Predators and prey - how well will they play?

I've been trying to get back here to update what is happening for a few days but life has got in the way!
So, while I sit here and listen to the Cicadas song get ever louder, here is the news.
I'm very happy to announce the appearance of first one, and now several ladybird beetle larva!

Ladybeetle exuvia (skin) left under leaf after moult. 

Ladybeetle larva hanging upside down from exuvia attached to underside of leaf.

Ladybeetle larva feeding on fungus just like its parents! 

 I found the first one hanging under a leaf after just moulting its exuvia (skin) and then the following day, I found more. There seems to be quite a few of them wandering over the leaves. I am not sure whether spiders will eat them but so far they are managing to avoid being killed by the tribe of Salties I seem to have patrolling the microcosm. The retreat under the leaf has gone now and I see a couple of females as well as a couple of males covering the entire bush but they seem to be more up the mantid end now. I don't know if they have spotted them and are hoping for a decent meal, since the tiny plant hoppers I found one chowing down on would not provide much sustenance I think.

 European Elm Leafhopper - Ribautiana ulmi (Linnaeus 1758)

Subfamily/Tribe: Typhlocybinae: Typhlocybini

Female Helpis minitabunda feeding on leafhopper as shown above. 

In the days I have been observing the microcosm since last post, I got quite worried as my little brown mantid disappeared for a day and seeing the salties lurking all over the bush had me really worried. I found the green guy but search as hard as I could, grovelling down on the ground and looking up into the undergrowth, I could not find it. I found a spider carcass, or was it an empty shell? I am not sure since it fell down and disappeared into the brownness below! Actually, while editing the photo, I decided it is the exuvia because I can see split in the skin. I suspect it just blew down there in the wind and didn't moult in the microcosm. I haven't seen a spider of that sort; it looks like a huntsman type to me. 

Exuvia of larger, possibly huntsman spider down in the branches.

My next discovery, despite not finding my little brown mantid was a new ladybird visitor! A beautiful amber coloured creature with black spots. It wandered around for a little while then flew away. I got a few shots of this beauty and my research tells me it is another introduced species from Europe known as the Spotted Amber or White Collared Ladybird beetle -Hippodamia variegata . It preys on aphids and other small insects so I hope it finds plants with aphids in my garden instead of moving on; it would be very handy to have around! And it's really pretty! 

Hippodamia variegata - White Collared Ladybird Beetle

So, I guess you are wondering by now if Little Brown (my little brown mantid) returned to the Microcosm! Well, I was hoping he had just gone off somewhere safe to moult and would return but with all the predators in the neighbourhood, I was getting very concerned that he had been breakfast for someone! 

However, finally yesterday afternoon I found him again! He has moulted and sure looks different; lighter in colour and greenish now and maybe a little larger. Just beautiful! 

The realisation from this is that brown is the first instar, greenish is the second. Not sure where that pinkish guy fitted in yet. I haven't found that one for a while either. 

Little Brown - second instar; now much more pinkish green after his moult.

Here is the pièce de résistance of today's post! Some of my Google+ friends already saw my post - an irresistibly cute baby Salticidae spider! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this little guy. You can imagine my thoughts: Oh, what's that? (Looks closer) It looks like a little spider. In fact it looks like a tiny, almost colourless saltie! Oh my gosh! I have to get a photo of this! This is awesome! (Huge grin spreads across face as I run to get my camera) 

Now, this little guy wasn't too keen on me following its every move and it made some very cool jumps which confused me for a second since when you are looking through a lens, you can't see where the thing you were staring at disappears to! However, I persisted and finally the little guy allowed me to snap off a couple of shots although when I first flashed him, he seemed to have a little fit! I think it was a bit much for the poor little fellow's big eyes. I felt bad about that!

So now we know why mum is no longer in the retreat and why I couldn't see them in there. Her babies have left the nest and they are so colourless as to be difficult to see through a webby covering!

I didn't find any more spiderlings in the microcosm which is not to say that they don't exist! I was just lucky seeing this one I think!  

Helpis spiderling peering over leaf.

Helpis spiderling full view; see its pinkish abdomen in the classic shape of the adults!

I hope you enjoy the photos and the wonder of the microcosm as much as enjoy telling you about it! Till next time...

Catching up on the Microcosm

I have been a little busy and have only had time to check on the Mantid Microcosm and take a few photos but not to write up the blog so it's catch up time!

I've been a little unsure about whether these tiny mantids are moving from the plant I found them on but I think it may be more likely that they are hard to see. When I see one on a different plant like one I've seen before, I think it has moved however it seems that I then find the original again which was hiding out of sight. They can hide quite easily in all that undergrowth especially being the tiny size that they still are!

