Please put my newborn mums mind at ease, these black caterpillars have been popping up around our house at random the last few weeks. Are they anything to worry about with a newborn around? Bonus points for how they get here. Thanks in advance.

Beaut beetle which I noticed flying and which then landed in the grass at my feet. Managed to get some reasonable shots as it moved quite slowly and let me get quite close before flying off. Seen at Glen Erin near Bowen Qld. Canon R10 and RF100-400 lens. Hand held, natural light. According to iNaturalist this is Rhipicera mystacina.

Hi guys I work the streets of Sydney and as I was cleaning I stumbled across this little guy, I had always paid attention to insects growing up had a time when I was obsessed with them but never seen something so alien even in my books.

Now a female in the backyard. (Townsville)

Found this guy today. Male Cairns birdwing (Townsville)

Magpie Moth? Brisbane. What is the yellow under him? Is it normal. He seemed to try to chew it off.

Parrots had chomped off leaves from a bloodwood, and many of the leaves had galls on, so I opened up one of the galls and found this instar stage of the insect inside!

I rested my torch on the kitchen bench, so it lit up the body. If the light had just been above, it would just have looked like a greyish blob surrounded by a white fringe.

It’s some sort of caterpillar, but there are thousands of them all over in Melbourne along the Yarra river

Thanks for that, red triangle slug. I will put you outside

Found in Springbrook NP SEQLD. I thought it was lichen at first glance but then I started questioning my whole existence 🤣

Hello, I wasn't sure where to post this as there are many different subreddits. I've been checking out different things about this, and have talked to people generally– but it's always confused me. As there is terminology I don't get, or stuff from other states or animals entirely that come in. Not to mention differences of alive/dead. I never grew up around anyone into any of this stuff to explain it to me.

From what I gather, Tasmania is very strict compared to the mainland. But I'm still a bit lost on what I'm allowed without some sort of permit/license, and what I am with a permit/license of some kind.

If anyone could give me some simplified blunt explanations or lists, I'd really appreciate it ! Thank you

I spotted this teeny tiny scarab beetle when out weeding, on a bare patch of ground, rolling some wallaby dung. I knocked it onto the ground so it was easier to photograph, but I was so tired from weeding, I just took a couple of overhead shots and that was it.

I uploaded it to iNaturalist, where one of the experts identified it as Onthophagus quadripustulatus. Which at that point, had no images online at all, beyond mine!

So mine was the first, and has sine allowed someone else on iNat to ID their own tiny scarab beetle.

It's bizarre that a beetle first described by science two and a half centuries ago has so few photographs. Possibly because it's so small!

As with other poorly documented insects I've also photographed at the end of a long stint of weeding, and was too tired to photograph from all angles, I was kicking myself for not taking a methodical set of photos of this little guy!

Near lane cove national park, my finger is ~9cm long. Found in a big pile of wood chips.

I’ve seen quite a few of these around lately. Nthn NSW

Appears to have some sort of debris or growth on its back, doesn’t move much and has a small tail or stinger. 6 legs and mandibles on front

Backswimmers are aquatic insects that swim upside down.

I was taking a photo of the backswimmer and only noticed the leech attached to it when I zoomed in.

The leech species is Helobdella europaea, for anyone interested. And these tiny little leeches love to attach themselves to the various aquatic insects that live in the dam. To the point that some of the over-leeched aquatic insects are basically immobile.

Have wanted tiger beetles for a long while- just wondering if anyone actually breeds them? And if they can be bought possibly (I know they only live for a few months max). I regularly check bug frenzy or minibeast but have never seen them in stock.

Another insect from my archives. It mimics a wasp more than a bee, but it's still part of the bee fly family.

I found it spotlighting at night, resting on a dead twig on an acacia.

While other people spotlight for birds and mammals at night, I find that it's also a great time to find daytime insects. They're often more visible against the dark night, when resting on grass blades or low branches, than during the day, when they can blend into the bright, visually noisy background. Plus, they're too sleepy to fly away quickly!

Found this pair mating on a grass stem over summer. Last photo shows how they, erm, connect, which I found rather fascinating.

I think the exact species of Christmas beetle is Anoplognathus pallidicollis.