Bugs N Bees
- Book lice (Liposcelididae) are tiny insects found in many habitats, often in animal nests and human homes. They are related to true parasitic lice but instead of blood and skin, book lice feed on.
- Stinging Insects 101 How to identify the pest, the nest and the threat Stinging insects such as various types of wasps, yellowjackets, hornets and bees, are common summertime pests and their stings can be more than just a painful nuisance. The National Pest Management Association reports that stinging insects.
Much to the displeasure of homeowners, some insects seek shelter in the warmth of human dwellings when winter approaches. Each fall, people's houses are invaded by box elder bugs, Asian multicolored lady beetles, brown marmorated stink bugs, and others. While these insects rarely cause damage indoors – they're just looking for a cozy place to. Help support more content like this!Insects are everywhere! They're found on every continent including Antarctica, and nearl.
Bugs and insects play an essential role in the web of life. They are an amazingly diverse group of animals that have conquered almost every environment on earth. Find out more about the fascinating world of insects.
Ants
Wherever you are in Australia, you will definitely have seen this little creature in your garden or even in your house (or honey jar). Ants live all over Australia in every single kind of environment. That is because there are so many types of ants - over 1,200 known species in Australia and over 15,000 worldwide. Many kinds of ants love rainforest areas, but ants are also found in the most arid deserts and even underwater. Ants c..
Blue Ants
Have you ever seen a really, really big ant? Have you ever spotted a blue one? Or one that sticks its bum in the air when it walks? It is most likely a Blue Ant. The Blue Ant grows up to 2.5 cm long but there is a secret to its massive growth... it's actually a wasp. They live in Tasmania, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria. The male Blue Ant has a darker body with white spots on his abdomen. Males are smaller, only gro..
Bogong Moths
As the weather warms up in south-east Australia, the well-known Bogong moths are getting ready to make a big journey. Bogong moths migrate several hundred kilometres each year. During spring, they fly from the lowland grassy areas up to the mountainous caves in the Snowy Mountains. As the temperature heats up, Bogong moths sleep in caves, each overlapping one another - just like tiles on a roof. In autumn Bogong moths fly back fr..
Butterflies
Butterflies are a welcome addition to any garden and like many native buddies, need our help to make sure they remain regular guests. Butterflies are cold-blooded and need plenty of warm sunshine. You may see them in early spring with wings wide open to the warming sun. Or you may see them just touch the top of a bird bath or pond. Purple, red, orange, and yellow flowers attract butterflies. With a few simple changes, your backyard or par..
Caterpillars
Love them or hate them, caterpillars are an important part of the Australian environment. They can bring joy in the form of the promise of a beautiful butterfly, despair as they devour tender young broccoli plants, or itching and pain as a spitfire caterpillar brushes against your bare skin. Around August, moths and butterflies are busily searching for a safe place to lay their eggs. Some have already produced eggs, so it's a good time t..
Christmas Beetles
Christmas beetles emerge each summer around Christmastime after waiting underground all year. They are easy to spot; their shimmering metallic bodies set them apart from a lot of the insect world. If you leave a light on during hot summer nights—especially in the east of Australia - you may find these nocturnal flying Christmas decorations in a bit of a frenzy in its glow. Christmas beetle babies are c-shaped grubs that spend a..
Cicadas
It's not an Aussie summer without the deafening concert of thousands of cicadas. Around October, you can see the first empty shell of a newly hatched cicada on a tree trunk or your fence. They will soon fill the air with their song before they disappear again for winter. But where have they been during the colder months? At the end of summer, each female cuts small slits into plant stems and branches and places her eggs inside. From ..
Common Brown Butterflies
Fluttering through gardens, parks and bushland, this beautiful buddy deserves a better name than 'Common Brown' The Female Common Brown is larger than the male with quite different markings and more yellow colouring. The male is dark orange all over with darker markings than the female. The Common Brown Butterfly is easy to spot as they search for mates from October through to December. They live in eastern Australia, with a subspeci..
