Category Archives: Hymenoptera

Spitfires revolt

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This post was inspired by audience reactions to an image I posted on Instagram. The image showed a cluster of sawfly larvae sometimes known as ‘spitfires’.

Many people are afraid of insects because of their “creepy crawly” habits but few insects disgust entomophobes more than the sawfly larvae known as ‘spitfires’. This is due to their habit of rearing up en masse and vomiting thick yellow fluids (hence the name ‘spitfire’) when disturbed. This is a defence mechanism against animals which might try to eat them. What a predator (such as a bird or possum) sees is a revolting Medusa-like writhing vomiting mass. That’s enough to put any predator – or Instagram viewer – off their lunch!

Spitfire grubs

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The Cherry Tree & The Meat Ant

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This is a video about ants which visit my cherry tree. The story is primarily about meat ants (Iridomyrmex purpureus), but a couple of other species make cameo appearances. Why do the ants climb into my cherry tree? You’ll have to watch the video to find out!

I hope you enjoy the video – as usual, being ‘one minute bugs’, it’s short and sweet! Let me know what you think. Please hit the subscribe button in the widget if you would like to receive email alerts about new posts. The subscription process is more than one click, but it won’t take too long!

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Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing

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Insects that are armed with powerful stings are often strikingly coloured to warn off potential predators – a strategy known as aposematism . A good example of this is the black and yellow colour pattern of the European wasp (Vespula germanica).

Vespula germanica

Some harmless insects take on the appearance of aposematic insects even though they are not actually dangerous themselves. Hover flies are an example of this. One common hover fly species – the drone fly Eristalis tenax – is an excellent bee mimic, and was the star in a recent ‘one minute bugs’ video (link).

Other common hover flies (image below) are harmless flower visitors but their striking yellow and black markings superficially resemble the markings of bees or wasps. Bees and wasps usually have stings and consequently are left alone by many predators. Hover flies don’t have stings, so by adopting colour patterns similar to bees and wasps this affords the hover flies some protection. This defence strategy is known as Batesian mimicry.

Bee mimic

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