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Good or bad insect?
- Thread starter hittmann
- Start date
KILL'EM DEAD 
Squash bug
Squash bug
Not familiar with your Aussie critters.
My first though when I saw this pic was that this might be a type of assassin bug, which because they are predators would be a good thing.
Assassin bugs have a pronounced probiscus, much like a mosquito does, for sucking out the juices of their prey, but because of the quality of the photos, I can't see if this insect has one or not.
But the orange markings on it's antennae and body woud be indicators for birds and other potential predators to back off because this bug is either very unpalatable or toxic if eaten.
dvg
Assassin bugs have a pronounced probiscus, much like a mosquito does, for sucking out the juices of their prey, but because of the quality of the photos, I can't see if this insect has one or not.
But the orange markings on it's antennae and body woud be indicators for birds and other potential predators to back off because this bug is either very unpalatable or toxic if eaten.
dvg
I actually googles Aussie assassins, they have all different colors but I didn't find this pattern. Seeing as how the Aussies have so many really poisonous/toxic critters your call may be the right one.
you would think, it would be as easy as googling "black beetle with yellow spots in australia"! not a damn thing.
it may be some form of leaf footed nymph.
i was all over dpughphoto.com, padil.museum.vic.gov.au and ozanimals.com nothing exactly matched your pic. perhaps you have found a new species but something with that exacting detail someone must have recorded it before. now it maybe that the beetle is not native to australia and hitched a ride from an indonesian importer.
perhaps you could post the picture on one of those "what bug is this" website.
it may be some form of leaf footed nymph.
i was all over dpughphoto.com, padil.museum.vic.gov.au and ozanimals.com nothing exactly matched your pic. perhaps you have found a new species but something with that exacting detail someone must have recorded it before. now it maybe that the beetle is not native to australia and hitched a ride from an indonesian importer.
perhaps you could post the picture on one of those "what bug is this" website.
This little guy isn't a beetle (sorry Mark) but a member of Hemiptera probably subsorder Heteroptera family Coreidae. You guessed it, I've had some training with insect identification. Just can't pinpoint the species. I'll work on it but that gives you a lot to work with (and Google).
Sorry, i was using the term ignorantly, my core knowledge of insects starts with "aphids bad" and ends with "ladybugs good".
at first, i focused my search on the spots, then i went back to the pictures and noticed the hind legs and there shape, that then pointed to a "leaf footed" term and i found scores of pictures.
with your input Dan, i have been able to better narrow down search criteria, still i am sure i have viewed a few thousand pictures by now. the heteroptera family all seem to have that distinctive heart shape marking, then spotting on the sides of the lower abdomen.
with the pictured species, it is hard to tell if the antennae is sectionalized, even the thorax and abdomen appear so streamlined that they are one and the shouldering of the upper abdomen spotting and verticle spotting on the central/lower abdomen. i do like its yellow markings on the antennae and the outlining of yellow around the abdomen.
...oh, and hittman, kill it or toss it into an ex-girlfriends yard.... i did notice in pic 1 the chomping of leaf, this guy might be guilty by association but heteroptera are mainly leaf eaters.
here is a link showing we are getting closer to identify the little buggar, at least the markings are somewhat similar in pattern layout.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/43427
http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_bugs/Bugs.htm
reverse colour on these ones but notice the commentary, "All of them suck juice from plants or other insects", so i am guessing they have a love/hate relationship with aphids.
reverse colour on these ones but notice the commentary, "All of them suck juice from plants or other insects", so i am guessing they have a love/hate relationship with aphids.
Yep, most of them are "bad bugs" 
I'll take a better picture today if I can find one with the digital camera. Those were taken on the phone because it's what I had on me at the time.
I looked through many pages of "black insect with yellow spots" on google... I thought it would be much easier to find also.
I also looked at a few Australian specific insect sites and couldn't find it.
I'll send a picture into them after snapping a clearer one, thanks for that tip.
Damn no ex gf around here to piss off
, but i do have an annoying neighbour hmmmm.Most of the chomping of my eggplant leaves was from my pug Oscar. I know the leaves of the eggplant are toxic for dogs so hopefully he stays away from them now that he's been continually told to stay away from the garden for a couple of months, lol.
Thanks for your help so far guys
Hopefully I can see another one today. They are quite large too I would estimate around 1.5-2cm long.
This picture confirms that it is that type of bug
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8252200@N03/3411671485/
Could be a stink bug. Do they produce a bad smell when you squish 'em?
I had a dog and his name was. . . BINGO!!!!!! Ya' see what good teamwork can do!
of course, it was only a matter of time before we narrowed it down to the infamous crusader bug!
some websites didn't have the full complement of crusader pictures and stopped short of our little guy.
good work team.........so........now what do we do?
some websites didn't have the full complement of crusader pictures and stopped short of our little guy.
good work team.........so........now what do we do?