Crickets
Crickets live all over Australia and you have probably heard them - but maybe not seen one. The most common is the Black Field Cricket. Only the male of this species 'chirp' by rubbing their wings together. They do it to attract females, to woo them, and to warn off other male competitors. Black Field Crickets are widespread in eastern and southern Australia. It's not hard to spot one jumping around as they grow to about 2.5 cm long. ..
Daddy Long Legs Spiders
Many of our backyard buddies find their way inside our homes and take up temporary residence, and one of the most successful and ever-present is the Daddy-long-legs spider. Almost every house or shed in Australia has been home to the messy, tangled web of the Daddy-long-legs, especially as the weather begins to cool towards winter and the spiders seek warmth indoors. We remove them regularly on the end of a broom and put them outs..
Dainty Swallowtail Butterflies
Photo credit: Michael Jefferies
Dainty Swallowtail Butterflies
The Dainty Swallowtail Butterfly is also known as the Dingy Swallowtail or Small Citrus Butterfly - but it isn't dingy at all. You'll see these stunning butterflies in flight across eastern Australia right up until May Adult Dainty Swallowtails are black with grey, white, and smaller blue and red spots on their wings, and yellow markings along their bodies. The female's wingspan is up to 7.2 cm while the male is slightly smaller, with hi..
Dragonflies
Neither dragons nor flies, dragonflies are insects with more than 320 species known to live in Australia. Different species of dragonflies also have distinctive markings and colours, so with practice, you'll be able to recognise one type from another, just like birds. Different species emerge at different times of year, so keep a look out no matter what month it is. Watch out for dragonflies wherever there is water such as a pond, stream..
Earthworms
There are over 1000 species of native worms in Australia and approximately 80 introduced species that are beneficial as well. Earthworms are excellent buddies to have in your garden. They return nutrients to the soil from organic matter such as fallen leaves, vegetable peelings, fruit scraps, hair clippings, and even old paper. These nutrients are important for plants and will greatly enrich the soil in your backyard. They are not..
Grasshoppers
During the hot nights of summer, grasshoppers are getting ready to breed. Around dusk in the disappearing light male grasshoppers sing romantic serenades to attract females. Their range of pitch and calls are endless. The male grasshopper creates music using his legs. Like a bow drawn across violin strings, the grasshopper draws his legs across his front pair of wings to make buzzes and trills. It may help attract a mate but this noisy b..
Huntsman Spiders
Huntsman spiders have an unfortunate reputation. One is their name. The other is a tendency to take up residency in your home or your car and scare the bejesus out of you. But they are harmless to humans and very useful in controlling mosquito and cockroach numbers. May signals the end of the busy season for a lot of spiders. For many, life will end, while others will start seeking a secure shelter to sleep through winter. But not..
Ichneumon Wasps
As the days get warmer, colourful Ichneumon Wasps become a common sight in many Aussie backyards, hovering above your lawn on a warm day or trying to mate with your orchids. There are around 2000 species living all across Australia. These stingless insects are Mother Nature's pest control for your garden and provide fascinating entertainment for those prepared to sit still and watch the show. At an average of 1.2 cm in length an..
Is This Spider Dangerous?
Many native spiders are harmless, and are great buddies to have around the garden, as they will eat bugs, flies, mosquitoes, and in some cases - even other spiders. But there are definitely some spiders that you don't want to get too close to, such as Funnel-webs or Redback Spiders. So please be careful. You can find out what spider you have at your place by viewing the Find-a-Spider guide (http://www.findaspider.org.au/find/find.htm). ..
Katydids
The Common Garden Katydid is a quite common backyard buddy and garden visitor. It's a cousin to the grasshopper and cricket, about 4 to 6 cm in length with extremely long, thin antennae, and powerful back legs for jumping. There are about 1000 species in Australia and they are part of the orthopteran group of insects, which means 'straight wings'. Like crickets, male Katydids play songs to attract females by rubbing their wings t..
Lacewings
Some bugs are not only good bugs but great bugs that will eat other insects and keep your overall pest numbers down. Such a buddy is the Green Lacewing. This fascinating insect is as helpful as it is pretty. The larva of the Green Lacewing is a very efficient method of bug control for your garden, and they grow into delicate, winged beauties. Their vivid green colour and distinctive wings make them easy to spot. October is a great ti..
