Author Archives: Denis Crawford

Gum Moth Mystery

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Subtitle: Have you seen an Emperor gum moth lately?

Gum moths (Emperor gum moth and Helen gum moth) are large, iconic Australian insects. Anecdotal evidence suggests that gum moths are in decline in parts of their natural range. Are they in decline and what might be causing it?.

This video explores some of the theories that might explain the mystery. The video also describes the Emperor gum moth (Opodiphthera eucalypti) and the Helena gum moth (Opodiphthera helena), their life cycle and their distribution.

Have you seen gum moths or their caterpillars lately in your area? When was the last time you saw one? I look forward to your comments.

Raining Sugar

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Subtitle: Gumtree scale insects, honeydew & and a tiny black ladybird

Many sap-sucking insects produce honeydew, but gumtree scale insects take it to a whole new level. These scale insects produce vast amounts of honeydew. Check out how it attracts lots of other insects, including ants and flies.

Gumtree scales (Eriococcus spp.) are members of the felt scale family Eriococcidae. You can see why they are called ‘felted’ scale by the female gumtree scales – they look like they live in a felted sac. These native insects are common in the Australian bush and they are not pests in natural bushland.

There is a little surprise in this video in the form of a tiny black ladybird (ladybug) beetle – the gumtree scale ladybird (Rhyzobius ventralis) – a specific predator of gumtree scale insects.

In the video I refer to other videos about a couple of related felted scales:
Kunzea felted scale
and
Tea-tree flower gall scale

I hope you enjoy this video. Please let me know what you think in the comments..

Cicada Summer

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Australia is home to more species of cicadas than anywhere else on earth. There are about 350 native species described so far with about 400 species yet to be described. There could be as many as 1000 species of cicadas in Australia!

Some people find the sound that cicadas make quite annoying. I don’t, because I think cicadas are the soundtrack to summer. What do you think?