8 December 2009

Summertime bugs

| weeziepops
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Is it just me, or are there more flies and less Christmas beetles and grasshoppers than there used to be? If this is the case, why is it so?

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Nahh, it was the bloody cyclists.

I’m pretty sure the smokers did it.

anonymous gungahlian6:45 pm 09 Dec 09

I have noticed that there are less Grasshoppers, Christmas Beetles and Moths compared to last year too and I disagree that it was warmer this time last year. But we’ll be going to Ipswich and Brisbane to see our relatives for Christmas so I’ll see more Beetles, frogs, geckos, grasshoppers ect.

I’ve had ants set up camp in both my iron and the coffee machine just last week. Weird. And that’s on the 2nd floor of a 2-storey place. Either they’re heading there for a constant supply of water or there is going to be a whopper of a flood.
Also noticed heaps of earwigs too.

Spoono said :

…and Spitfires (Sawfly larvae). I used to see heaps of both when I was a kid. Dunno why though.

Yeah, I haven’t seen Spitfires in well over a decade I’d reckon. And you couldn’t step outside my house at this time of year without being whacked in the face by a Christmas Beetle. Even the ones you do see aren’t nearly as big as they used to be.

Common house flys don’t seem that common – though I am encountering huge clouds of what I’d call Grass Flys on my bike.

Although Thumper is being his usual ironic self in blaming global warming, the unusually hot nights in November has certainly brought out the mozzies. I’ve never known so many bites this early in the season.

And this November had not only the warmest days on record, also the warmest nights. And the hot nights are the real bugger about the earlier and hotter than usual summer season.

Definitely less insects than in my early years growing up in Canberra. The long drought (for ten yers or so now?) has most likely taken it’s toll on insect populations.

Combined with increased urbanisation around the Canberra region, we are likely to keep loosing on this front. I was in central Australia (around the Camerons Corner NSW/SA/QLD border area) for three weeks not long ago and didn’t notice any increase in the number of insects/bugs ‘blowing in’ than last time I was out there….still lots of annoying black house flys but thats about it.

There were plenty of grasshoppers not too far away in The Snowy Mountains last summer, they obliterated gardens in small towns south-west of Cooma, I surmise they were a problem for farmers too.

Clown Killer9:16 pm 08 Dec 09

My take is that the Christmas Beetle is the adult version of the much loathed scarab grubs that attack nice, lush (and often expensive) lawns. With the dry spell we’ve had this past decade the lawns have all but gone and with them the scarab grubs and hence the Christmas Beetle. Just a theory of course.

I’ve seen no Christmas beetles at my home in Kambah, but at my work’s nice new huge cement pad in Mitchell is littered with dead/sleeping Christmas beetles. In fact most deliveries that are made have at least 1 Christmas beetle in one of the boxes (we only deliver to Canberra Region & occasionally Snowy Mountain Region so nothing naughty in spreading dead bugs).
It may just have to do with the different surrounds as Kambah has lots of trees & Mitchell is surrounded by grasslands, but that is only a guess.
But I do miss the cicada’s & my dog misses chasing the sound.

noticeably more earwigs this year…

Spoono said :

Yeah there does seem to be heaps less Christmas beetles in the last few years. That and Spitfires (Sawfly larvae). I used to see heaps of both when I was a kid. Dunno why though.

Same here. We used to get piles of Christmas Beetles when I was a kid and now I can’t even remember the last time I saw them.. Ditto with spitfires, those buggers used to be everywhere.

Now if we can just get rid of the moths..

Definitely less Xmas beetles and also no bogong moths anymore = what happened to them?

Plenty of flies, earwigs and brown grasshoppers.

Hmm, nah seems like a normal amount to me. I also notice its worse down in canberra suburbs than it is here up in Queanbeyan as well.

I recommend a full face mesh net if you have to be outside a lot (think beekeper style but lighter and more breathable) or grab a fallen branch and swat, swat, swat.

I love walking through Fyshwick to work doing the “crazy man” dance as I swing my arms around me wildly trying to dislodge the swarm, must look hilarious to anyone driving by.

What I really want though is a portable, battery powered, electric bug zapper. Wait till a few build up then turn it on and zap the lot, hehehe.

Or just do as my friend suggests, they hang around waiting for you to crap cause its your crap theyre after, so just drop your dacks when you’re out on your walk, squeeze one out and then run! LOL

Gungahlin Al7:26 pm 08 Dec 09

I’d guess there have been more flies due to the consistent rainfalls allowing grass growth – consistent in frequency if not quantity!

But seriously there may be a bit more of them around than last year, but nothing compared to to couple of years prior to that, when the drought seriously knocked the numbers of dung beetles around then we got a big downfall of rain.

Saw my first Xmas beetle yesterday. They feed on Eucalyptus leaves (a significant contributor to dieback in mature eucs actually), and those trees are still quite drought stressed so maybe another link?

just you, i think. s4anta is right that the recent dry winds have blown some in from the centre, but i was musing as i gardened this week how few flies there were at the moment… you’re obviously sweeter than me!

Yeah there does seem to be heaps less Christmas beetles in the last few years. That and Spitfires (Sawfly larvae). I used to see heaps of both when I was a kid. Dunno why though.

I’ve noticed the Cicada’s have been out this month!
Havn’t seen them in years. 😀

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada#Life_cycle

I’ve been wondering that too…

I blame the Government

I made the same comment last year and was told that the reason for less Christmas Beetles is because their larvae live in grass – and with Canberran lawns becoming less common with the drought and water restrictions over the last few years, there’s less larvae, and hence less beetles. I don’t know how true that is though.

As for the grasshoppers, I’ve seen heaps of the little brown ones around, but no big yellow winged ones. I just attributed that to increased development around my area – the grass paddocks that once attracted the yellow winged grasshoppers are gone.

10,000 odd species of flies down to mozzies in Australia.

Alot of them have been blown in from the Interior on the recent dry, high winds we have experienced, not too mention that it is Summer.

To avoid flies etc, don’t smell sweet, they like sweet smelling things as they are pollen and sap eaters believe it or not.

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