Ladybirds
Ladybirds are great to have as buddies in your backyard. In many cultures they are considered so lucky that killing one will bring sadness and misfortune. There are about 6000 species of ladybird in the world, with around 500 species in Australia. You might know ladybirds as ladybugs or ladybeetles, but whatever name you use they are the fantastic at keeping your garden healthy. You might think of ladybirds as being red or orange wit..
Leafhoppers
If you see a spot of yellowy-green, brown or red on your plants and it's jumping from place to place and when you take a closer look it quickly scuttles around to the other side of the leaf- it could be a leafhopper. Leafhoppers bite through leaves, stems and bits of tree trunk to suck up the delicious and nutritious plant sap, particularly Eucalyptus trees. Leafhoppers often work with ants. While they're drinking they excrete honey..
Leopard slugs
In February you can witness a spectacular event in your backyard. Mating Leopard Slugs must be one of the most bizarre and fascinating displays of animal behaviour you can ever observe. The male and female become entwined and lower themselves from their branch on a thread of mucus to exchange sperm. Then they return to the branch via the mucous thread, eating it as they go. Like all slugs and snails, they are hermaphrodites - they have b..
Mantids
You may see them in the grass, among leaves, on walls, near lights at night or in your veggie patch. Wherever there are insects to eat you might find a mantid. There are about 2,000 different species across the world, ranging from 10 to 120 millimetres in body length and their characteristic way of standing with forelegs held together as if they were praying. Only the males have wings fit to fly, helping them to move around looking for a ..
Millipedes
Millipedes are myriapods, meaning 'many pairs of legs'. They survive over much of the country and evolved from ancestors that were the first creatures to make the move from water to land millions of years ago. Australia is home to approximately 2000 species, most of which are nocturnal. Millipedes are most common in areas with a milder climate and plenty of moisture. They are common under rocks and logs, in leaf litter and soil and un..
Monarch Butterflies
During summer, for just six weeks, the Monarch, or Wanderer, Butterfly lives its short, busy life in many Australian backyards. They are not Australian natives, but arrived in Australia from North America as recently as 1871. Once its host plant, the Milkweed of the genus Asclepias, arrived as well, the butterflies began to flourish. Monarchs are very common and perhaps the most recognised butterfly, especially in urban areas. Al..
Moth or Butterfly?
Although they are very similar, there are a few ways you can tell a moth from a butterfly. The most obvious is when you are likely to see them. Butterflies are active during the day and most moths at night. Though there are a few moths, such as the Queensland Day Moth Alcides metaurus and the Jacob's Coat Moth Agarista agricola, which fly during the day. If you are able to take a closer look, the antennae of moths differ from that of..
Mud Wasps
If you hear a wasp buzzing loudly in your garden or find a wasp's nest under your eaves or attached to your house or shed, don't panic. They may be Mud dauber Wasps which look a bit scary with their bright yellow and dark black colouring, but are actually quite harmless and non-aggressive if you leave them alone. Like all wasps, if they feel threatened, they will give a painful sting, so best to observe them from a distance. During April..
Native Bees
Commercial honey bees came to our shores from Europe in 1822, but there are over 1,500 species of native bees across the country. Australian bees can be as small as 2 mm in length. About 10% of Australia's native bees are 'social', meaning that they form hives, and have a queen, infertile female worker bees and male drones which fertilise the queen. They are completely stingless. Stingless bees are quite a sight when they'r..
Painted Lady Butterflies
The Australian Painted Lady butterfly migrates from place to place and loves to visit gardens. In southern Australia, the best time to spot them is after a few warm, sunny days at the end of winter, and from spring to autumn. In the northern part of the Painted Lady butterfly's range, they live in the same spot year round. Whenever they rest or stop to feed, they spread their wings out low to keep predators away. The vibrant colours ..
