BugsMe

Why Does This Weird Insect Flash Warnings After An Attack?

“Kate Umbers was hiking through Australia’s Snowy Mountains in the autumn of 2008, when she saw her first mountain katydid—a thumb-sized insect with the colour and texture of a dead leaf. “I recognised it from the guide books and picked it up excitedly,” she says. “It immediately vomited and flashed its bright colours.”

Emphasis on bright. The insect’s dull brown wing casings flew apart to reveal vivid bands of red, black, and electric blue. The inconspicuous leaf suddenly transformed into a garish Christmas bauble.”

A sleeping cuckoo wasp (Stilbum cyanurum) is only 16mm long. Moments after we took the last photograph, it lifted its head, wiped its eyes with its front feet and its wings with its hind feet, and flew off. Cuckoo wasps were given their name because they lay their eggs in the nests of other wasps.

Photo credit: Stanley and Kaisa Breeden

Alastair Mackie, Amorphous Organic, 2009, detail.

Chess set and table, made with 5000 year old bog oak, light box, glass, battery, brass, amber, resin, insects, 32 chess pieces

Nepidae final finished. 6:30 am. classes start in an hour and a half. 

Megacyllene robinia- Locust Borer

Lipotriches, f, australia, side_2014-11-02-01.05.45 ZS PMax by Sam Droege on Flickr.

Lipotriches, Plain Sweat Bee , collected in Australia

Snakefly (Order: Raphidioptera)

Harlequin Beetle - Acrocinus longimanus

This large tropical long-horned beetle is scientifically named Acrocinus longimanus (Coleoptera - Cerambycidae), and is commonly known as Harlequin Beetle due to its distinct red, black and orange markings on its wing covers.

The Harlequin Beetle is also distinguished by its extremely long forelimbs, which often extend longer than the entire body of the insect. The long antennae are the primary means of sensing its surrounding environment. 

This species is native to and widespread throughout southern Mexico and South America.

Reference: [1]

Male Dobsonfly (megaloptera)