only 2 beetles, and one bug.
Few mosquitos (I can actually go for a walk in Perth at dusk without being bitten, unlike Syd/Mel), saw only one species.
Similar to Mel for grasshoppers, dragonfies.
Many fewer ants in Perth, though there is quite a variation in species when they are seen – saw at least 5 ant species.
Quite a variety in flies. Counted 5 species. But only 1 species of smallish meat flies seen in large numbers.

Another lepidoptera needing ID. Moth or butterfly?

mollwollfumble said:

Witty Rejoinder said:

mollwollfumble said:

For some reason all insects are rare in Perth, the insect density there is about a tenth of the insect density in Melbourne.

Show working.

Give or take a factor of three.

No lacewings, hover flies, native wasps, fruit flies, etc. seen in Perth.
Few moths, none at all around city lights at night. Counted 6 or 7 species in all, but most of those 400 km out of the city centre.
Saw only 2 beetles, and one bug.
Few mosquitos (I can actually go for a walk in Perth at dusk without being bitten, unlike Syd/Mel), saw only one species.
Similar to Mel for grasshoppers, dragonfies.
Many fewer ants in Perth, though there is quite a variation in species when they are seen – saw at least 5 ant species.
Quite a variety in flies. Counted 5 species. But only 1 species of smallish meat flies seen in large numbers.

Another lepidoptera needing ID. Moth or butterfly?

They are Acacia saligna leaves?

roughbarked said:

mollwollfumble said:

Witty Rejoinder said:

Show working.

Give or take a factor of three.

No lacewings, hover flies, native wasps, fruit flies, etc. seen in Perth.
Few moths, none at all around city lights at night. Counted 6 or 7 species in all, but most of those 400 km out of the city centre.
Saw only 2 beetles, and one bug.
Few mosquitos (I can actually go for a walk in Perth at dusk without being bitten, unlike Syd/Mel), saw only one species.
Similar to Mel for grasshoppers, dragonfies.
Many fewer ants in Perth, though there is quite a variation in species when they are seen – saw at least 5 ant species.
Quite a variety in flies. Counted 5 species. But only 1 species of smallish meat flies seen in large numbers.

Another lepidoptera needing ID. Moth or butterfly?

They are Acacia saligna leaves?

Acacias are far rarer in Perth than in Melbourne. This is a garden plant so not necessarily representative of local native vegetation. All I can say for sure is that it is acacia. I have another view of the bush.

Another unknown moth.

Not wild, but what the heck is this aquarium tank fish? I thought albino sturgeon, but perhaps not.

mollwollfumble said:

roughbarked said:

mollwollfumble said:

Give or take a factor of three.

No lacewings, hover flies, native wasps, fruit flies, etc. seen in Perth.
Few moths, none at all around city lights at night. Counted 6 or 7 species in all, but most of those 400 km out of the city centre.
Saw only 2 beetles, and one bug.
Few mosquitos (I can actually go for a walk in Perth at dusk without being bitten, unlike Syd/Mel), saw only one species.
Similar to Mel for grasshoppers, dragonfies.
Many fewer ants in Perth, though there is quite a variation in species when they are seen – saw at least 5 ant species.
Quite a variety in flies. Counted 5 species. But only 1 species of smallish meat flies seen in large numbers.

Another lepidoptera needing ID. Moth or butterfly?

They are Acacia saligna leaves?

Acacias are far rarer in Perth than in Melbourne. This is a garden plant so not necessarily representative of local native vegetation. All I can say for sure is that it is acacia. I have another view of the bush.

Another unknown moth.

Not wild, but what the heck is this aquarium tank fish? I thought albino sturgeon, but perhaps not.

A genuine butterfly this time, of type similar to what I used to call “Palm Dart”

Jellyfish

Possibly Phyllorhiza punctata
https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/jellyfish/white-spotted-jellyfish/”:https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/jellyfish/white-spotted-jellyfish/

“This large and spectacular jellyfish is common during the summer months, found throughout Australia, coastal waters and estuaries”.

mollwollfumble said:

roughbarked said:

mollwollfumble said:

Give or take a factor of three.

