r/AustralianInsects

Firstly the formalities...

Northside Brisbane, Coastal area, passionfruit vine, probably in the ballpark of 8mm long.

Okay, so I have myself a few passionfruit vines in thier second year of flowering currently... around early to mid spring when the first hot & humid days took place I had aphids move in & naturally the common black ants are protecting them & collecting thier dew etc...

Last year I had a thriving ecosystem of jumping spiders, lady beetles etc to maintain a balance... however this year they have been completely absent... so I created a few little habitat style areas for predators of the black ants to live/nest/hide, & created a shallow water habitat to give the lady bugs no reason to leave.

Immediately I have had many lady bugs move in, & while I have not seen any jumping spiders, I have seen these large ants moving in over the last few days.

My query's are;

- what's is he?

- will he fill the role of predator of the black ants?

- is he going to do damage to my passionfruit vine?

- is he going to damage my passionfruit once my vines begin fruiting?

- are there any other concerns I should have about these guys moving in?

Thank you in adv-ants

...

🫣

Regional VIC

Spotted this guy on my shed the other day! Almost looks like a cartoon as the colours are so vibrant!

The wingspan is about 150mm. The card was used to transport it from the floor of a truck at my workplace.

Is it Opodiphthera eucalypti?

Thanks!

Brookvale, NSW. Abdomen also had pink streaks (?).

I was actually trying to video the moths flitting down and scooping up some of the pool water, but the local Pacific Black Ducks gatecrashed the bogong party and started eating them. Not sure how I feel about this. Happy the ducks are getting a succulent (not Chinese) meal, but not so happy that the meal consists of endangered moths.

There were regular honey bees and hover flys around, it looks kind of like a honey bee but only has the two orange lines on its back
In nsw, Australia

TIA.