My godfather died of this hideous disease. His daughters (my age now in their mid 50s) were both tested years ago & have gene, so made the horrible decision not to have children. Scientists freaking rock!

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7951544... #3121 - Caperrala sp. C. scabra, the Robust White-whiskers, is the only decribed one in the genus, but our Orthoptera are in the middle of a massive revision with a lot of known but not formally named species. Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Lake Ninan

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7950783... #3120 - Mallada signatus Photo by Bob Goodale. A Green Lacewing common across Southern Australia, similar in appearance to most other Green Lacewings, but most easily distinguished by the arrangement of dark markings in the top of the head.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7950530... #3119 - Cliomantis sp. Photo by Kelly Sheldrick from the Conservation Council of Western Australia. Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Christmas Rock

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7950493... #3118 - Hypoperigea tonsa Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Christmas Rock

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7950385... #3117 - Athetis tenuis A Noctuid found in all of Australia, Norfolk Island and New Zealand. Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Christmas Rock

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7950167... #3116 - Leucania diatrecta - Dark-barred Wainscot Another Noctuid, found in the east, southeast, and southwest of Australia, but I don’t know if they have any particular diet. Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Mt O'Brien.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7950022... #3115 - Chrysodeixis argentifera - Tobacco Looper Technically not a Looper, since that common name is more usually applied to the Geometridae and this is a Noctuid.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7949443... #3114 - Agrotis infusa - Bogong Moth Photo by Bob Goodale. AKA Noctua infusa and Agrotis spina. The moth’s common name is derived from the Dhudhuroa word bugung, meaning brown moth. Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Mt. O'Brien

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7949370... #3113 - Agrotis porphyricollis - Variable Cutworm Another Australian Noctuid, found in the SE & SW of Australia. The caterpillar lives under the ground in daytime, emerging at night to feed, and is a pest of Potato in Tasmania. Great Southern Bioblitz 2024, Katrine

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7949044... #3112 - Helicoverpa armigera conferta - Cotton Bollworm Moth AKA Chloridea armigera & obsoleta, Helicoverpa commoni & obsoleta, Heliothis armigera, Heliothis conferta, fusca, pulverosa, rama, & uniformis, Noctua armigera & barbara -

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7948464... #3110 - Hippotion scrofa - Coprosma Hawk Moth Photos by @gemfyre and Bob Goodale of a hawkmoth investigating me as a place to rest. As the common name suggests, it shares the same foodplants as Cizara ardeniae, another Sphingid known as the Coprosma Hawk Moth.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7948138... #3109 - Notiosterrha sp. A Geometrid moth of saline areas - Lake Ninan certainly counts now, unfortunately. There are 5 in the genus - I’m not sure which one this is, since photos are non-existant for some. Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Lake Ninan

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7948065... #3108- Nola celaenephes Photo by @gemfyre Found over most of Australia, with males and females mostly identical in their markings. i have no other info on them. Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Christmas Rock

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7947884... #3107 - Calathusa thermosticha Either an Erebid or a Nolid, depending who you listen to. Found over most of Australia, but the foodplant is apparently unknown. Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Mt. O'Brien

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7947812... #3106 - Miscera micrastra A small moth doing such a good impression of a fleck of burnt plant material I spent a minute photographing the actual debris a few centimeters to the right.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7947014... #3105 - Vinicia digrammella AKA Vinicia gypsopa and Pempelia digrammella. A knot-horn moth genus with two species, found in Australia and New Zealand.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7946579... #3104 - Eupselia sp. Depressariid moths endemic to Australia. Some resources consider them part of the Hypertrophidae family, but others consider the Hypertrophidae a subfamily of the Depressariids.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7945492... #3102 - Pernattia chlorophragma - Desert Casuarina Moth A Lappet Moth from the drier inland parts of Southern Australia, where it presumably feeds on she-oaks going by the common name.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7945239... #3101 - Endoxyla edwardsorum Formerly Cossus edwardsi. A woodboring moth recorded from most Australian states and territories. Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Christmas Rock

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7945202... #3100 - Dichromodes anelictis - Dry-country Heath Moth Another Heath Moth, found in the drier inland parts of Southern Australia. I don’t have any information on diet. Dryandra Woodland, WA.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7945166... #3099 - Dichromodes personalis Bit puzzled that I haven’t discussed this one before, when I’ve definitely covered other species from Ambergate Reserve near Busselton after my weekend in the area in 2020. Hopefully the post wasn’t eaten in the Great Tumblr Purge.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7945131... #3098 - Dichromodes sp. - Heath Moth A large genus most easily distinguished by the resting posture & rounded shoulders. Many of the species have a dark band across the forewings, but that is hardly the case for all of them - see the one I’ll be posting after this.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7945093... #3097 - Capusa sp. - Wedge-Moth Probably Capusa cuculloides, the White-winged Wedge-moth (previously known as: Teinocladia cuculloides). Large, plump, distinctively coloured and marked Geometrid caterpillars, with six species all endemic to Australia.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7944840... #3096 - Tineobius sp. A genus of Eupelmid parasitoid first described from Australia, but also found in Asia and Africa. DNA barcoding has been quite useful in matching the females to males.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7944369... #3095 - Fam. Colletidae - Plasterer Bees Normally I wouldn’t post something I couldn’t get past family, if it’s a family I’ve discussed before, but I showed the photos of this one to 3 different experts on Aussie bees, & they couldn't get it down to genus either.

