Creature Feature #403: Ladybird

There numerous species of Ladybird - over 5000 -  found all over the world. Most are characterised by their colourful elytron (wing covers) which in many species are spotted. Some species are vegetarian, and have become something of a pest in agriculture, but most species favour a carnivorous diet with a particular fondness for destructive insects such as aphids.  As such, they are generally regarded as the gardener's friend. Although, introduced Harlequin Ladybirds are currently engaged in a full-on invasion of the United Kingdom, where they are spreading at a rapid rate and out-competing their native species.

Creature Feature #402: Lacewing

Lacewings are small insects named for their delicate wings, which are cross-veined and resemble lace. She is nocturnal or crepscular in nature and feeds on pollen, nectar and honeydew, as well as the occasional tiny arthropod. When handled, some species will release a vile stench from their prothoracal glands. This has earned her the name "stinkfly". The spiny nature of the larvae attracts grime and sand, providing the juvenile with an element of camouflage.  Larvae are voracious predators, attacking any arthropod of appropriate size and even biting humans. To feed, she injects her prey with venom, liquifying its insides and allowing them to be sucked out.

Creature Feature #371: Kabutomushi

The Kabutomushi is a Japanese rhinocerous beetle. It is readily available in the pet trade - there are even entire stores dedicated to them and other large beetles. The large male using his distinctive horn to fight with other males, and this trait has been exploited in gambling dens. Two males are placed on a log, and the first to push the other off is deemed the winner. For all his popularity, these beetles are short-lived, spending the majority of their life in larval form and only surviving in their adult stage for around four months. His diet is vegetarian, particularly fruit, and he is capable of flight.

Kabuto translates as "helmet" and Mushi as "bug".

Creature Feature #370: Katydid

Katydids belong to the same Order as crickets, weta and grasshoppers, characterised by their extremely long antennae. There are thousands of species spread across the world, in every continent except Antarctica, although they favour the tropical regions. They are generally nocturnal in nature, camouflaging amongst the leaves during the day. Some species are vegetarian in diet, whilst others are predators, feeding on other insects and even the occasional small vertebrate. This unusual Superb Katydid, of central Australia, is thought to feed exclusively on flowers.

Creature Feature #359: Jewel Caterpillar

Jewel Caterpillars are the larval stage of several species of Dalceridae moth, found in the rainforests of Central and South America. Sometimes known as "slug caterpillars", their gelatinous translucent coating gives them the appearance of a discarded jewel. But touching them is not advised - this coating is sticky and unpleasant, acting as a deterrent to predators. The spines break off easily, allowing the caterpillar to wiggle away from attack. They do not appear to be poisonous.

Creature Feature #358: Jewel Beetle

The Jewel Beetles are a Family of irridescent beetles, with over 15,000 different species. Their primary diet is wood, with the larvae chewing through the roots, leaves and logs of a variety of flora. Whilst they favour old and decaying wood, some species do significant damage to growing trees and are regarded an invasive pest. The adults of some species will drink nectar. The colour is attained not from pigmentation but from the reflective nature of the insect's exoskeleton. They are prized amongst insect collectors, with their elytra - the hardened forewings - being used in jewellery and decoration. This fellow is Temognatha alternata from Queensland, Australia.

Creature Feature #339: Imperial Moth

The Imperial Moth is a Nearctic moth, whose range extends from Mexico to Canada. The female is larger than the male, and her wings tend to be more yellow. Much of her life is spent as a caterpillar, feeding on coniferous and deciduous plants. She undergoes four moults, with her first within only a few days of hatching. After attaining her fifth instar, she leaves her tree and burrows underground to pupate. At about mid-summer, the fully-formed moth digs her way out before sunrise and begins her search for a mate. She will mate after midnight, and lay her eggs by dusk the next day. As an adult, she does not feed, and will die shortly after.

Creature Feature #334: Ichneumon Wasp

The Ichneumon are a Superfamily of wasps, containing over 80,000 species. These insects are solitary and quite large. Many are parasitic. Females are characterised by their extremely long ovipositors. When she is ready to lay her eggs, she will seek out the larvae of a different species: caterpillars, beetle larvae, maggots. This ovipositor is then used to deliver her eggs either directly into the host or near the intended host. When her larvae hatch, they consume the host from the inside. Some Ichneumon prey on ants, entering the nest and depositing her eggs by releasing a chemical that confuses the ants and causes them to fight amongst themselves, rather than target her. Many also infect the host with a virus that suppresses its immune system.