Paper Wasps
Native Paper Wasps are found all over Australia except in Tasmania and, although only aggressive when defending their nests, it is best to steer clear of them. But their behaviour can give you a clue to how they spend their lives. The female wasp is always busy. If she's tapping her way along a leaf, she'۪s probably looking for a caterpillar to feed her larvae. If she's fossicking on an old fence paling, chances are she's scraping up..
Rhinoceros Beetles
At first glance Rhinoceros or Rhino Beetles might seem a little antisocial, but they are not only harmless but truly fascinating. These quirky shiny-black beetles grow to around 6 or 7 cm in length so you will definitely see them when they fly about. In fact, they are Australia's largest beetle. Rhino Beetles only live in warm coastal tropical or subtropical climates, so in Australia they are mostly found in Queensland, the Northern Terr..
Slaters
Have you ever lifted a pot plant or scraped back some mulch and found some curious little 'Roley Poley' bugs underneath? These are slaters, also known as Roley Poleys, Pill Bugs, or Wood Lice. Just like worms, slaters are great for your garden as they eat organic matter and return nutrients to the soil. Having a few slaters around will keep your plants happy and healthy. Slaters need moisture and mostly come out at night when the risk of ..
Snails
The leaf litter in your garden is perfect for snails who need a moist atmosphere to survive in. Snails can be infuriating when they graze on your newly planted veggie patch. But they also like to feed on dead plant and animal material and fungi. There are over 1000 species of native Australian snails and slugs but most of the snails and slugs we find in our gardens are not natives. Introduced snail species generally arrived accid..
Spiny Leaf Insect
If you are in Queensland or northern New South Wales in January, you might be lucky enough to spot one of the most interesting insects that Australia is home to. Don't be alarmed by this weird looking buddy. The Spiny Leaf Insect is also known as Giant Prickly Stick Insect or Macleay's Spectre Stick Insect. The name may change, but their odd appearance stays the same. When laying her eggs, the female flicks the eggs from her abdomen ..
St Andrews Cross Spiders
Photo credit: James Niland
St Andrews Cross Spiders
St Andrew's Cross Spiders are fantastic backyard buddies as they spin big webs that easily snare insects such as flies, mosquitoes, moths and other bugs. They are not aggressive towards people and their bite is not toxic. The webs of St Andrew's Cross Spiders are also fascinating to look at because of their decorations. These spiders get their name from the bluish-white cross pattern that they create in the centre of their web, which look..
Stag Beetles
There are over 1,200 species of these big-jawed beetles in the world, and maybe even more than 85 different species just in Australia, but even though there are lots of different types of Stag Beetle, many are facing a loss of habitat that is threatening their survival. Stag Beetles love to live in damp woodland areas with lots of leaves and rotting wood on the ground, but unfortunately, these are also the kinds of areas that humans like..
Stick Insects
Somewhere amongst the leaves in your backyard is a camouflage master. Even though there are around 150 stick insect species in Australia, it's still difficult to spot one. Look closely at gum trees, rose bushes or fruit trees for these green or brown buddies. The stick insect is a Phasmid - insects that eat leaves and resemble leaves or sticks. It is a master of disguise and remains still during the day. Look for them at night by torchlig..
Termites
As the weather warms up in spring and summer, termites commence their social swarming. In order to create social swarms, the colony emerges from being underground after at least three years. Flying termites are at their reproductive stage and are short lived. A swarm can be quite a sight, one minute it's clear outside and the next you may think that a part of the sky has greyed as the sheer mass of a swarm can be truly spectacular. ..
Tiger Moths
Tiger Moths live on the coastal areas of eastern Australia. They love to drink the nectar from wildflowers and prefer an established garden, where they can also eat lichen. Lichen occurs when fungi and algae grow together. In rainforests and alpine forests it forms a large carpet on the ground. Keep a look out for grey, green or yellow patches on your backyard rocks and trees. Unlike many other moths, the tiger moth has bright colour..
Trapdoor Spiders
A common resident of the garden, trapdoor spiders are often encountered whilst moving rocks or digging soil. At night, shining a torch across the lawn may pick up two rows of tiny shining eyes staring up from inside a hole. These burrows can be as long as 40 cm and are lined with soft silky web. There are many different species of trapdoor spider. Some don't actually make a hinged door, but all have one thing in common: they dig a bu..