The tiny brown ones still seem to be tiny and brown but surely they must be due to moult soon! The greenish one seems to be going reddish which is like one I found on the Cumquat tree so perhaps that is the next instar developing under its green skin? Again, time will tell.

Here you can see both mantid nymphs on the Hydrangea - tiny brown nymph behind and the greenish nymph in the foreground. 

I have also found a few tiny little nymphs on both the Cumquat and Hydrangea of a yet unknown insect but I am guessing it might be a Katydid as it has long back legs for jumping and very long antennae. It is definitely in the Orthoptera family. If you think you can identify it, you can add a comment below.

Tiny Orthoptera nymph of some kind with very long antennae and large back legs.

Also on the Cumquat tree are some scale insects which are being tended by ants. The ants apparently stimulate the scale insect to exude some kind of honeydew which they feed on.

Ant feeding on honeydew from scale insect - on Cumquat branch.

I found this video which shows another species of scale insect giving honeydew to ants. 

I have also been keeping a watch on the mystery eggs on the Cumquat leaf and they are changing colour, in fact they may hatch in the next day or two and I am thinking they could be Spined Citrus bugs which appear in my field guide to citrus pests.  *See below. The bug sucks on the fruit causing rind damage but it has some natural predators which are the small parasitic wasp, Trissolcus oenone which parasitise the eggs; the other is the predatory assassin bug, Pristhesancus plagipennis. I am not sure what is going to come out of the eggs as I have seen a lot of little wasps around my garden so it will be a big surprise to see what emerges!

Mystery eggs on 20th November.

Mystery eggs on 21st November. I see eyes in the one top, second from right! 

One last thing for this post is the little orange and brown horned moth I keep seeing on both plants. I am not sure but it is like some kind of apple moth. I know, it's on a citrus tree but the common names are not always very helpful. Anyway, it has these kind of horn structures and red eyes so it looks very cool but that is when you look under a macro lens. Otherwise, it can appear as a bit of debris on the leaf; it is so small. I don't know whether it has laid any eggs anywhere yet but it sure likes that area! 

Tiny moth with horn-like structures on Cumquat leaf.

I am off now to see if any mystery eggs have hatched and what else is going on in the micro world that is the Mantid Microcosm!

References:

*Smith, D., Broadley, R., Feutrill, C., Beattie, A., Freebairn, C., Citrus Pests: a field guide. 1997, DPI Publications, Queensland, Australia

Hello, hello, hello! What's going on here?

It's been five days since I discovered the first tiny mantid on the Hydrangea bush and today when looking over the microcosm, I notice some changes. Firstly, the jumping spider is sitting next to the webby retreat where there is another, probably  female, hiding beneath. I had noticed this spider in its retreat the other day and wondered if it was the female but hadn't seen any connection between it and the male helpis except that he seemed to stay in the general area. I don't know much about salticidae behaviour but it has me wondering if she is guarding an egg sac and he is protecting her. Well, a little searching on Google has revealed a New Zealand website - TERRAIN that says that this spider, commonly known as the Australian Bronze Jumping Spider (Helpis Minitabunda), does just that! He stays by the nest while the female is inside it! Actually, he ran behind the leaf one time today when he thought I was too close with my camera but I am sure he would defend against other intertebrate invaders!

Male Bronze Jumping Spider guarding female in nest.

I couldn't find the mantids at all at first and got distracted by a hover fly I was going to photograph but it took off, however it led my eyes to another little mantid living on a low branch of the Cumquat tree. Surely with all these little mantids around, a few have to survive to adult! This one looks a slightly different colour to any of the others I found. It has quite a pinkish hue though is similar in size to the light brown one on the Hydrangea, both are bigger than the dark brown one. I am not sure if it is just a first instar nymph and they are second, or they are totally different species. Time will tell no doubt.

Pinkish mantid on Cumquat Tree

The other interesting change is that the light brown nymph appears to be turning green! I have seen this phenomenon with stick insects where the first instar nymph is one colour but changes to another although it is usually at the last moult. For example the Eurycnema goliath is brown right up to its last moult and then it emerges from its skin a beautiful green and yellow! Quite amazing! The smallest dark brown mantid could well be an instar behind. It really is tiny as you can see by the photo of it on the Hydrangea florets. It knows where to hunt though; flying insects are going to check out that flower even if it is not fully mature.

Light brown-greenish mantid nypmph on Hydrangea.

Dark brown mantid nymph on Hydrangea florets.

