Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: arillady on April 17, 2012, 05:48:34 AM
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I am hoping that Anthony checks this topic out.
I was heading to Williamstown this morning and up ahead on a sealed road was a magpie swooping on what I thought might have been a baby bird till I got closer, then ‘child’s whirlygig’ came to mind. I did not know what it was so I stopped. Long lime green thin body about 8” long with white/clear wings with a red stain (natural) near the body. I picked it up and was clasped by the prickly legs and moved it off the road into the grass. Either a stick insect or something – must do a google search to find it. It was utterly amazing and I kind of wish I had put him in the car. Magpie probably got him after I left... damn. But magpies here would have found it too.
Checking google I could not find one that was the same.
Of course no camera in the car when I wanted it :(
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Australia is awash with stick insects of all shapes and sizes. Green with red wing bases could be this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurycnema_goliath One of the species I yearned for back in the UK. I must get this book. http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Field-Insects-Australia-ebook/dp/B0050FEJ4I I used to meet and correspond with Paul Brock back in the 70s and 80s.
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Anthony I did not notice the segments on the tail. The red was more of a wider extention of that black circle near the body - not extending down the wing like this one. Could a praying mantis get huge? You can see how challenged I am where insects are concerned ???
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There are no mantids with a body much more than half the size you suggest. There are over 150 species of stick insect in Australia, and red wing bases is quite often a colour combination, not just in Australia. The amount of red could also vary between different populations of the same species.
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Thanks Anthony. I just ordered the book through fishpond - you get free shipping!
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Maggi would love that one as depicted on Google. I like stick insects very much but admit to having seen them only to about 5" (12cms) or so in length. I had a hedge once of Olearia and when I first went to cut it, found hundreds of stick insects in it, so it never did get cut in the 7 years I lived there.
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Ian is giggling and Maggi is going to lie down in a darkened room. 20cms 9eight inches0 is bad enough for something with so many skinny legs... but the notion of a stick insect 30cms ( one foot) long is just too much.
As to your infested hedge, Lesley..... words fail me! :o
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That must be a first Maggi? ;D
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Now, Now Children.... play nice. No insulting or scaring the moderators!! :P
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Luckily, my back, like the rest of me, is broad! ;)
So long as forumists play politely together, we will all be happy. Thankfully, that is usually the case :-X
Mind you, if I could ban critters with too many skinny legs then I most certainly would!! ::) :P
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Maggi, I'll take all your stick insects and mantids and you can have my wee harlequin stinkbugs and sawflies.
Deal? ;D
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Maggi, I'll take all your stick insects and mantids and you can have my wee harlequin stinkbugs and sawflies.
Deal? ;D
No deal, Helen :)... luckily the only stick insects and mantids I have to deal with are on the pages of the forum... tho' for me, that's bad enough. :-X
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Maggi, I'll take all your stick insects and mantids and you can have my wee harlequin stinkbugs and sawflies.
Deal? ;D
No deal, Helen :)... luckily the only stick insects and mantids I have to deal with are on the pages of the forum... tho' for me, that's bad enough. :-X
Bummer :'( :'( :'( :'(
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I have sent an enquiry to the Australian Museum insect section online. Maggie it was the most amazing insect and you would have loved him/her :) even with your aversion to them.
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Vivienne and I were in one of the cheap shops looking for wrapping paper. I spotted a box of "educational" posters. The one on the front was photos of "zoo animals" on a white back ground, including cheetah (labelled leopard); tortoise (labelled turtle); gazelle (labelled deer) and female gorilla (labelled chimpanzee).
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The very quick reply from the Australian Museum below but without a photo it will be hard:
Hi Patricia,
It is a bit difficult without a photo to say what it was – there are several species that would occur in SA which are green and that size, and have spines on them. My best guess is the Red-winged Stick-insect Podocanthus viridiroseus – the hind wings are very bright red, it is large, and has spines on the legs and thorax.
Most stick insects are rarely seen unless you are looking hard for them and know where to look, so it doesn’t surprise me that you haven’t seen your one before. They are experts at remaining unseen.
cheers,
Dave.
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Vivienne and I were in one of the cheap shops looking for wrapping paper. I spotted a box of "educational" posters. The one on the front was photos of "zoo animals" on a white back ground, including cheetah (labelled leopard); tortoise (labelled turtle); gazelle (labelled deer) and female gorilla (labelled chimpanzee).
That's what you get from going "cheap" Anthony. ;D
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A four litre plastic plant pot and tray for $3 ain't bad. Expensive by UK standards, but better than the hardware shops in Auckland. In the UK we have pound shops where everything costs £1. I was quickly relieved of the thought that a dollar shop meant the same here. ::)
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Well we did have $2 shops and everything WAS $2. They have all now become $2 and $5 shops! ???
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Podacanthus viridiroseus is quite large, but the red covers the entire wings. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mixfWzUn0zk
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That youtube video looks awfully like the stick insect I saw, colour and size and sleekness but I wish I could see the wings out. I guess they only put their wings out to warn off predators. I have never thought about keeping them as pets till I saw this one and did some googling.
The red patches were bright clear red - no blue in the red at all.
Thanks Anthony for posting the video link.