Wolf Spider
Wolf spiders get their name from their hunting preference of stalking down their prey much like a wolf does, making them the top predators in your lawn. They will go after crickets, flies, ants and even other spiders. The wolf spider is a solitary buddy who enjoys hunting by itself. They live in holes in the lawn but will often roam about looking for their next meal. This buddy does most of its hunting at night, so while you're asleep, t..
Where do bugs go in the winter? How do they make it through to spring? Doesn’t anything kill these things?
These are the kinds of questions you may be wondering when you’re wiping ants off your kitchen countertop or spraying wasps that have accumulated in your window screen.
For many insects, the change in temperature is a matter of life and death. Some have adapted to survive temperature extremes as the seasons grow cold, while others have developed instinctual strategies to keep their species thriving when the weather takes its toll on an individual bug.
Whether they sneak inside your house or have their own way to keep warm, insects are survivors and understanding their cold tolerance levels can aid your efforts to control them.
COLD WEATHER EFFECTS ON INSECTS
There’s usually a noticeable drop in a number of insects invading your home when seasons change from summer to fall. It’s obvious the cold affects insects in some way, but how? And do different insects react to cold temperatures in different ways?
DEATH
As you probably expected, many insects do indeed perish when cold weather strikes. This fate isn’t as harsh as it sounds, though. Most of these have already completed their true mission in life – to reproduce.
These insects often spend their last days preparing the next generation for the upcoming spring. They do so by laying eggs in sheltered areas or providing their larvae with food and shelter to survive the winter, often at the expense of their own well-being.
One good example is the field cricket. Adults (and immature nymphs) can't survive cold, winter temperatures. Their eggs, however, overwinter and will hatch in the spring, bringing forth a new generation of these pests.
MIGRATION
Some insects, Monarch Butterflies are a prime example, outrun the cold weather by migrating away from it. These insects usually engage in a one-way migration to warmer climates to the south where they reproduce, die and send a new generation northward to begin the cycle again.
Other insects, such as dragonflies, engage in a less direct migration. Their daily activities continuously move them toward warmer climates, and the insects never really experience prolonged cold weather. Instead, these insect populations cycle north and south each year.
HIBERNATION
Like many other types of animals, some insects will go into one of two types hibernation to avoid cold temperatures. Called diapause, these hibernation-like states of torpor cause the insect to go dormant. This dormant period allows the insect to slow its metabolism and conserve energy and revive when temperatures rise again.
FREEZE TOLERANCE
A few insects, particularly those with habitats in extreme latitudes, have developed the ability to survive ice formation within their tissues. They survive thanks to a natural anti-freeze they can create. This anti-freeze prevents the formation of damaging ice crystals and allows the insect to survive until they thaw. The famed woolly bear moth caterpillar and their arctic kin are well-known for their survival with the help of anti-freeze.
FREEZE AVOIDANCE
Probably the most popular cold-temperature defense mechanism of the insect world is freeze avoidance, which is a fancy term for “hunkering down for the winter.” These insects will retreat into rotting trees, bury themselves in the soil, hide inside a rotting log, and sneak into human-built structures to ride out the cold temperatures - a favorite tactic of ladybugs.
Bugs N Bones
COLONY INSECTS
For insects that live in colonies, including bees, termites, and ants, fighting off frigid temperature takes on an added scope. Most of these insects only care about one thing when cold weather strikes – protecting their queens.
Where Do Ants Go in the Winter? They go underground!
Most ant colonies will seal the entrances to their nests when cold weather hits and enter a dormant stage, living off their stored energy. Throughout the winter, they remain clustered together in large groups to maintain body heat and keeping the queen warm is always the top priority. Without their queen, most ant colonies would only survive a few months.
Where Do Bees Go in the Winter? They stay inside their hive! Although these beneficial insects are cold-blooded, they spend their winters generating heat by fluttering their wings. The combined effort of all the bees is enough to keep them from freezing as they cluster together. As they generate this heat, individual bees are constantly moving from the cool outer section of the cluster to the warm inner part. The queen, however, always remains at the center, increasing her chances of survival.