BlueSky is trying to monetize so let's show them some numbers: Reskeet this if you refuse to pay for BlueSky+ until trust & safety decides to prioritize marginalized users. That's $96 / year of lost revenue for each reskeet...

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7942702... #3094 - Phanacis hypochoeridis - - Catsear Gall Wasp A Cynipid wasp native to Eurasia and northern Africa, but now widespread whereever their host plants - Hypochaeris sp. - are found. Each gall contains some 50 chambers, each with a yellowish-white larva.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7942159... #3092 - Calomyrmex sp. A genus with nine species from Australia, Papua, and Indonesia. When disturbed they can secrete a strongly scented and unpleasant red fluid from their mandibular glands. Great Southern BioBlitz, Wongan Hills - various locations

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7940890... #3091 - Subfamily Anomaloninae A widespread subfamily of Ichneumonid wasp, found in all forest habitats and, more unusually for Ichneumonids, quite common in dry habitats too. Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Christmas Rock

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7940854... #3090 - Trichilogaster sp. A small genus of gall-forming chalcid wasps formerly in the Pteromalidae and now in the family Melanosomellidae. With a single known exception from Arabia, they all are Australian, and all species lay their eggs in Acacia.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7940817... #3089 - Thaumastocoridae Subfam. Thaumastocorinae A small family of about 9 genera and some 20 known species of plant-sucking bugs. Despite the fact we only get 3 genera in Western Australia, I can’t tell you which one this is. Rogers Reserve near Wongan Hills.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7940347... #3088 - Megalocoleus sp. A Mirid genus of some 17 species, best known from Europe. These ones were remarkably difficult to spot on the Podatheca heads. i found them at a couple of the reserves. Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7939005... #3087 - Winthemia sp. Photo by Bob Goodale. Another, large, widespread, genus of Bristle Fly. The larval hosts for this one are most likely caterpillars. I don’t have any more information on them Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Mt. O'Brien lighttrap

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7938970... #3086 - Complex Chrysopasta elegans Large Tachinids from SW Australia, usually seen feeding from our many flowering shrubs. Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Wongan Wildflower Walk

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7938934... #3085 - Copidapha sp. A genus of Tabanid endemic to Australia. Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Christmas Rock

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7938281... #3084- Dasybasis appendiculata A widely distributed genus of Horse Fly (Tabanidae) most often seen in the wetter parts of Australia, New Zealand, and the west coast of South America, where if they’re anything like other Tabanids feed on nectar & mammalian blood.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7938063... #3083 - Metallea sp. A Nose Fly (Rhiniidae). Can’t think why. Metallea sp. flies are associated with termite nests, but I don’t know why - quite a few insect species live insect termite nests - sometimes innocuously, sometimes as parasites and predators.

Occiperipatoides gilesii, a velvet worm i found in Julimar State Forest NE of Perth, during the BioBlitz this weekend. VERY unexpected, given the Wandoo woodland there was mostly bare laterite soil. #onychophora #velvetworm #Peripatopsidae #bioblitz

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7937484... #3082 - Steganopsis melanogaster Charming little Lauxaniid flies found in the east and SW of Australia, Norfolk Island, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7937447... #3081 - Choristus sp. Possibly Choristus annexus. Another of the ridiculous variety of Bee Flies around the Reynoldson Flora Reserve, although in this case it was feasting on the Capeweed (Arctotheca calendula) in the carpark.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7935092... #3080 - Aleucosia maculosa A Bee-fly with spotted wings from SW Australia. I have no idea what their preferred hosts are. Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Christmas Rock

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7934838... #3079 - Trissodon sp. Small, unremarkable Rhino Beetles.

So this ant...can give birth to male clones of its own species AND of a different species... then mates with the male clones of the other species to produce hybrid workers...and mates with males of its own species to produce new queens... 🐜 Yo these ants are wildin' 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Brilliantly written and brilliantly told

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7934367... #3078- Austromordella verticordiae A species of Tumbling Flower Beetle, usually seen on flowers, and often on Verticordia. If disturbed they tumble off the flower and play dead.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7933932... A Soft-winged Flower Beetle. For some reason this is the only record of the species in WA - the rest are all down in Victoria at the other end of the continent. Great Southern Bioblitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Reynoldson Flora Reserve

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7933751... #3076 - Trogoderma sp. A large genus of Dermestid beetles, that includes some major pests of stored products. These ones were feeding on pollen, presumably. Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7933679... #3075 - Ancyttalia sp. A tiny weevil I shook out of a Eucalypt. Endemic to Australia, but I don’t have any other information on them. Apparently they can be mistaken for granary pests.

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7933569... #3074 - Leptopius sp. - Wattle Pig A genus of large weevils endemic to Australia, usually associated with wattles, but one species L. robustus is also known as the Fruit-tree Root Weevil, and has shown up in New Zealand.