Creature Feature #325: Hummingbird Hawkmoth

America has the Hummingbird, Eurasia and Africa have the Hummingbird Hawkmoth. Due to his size, proboscis and the humming noise he makes in flight, he does bear quit a resemblance to his namesake. This is an example of convergent evolution - where two unrelated creatures develop similar traits to adapt to their environment. He is a diurnal moth, spending his days foraging on nectar-rich flowers. His visual abilities have been the product of much research and he has the ability to learn and recognise colours - useful when looking for flowering plants. During the summer he is widespread, but as the weather cools he migrates south to warmer climes.

Creature Feature #313: Honeybee

The Honeybee is a social insect with a cosmopolitan range. Hives are divided up into three types of bee. The most common is the worker bee - females that are not sexually developed - who play a role in foraging and collecting food and maintaining living conditions within the hive. The male bee is known as a drone, and he only remains with the hive during the spring and summer, during winter he is pushed out as the swarm go into survival mode. There is also one female bee that is sexually developed, known as the queen bee. She spends her entire life laying eggs and when she dies, a worker bee will be fed on "royal jelly" which will stimulate her maturity. The queen also produces chemicals that directly influence the behaviour of the other bees.

Bees play a very important role in pollination, as the workers fly from flower to flower, collecting nectar to carry back to their hive. It is of considerate concern that bee numbers are in the decline, possibly due to the widespread use of pesticides. It has been predicted that if the Honeybee  were to go extinct, then many of our crops would no longer become viable as a food source.

There is so much that can be said about the humble honeybee. She truly is a remarkable creature.

Creature Feature #309: Hercules Beetle

The Hercules Beetle is a rhinocerous beetle, characterised by the long horns of the male - these the female lacks entirely. They are used in fights with rival males. His Hercules tag is well deserved - he can lift up to 850 times his body weight. Some males can measure up to 17cm in length. He is found in Central and South America, foraging across the forest floor in search of decaying fruit upon which to dine. 

Creature Feature #281: Grasshopper

There are thousands of species of Grasshopper, spread throughout the world. Their preferred diet consists of grasses, leaves and cereal crops, which he chews with his mandibles to start the digestion process. Many Grasshoppers are coloured for camouflage.  Like most arthropods, Grasshoppers begin as a nymph and grow through several instars before attaining their adult form.  This fellow is the Lubber Grasshopper, from the southeastern states of America. He can grow up to 8cm long. His wings are atrophied, rendering him incapable of flight and he is only able to jump short distances, instead preferring to walk. To avoid getting eaten, he is toxic and will emit a nasty secretion to repel anything that tries to chomp him.

Creature Feature #273: Giraffe Weevil

The Giraffe Weevil is a strange insect, found only in Madagascar and first discovered in 2008. The male is characterised by his long neck, which is not used to help him nibble on leaves - although he is a herbivore - but for mortal combat. The two males will battle for the right to mate with the shorter-necked female.  The female then creates a nest for her single egg by curling up the leaf of a very specific plant, weaving it together deftly before snipping it off and dropping it to the forest floor.

Creature Feature #252: Fruit Fly

Okay, so my Fruit Fly looks a wee bit punk.

The Fruit Fly is a small species of fly beloved by biologists and very popular in genetic studies. This is because she only has four pairs of chromosomes and breeds fast, producing a great many eggs. This does not make her so popular amongst homes, restaurants or orchards, however, where fruit left to spoil can quickly become infested. This individual is a female of the wild type, as it characterised by her red eyes and barred abdomen. She will be mated fairly quickly after emerging from her pupae, and will lay up to 400 eggs, in lots of 5, in rotting vegetative matter. Larvae can reach maturity within 7 days if temperatures are optimal (yes, this does mean that your compost bins, in summer, can quickly become a swarming hive of fruit flies).

Creature Feature #241: Flower Mantis

The beautiful Flower Mantis use aggressive mimicry as his hunting technique. Delicately coloured, he lurks near flowers of similar colour and waits for flies to flutter by. This fellow, the Devils Flower Mantis, is one of the largest species with males measuring 10 cm in length. If threatened, he will rise up in a deimatic display, exposing the brightly-colorued underside of his legs and opening his wings to appear larger and more threatening.