No lacewings, hover flies, native wasps, fruit flies, etc. seen in Perth.
Few moths, none at all around city lights at night. Counted 6 or 7 species in all, but most of those 400 km out of the city centre.
Saw only 2 beetles, and one bug.
Few mosquitos (I can actually go for a walk in Perth at dusk without being bitten, unlike Syd/Mel), saw only one species.
Similar to Mel for grasshoppers, dragonfies.
Many fewer ants in Perth, though there is quite a variation in species when they are seen – saw at least 5 ant species.
Quite a variety in flies. Counted 5 species. But only 1 species of smallish meat flies seen in large numbers.

Another lepidoptera needing ID. Moth or butterfly?

They are Acacia saligna leaves?

Acacias are far rarer in Perth than in Melbourne. This is a garden plant so not necessarily representative of local native vegetation. All I can say for sure is that it is acacia. I have another view of the bush.

I was attempting to get an idea of size, is all. Your skink shots are good but your lepidoptera shots need some work.

Insects are highly influenced by seasonal conditions and even the weather conditions within a season. In the dryer conditions of WA, weather conditions are probably even more important than those found in Victoria, especially if comparing different times of the year. Nevertheless, there has been a noticeable decline in the Esperance region of insect numbers and diversity.

PermeateFree said:

Insects are highly influenced by seasonal conditions and even the weather conditions within a season. In the dryer conditions of WA, weather conditions are probably even more important than those found in Victoria, especially if comparing different times of the year. Nevertheless, there has been a noticeable decline in the Esperance region of insect numbers and diversity.

A friend of mine asked, “can I come and study your insects?” I said “Haven’t you got the same insects?” He said, “I have none”.
Me, you have mosquitoes the size of horses.

roughbarked said:

mollwollfumble said:

roughbarked said:

They are Acacia saligna leaves?

Acacias are far rarer in Perth than in Melbourne. This is a garden plant so not necessarily representative of local native vegetation. All I can say for sure is that it is acacia. I have another view of the bush.

I was attempting to get an idea of size, is all. Your skink shots are good but your lepidoptera shots need some work.

ie: when the species of Lepidoptera opened the wings, did they look like this?

or when they were closed, did they look more like this?

roughbarked said:

roughbarked said:

mollwollfumble said:

Acacias are far rarer in Perth than in Melbourne. This is a garden plant so not necessarily representative of local native vegetation. All I can say for sure is that it is acacia. I have another view of the bush.

I was attempting to get an idea of size, is all. Your skink shots are good but your lepidoptera shots need some work.

ie: when the species of Lepidoptera opened the wings, did they look like this?

or when they were closed, did they look more like this?

Anyway, you might find what you are looking for in here

Maybe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_butterflies_and_moths

Michael V said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_butterflies_and_moths

:)

roughbarked said:

Anyway, you might find what you are looking for in here

Maybe.

Nice collection. I like it.

A fascinating fly turned up on Mt Dandenong near here. Big, like a blowfly but slightly longer, and brightly coloured.

mollwollfumble said:

roughbarked said:

Anyway, you might find what you are looking for in here

Maybe.

Nice collection. I like it.

A fascinating fly turned up on Mt Dandenong near here. Big, like a blowfly but slightly longer, and brightly coloured.

Tachinid or bristle fly, and is probably a species of Formosia

PermeateFree said:

mollwollfumble said:

roughbarked said:

Anyway, you might find what you are looking for in here

Maybe.

Nice collection. I like it.

A fascinating fly turned up on Mt Dandenong near here. Big, like a blowfly but slightly longer, and brightly coloured.

Tachinid or bristle fly, and is probably a species of Formosia

Microtropesa sp.

PermeateFree said:

PermeateFree said:

mollwollfumble said:

Nice collection. I like it.

A fascinating fly turned up on Mt Dandenong near here. Big, like a blowfly but slightly longer, and brightly coloured.

Tachinid or bristle fly, and is probably a species of Formosia

Microtropesa sp.

https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:0954f560-3cb3-4e3a-8ad4-32a2aff47c2e