Where Do Termites Go in the Winter?They keep on going in your house! The termites that typically target the wood in your home barely even bat an eye at cold temperatures. Yes, their activity slows down a bit during winter, but rarely completely ceases. Why do they keep working in such cold temperatures? To keep the queen happy and well-fed, of course!
Where Do Wasps Go in the Winter? They move inside your house! While most wasps die off in the fall, a few will move into sheltered spots to ride out the winter. These survivors are actually newly-mated queens who will emerge in the spring to start their own nest. Once they’ve made it inside a safe place in your home, including behind baseboards, in the attic and even under carpets, they usually go dormant until the spring.
Bugs In Bee Hives
OTHER INSECTS AND BUGS IN THE WINTER
Now that you understand how bugs survive the winter, you may be wondering about some particular types of insects and bugs and how they survive cold temperatures. Here’s the rundown:
Where Do Bed Bugs Go in the Winter? They never leave your house! – While Bed bugs go dormant in temperatures below 65 degrees, that’s not a real problem since most houses where they live are warmer than that. That means that bed bugs are active through the winter.
Where Do Centipedes Go in the Winter? They love your basement! – These arthropods seek out shelter to survive the cold, and there’s often no place better than a damp basement. Moisture is the most important facet for centipede survival, so you can also find them in compost piles, trash heaps, rotting logs and in piles of leaves.
Where Do Cockroaches Go in the Winter? Anywhere that’s warm! – These adaptable and infuriating insects acclimate to cold temperatures quite well. Inside your home or other structures, cockroaches have no problem at all with the winter. Cockroaches that live outside try to find a safe place to survive the winter. They look for all the basic necessities: Food, warmth and a daytime hiding place.
Where Do Fleas Go in the Winter? They stick with your pets! – When temperatures fall below freezing, most fleas will die within a few days. However, that’s only the fleas that are completely on their own. Most fleas survive the cold temperatures thanks to the warmth and protection provided by their warm-bodied host animals.
Where Do Flies Go in the Winter? They get a room all to themselves! – House flies rarely survive the winter unless they are inside and have food sources. Many people confuse cluster flies for the more common house fly. Cluster flies overwinter in a protected location, such as a wall void in your home, and emerge on warm days. They are often slow-moving and lethargic.
Where Do Ladybugs Go in the Winter? Anywhere to stay toasty warm! – Like many other insects, ladybugs look for shelter to survive the winter. When there aren’t any human structures around, they try to hide under rocks or in rotting logs. They are attracted to light-colored homes with a good southwestern exposure, and sneak inside through any gaps they can find. They hibernate in groups through the winter.
Where Do Moths Go in the Winter? Check your closet! – Many moths die off in the winter, having laid eggs that will hatch in the spring. The clothes moth, however, can survive all year long inside your home, eating natural fabrics and destroying your favorite sweaters and rugs in the process. Pantry moths and their larvae will go into a dormant state when temperatures cool, which can make it hard to eradicate an infestation as it will flare up when warm weather returns.
Where Do Mosquitoes Go in the Winter? They look for just the right place! – When temperatures fall too low, most mosquitoes will die off. Some, however, find shelter and go dormant through the winter. Most species survive by laying winter-hardy eggs that hatch in the spring.
Where Do Spiders Go in the Winter? Surprise! They’ve been there all along! – Contrary to popular belief, spiders don’t come inside because of cold temperatures. The ones you see in your house have been there all year long! These spiders colonize your home thanks to egg sacs that are inadvertently brought into your home. Normally, they avoid you. In fact, those spiders you do see are usually males looking for mates. Many outdoor spiders are cold-tolerant and hide from predators before going dormant through the winter.
Where Do Stink Bugs Go in the Winter? Someplace calm and secluded! – These agricultural pests have become real suburban pests in the last few years thanks to their desire to overwinter inside our homes. Stink bugs will seek out quiet places in your home, including your attic, crawl space or wall voids, often emerging during warm spells.
INSECTS AND COLD TEMPERATURES
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