Eat, Prey, Love

As a Buglady, I tend to look over my garden with an eye for tiny things in the undergrowth and on the day I was looking over my Hydrangea bushes; noting their buds forming, there were many little flying insects flitting over it, landing on occasion and flitting off again. I saw a little black beetle larva first wandering on a leaf, noting that I must go in and get my camera to get a photo and wondering if it was a ladybird beetle larva because I noted some mildewed leaves and some species of lady(bird) beetle feed on fungi. Next I saw a ladybeetle; black with yellow markings so my thinking may have been on track.

As I followed the ladybeetle along through the foliage, I saw a spider and on closer inspection realised it was a salticidae or jumping spider. My favourite kind; I definitely need my camera but I couldn't resist looking further around the bush and then I saw it; a tiny brown insect on a leaf near the top of the bush. I thought it looked a little like a praying mantid but was it? A bit closer and yes! There was that characteristic pose with those raptorial front legs folded ready to strike should any prey come close enough! Now, I  have kept gravid female mantids before and seen how many tiny nymphs emerge from one ootheca and so straight away realised that there had to be a few of this guy's siblings around about. Time to get my camera!

When I returned with my camera, the beetle nymph was nowhere to be seen but I took some photos of the adult lady beetle which I have now identified as Illeis galbula, a fungus eating Lady Beetle.

Illeis galbula Ladybird Beetle feeding on fungus on Hydrangea leaf.

I found the mantid again and it seemed to have caught something to eat and was looking at me in a particularly suspicious way when I was taking its photo! It wasn't going to share its meal!

Mantid nymph with its catch.

While I was taking this photo and looking over the bush, I found another little mantid of much the same size. Hooray! I knew there would be more! More photos then onto the jumping spider which I had been able to identify as a male Helpis due to another Google Plusser posting the female of the same species. Thank-you Shane!

 Male Helpis minitabunda spider

So then, despite being very excited about all these buggy finds in one place, I was concerned about my two little mantids and how they would survive with a tenacious hunter like this in their midst. And not only that but right next door on the cumquat tree, I found a leaf with eleven round creamy eggs on it. What could they be and would the occupants become a threat to my babies? More about that when I find out about them. 

Mystery eggs on cumquat leaf.

Suburban Wildlife

It is now late Spring in Melbourne, Australia; the weather has been warmer and we have had far more rain this year than for the last five I would say. The result has been flourishing gardens wherever we look and in those gardens, increasingly more wildlife.
As well as the many bird species that inhabit our garden, we have possums that do nightly runs along the side fence, across the overhead wires and across the roof. The smaller Ringtail possums are cute and do not cause too much trouble except for causing my dog to bark and jump at the fence as they brave the run along it. The Brushtail possums however, are bigger and heavier and sound like they are galloping over the rooftop. Not only that but they, unlike their smaller cousins, do not 'play possum' or stay still hoping danger will pass but they growl and snarl and will fight back if put in a predicament where they have to defend themselves.  Our little dog Monty has received a scratch on the nose on one occasion but he has managed to kill a young Ringtail also. We have resorted to keeping him inside at night because it is just not worth the drama!
Of course there is the matter of them eating the leaves and blossoms of plants; they love the gum leaves on our eucalyptus tree, and they also like to eat the peel off the lemons. Yes, just the peel! So, one finds naked lemons still hanging on the tree or fallen to the ground. I guess they have to find what food they can but lemon peel? If they can digest eucalyptus leaves with their high level of indigestible substances, and phenolic and terpene compounds, they can obviously manage lemon peel!
As well as these larger arboreal animals, we have a small pond which is home to a few very noisy Eastern Banjo Frogs from time to time. They have been calling again every since the weather warmed up and make quite a decent noise. It has been described as a deep bonk sound and when two or more are calling at once they try to outdo each other so their calls all merge into a sound like pobble or pobblebonk! This is also another common name for these ground dwelling frogs; Pobblebonk. 


Now I love all this wildlife but what I find most fascinating is the smaller inhabitants of the garden; butterflies, caterpillars, moths, bees, wasps, beetles, spiders and one of my favourites simply because they are so hard to find and are amazing insects are the  Praying Mantids/Mantis. It is far easier to say or write mantids than mantises so I find mantid works better and both are interchangeable. 

This Spring I have found several praying mantid nymphs in my Hydrangea bushes and have been checking on them each day since. I would love to see them remain there and be able to watch their growth and development but realise there are many things that could prevent this coming to fruition. After all, the garden is a dangerous place for a small insect as there are many predators that would find a young mantid nymph a tasty snack! I know there are at least three salticidae (jumping) spiders in the same bushes and many more around the garden so I will just have to hope that my babies are clever at hiding and fast at escaping! The main photo shows one of the nymphs hiding between some leaves so they clearly have intuitive survival skills from the time they emerge from their ootheca (egg case)