Creature Feature #209: Emperor Gum Moth

The Emperor Gum Moth is a large, hairy species of moth found naturally in Australia, favouring the warmer climes. She has also been introduced to New Zealand--probably accidentally--where she has become a  pest. This is because of the diet of her caterpillars, eucalyptus trees, and her eating habits; caterpillars will  defoliate the host trees. Luckily, eucalyptus trees are not widespread in New Zealand and thusher range is limited. Caterpillars hatch yellow, turning green as they mature and will generally remain in their pupael state over the winter, to emerge as adult moths in spring. Females can span 130mm, with males being slightly smaller. The adults do not feed, existing solely to mate, lay eggs and then die.

Creature Feature #207: Emerald Fruit Chafer

This is apparently an Emerald Fruit Chafer (Dicronorrhina derbyana), although he is also known as Derby's Flower Beetle, and may have to be moved into my F book under "Flower Chafer". Oh well, that will give me an excuse to draw an Elephant Bird. This just goes to show that common names are not necessarily reliable when it comes to insects and not to rely on Google Image search.

The name Emerald Fruit Chafer is generally used to refer to Rhabdotis aulica whose colours are not quite as striking.

Anyway, let us tell you a bit about Chafer beetles, specifically the fellow I have actually drawn. They are a member of the Scarab family, making them related to Dung Beetles. Their diet, however, consists more of vegetation. Adults feed primarily on tree sap and fruits. He is found in sub-Saharan Africa and grows no more than about 50mm in length. Only the males sport the T-shaped "horn". This horn is used to dig into the fruit, splitting the outer skin. Males can also be quite aggressive. Females will lay up to 200 eggs and the young larvae feed on decaying vegetable matter. It takes the larvae 8-9 months to reach maturity, and then they will survive for 3-4 months as an adult.

The other Emerald Fruit Chafer if also a member of the Scarab family and lives in Africa. She lays her eggs in animal manure and the hatching larvae are protected by a clay case. Her diet consists mainly of flowers and fruits and adults only grow to about 25mm long. 

Creature Feature #188: Earwig

There are about 2,000 species of Earwigs, spread throughout the world and characterised by the large pincers that grace their abdomen. Nocturnal in nature, she hides within crevices during the day, favouring the damp and the dark. At night she ventures out to chew her way through foliage and flowers and is charged with damaging crops. She is a protective mother, driving her mate away shortly before laying her eggs. These she protects from predation, keeps them clean from fungi growth and may help her nymphs hatch - which they do after 7 days. Their first meal is their egg casings, and the mother proceeds to reguirgitate further meals for them. They grow through several moults, eating their old skins, until they attain their adult stage. If their mother dies before they mature, they may eat her.

Creature Feature #181: Dung Beetle

The Dung Beetle plays an important role as nature's "clean-up crew". His diet consists partly, or entirely, upon the feces of vertebretes, specifically herbivores, althogh some species supplement their diet with mushrooms, decaying leaves and fruit. He uses his sensitive sense of smell to locate the dung and then rolls it up into a ball - sometimes up to ten times his weight. Sometimes the male and the smaller female will roll the ball together, with her riding on top, or following behind and occassionally assisting. The ball is always rolled straight, regardless of any obstacles. It will be buried in a soft patch of soil and the pair will then mate, the eggs being laid inside this warm brood ball. They then remain to guard their developing larvae.

Creature Feature #176: Dragonfly

Dragonflies are an Order of insects characterised by powerful wings, where the hind wing is broader than the fore wing, large multifaceted eyes, and long, streamlined body. Dragonflies are hunters on the wing, skimming low across the water to snatch up smaller insects, including mosquitos, ants, flies, wasps and occasionally butterflies. There are almost 6,000 species ranging in length from several millimetres to the bulky petaltail of Australia - which can measure up to 125 millimetres long. Dragonfly larvae are known as naiads and hatch from eggs laid in the water. Here he preys on mosquito larvae and even tadpoles or small fish. Eventually he  climbs out of the water, outer skin cracking open and out he will climb, a fresh new dragonfly.