kwalker

Hi -- Here is a comment from a Millipede expert:

The millipede can't be ID'ed without a look at the male genitalia, but the two choices are Heterocladosoma sp. and Solaenodolichopus sp., both family Paradoxosomatidae, order Polydesmida. I'm betting it's the latter genus.

Here is a great website about Australian millipedes:

http://www.polydesmida.info/polydesmida/...

Cheers,

Ken

Morning - This beetle belongs to the family Meloidae and they are commonly called Blister beetles.

The family is characterised as such:

- First abdominal sternite entire, not divided by hind coxae
- Head broad, generally rectangular when viewed from above.
- Pronotum cylindrical and narrower than both the head and base of elytra.
- Body elongate, soft and somewhat leathery.
- Antennae filiform or moniliform.
- Tarsi 5-5-4; claw either toothed or lobed.

You can see these characters in your pictures:

- Head broad, generally rectangular when viewed from above.
- Pronotum cylindrical and narrower than both the head and base of elytra.
- Body elongate, soft and somewhat leathery.

Its scientific name Zonitis splendida and it is endemic to Western Australia.

I'm off to the Solomon Island this weekend! sy Ken

Hi -- I think it is a Marsh Fly belonging to the family Sciomyzidae. The family occurs worldwide.

The elongate antennae with the single, simple arista (hair) at the end is quite characteristic.

Here is a link to other Marsh flies:

http://www.cirrusimage.com/flies_marsh.h...

Honeybee Apis mellifera

Hi This is Badumna insignis. You commonly find these spiders on the sides of houses or wooden fences. The web is characterised by several funnel like entrances into the web. The white tailed spider loves to eat these spiders and will vibrate the outer web lines to draw the spider out into the open.

Here is a link to more info on these spiders:

http://ednieuw.home.xs4all.nl/australian...

Cheers,

Ken

Wow! I have never seen this beetle larvae before, but I believe I know its group.

This is a Chrysomelidae leaf eating beetle larva belonging to the Paropsine group. There are several genera in this group and it could be Paropsis.

Larvae of these paropsine beetles characteristically have the spots, dots and multitude of colours as seen in your image.

Take a look at this link:

http://www.oocities.org/brisbane_leafbee...

Best wishes,

Ken

I was working in diagnostic labs most of the time but I bought back about 300 exotic specimens for image capture. I will send links as they come online. I have a weevil from Chile that has eyes that look like the Spider Man character mask. I have never seen anything like it before. I'll show you soon. sy

Hi Christiane - Fantastic except I got stuck in Chile due to the Chilean volcanic ash cloud. Finally had to fly home through Los Angelese. I saw some amazing insects while I was there but the thing I will never forget was the chaotic taxi rides I had in Lima, Peru - more fun than you can imagine! Think of what the traffic is like with a population of about 10 million. Road rules - none; Most used part of the car - the horn! I met so many wonderful people. I felt embarrassed that I could only speak English when most people there are bilingual if not multilingual. `But my lack of Spanish was tolerated with lots of smiles and confusion but always taken in good humour. Good to be back.

Indeed, it could be a Cordyceps fungi. This fungus is more usually associated with insect larvae living in the soil.

Cordyceps characteristically develops elongate, fruiting bodies that are spectacular.

Here is a link to an image:

http://www.itsnature.org/plant_life/vege...

However, Cordyceps can certain mummify above ground invertebrates as well. Again, here are some links:

Here are some URLs that show these growths:

http://www.utexas.edu/courses/zoo384l/si...

http://www.forensicgenealogy.info/images...

It´s an immature Stink Bug family Pentatomidae. hey ... I saw my first South American insects today. I hover fly that looked so different. sy