Select to expand quotedowls said..
Bit random, but I've not seen any Christmas Beetles?
Me neither
but did see one all by itself a few months early. funny season too so - weather?
Select to expand quotedowls said..
Bit random, but I've not seen any Christmas Beetles?
I thought that Volkswagon had stopped making the VW Beetle 
You can have the ones stripping our gumtrees. Not as many as previous years though.
Urban sprawl and climate change methinks. Insect numbers are down pretty much across the board and that's going to impact on the furry things that everyone likes.
^^^ Yeah and insecticides - bee loss is very concerning.
About a year or so ago, few of us had not seen a ladybug for a verrrry long time.
Then last summer, a few were seen and at the same time it was a humid crap year for wind, so I surmised it was weather.
I now reckon I was wrong 
Select to expand quoteremery said..
Urban sprawl and climate change methinks. Insect numbers are down pretty much across the board and that's going to impact on the furry things that everyone likes.
I was reading an article the other day which named urban sprawl as the key reason for the demise of Xmas Beatles.
Mind you having been hit on the face by one doing 25+ knots on the water i don't miss them in that environment, bloody hurt.
Been out bush lately SE QLD. Thousands of cicadas n termites emerging from the rain soaked ground. Havnt seen them in such numbers in about 5years. Chopping down trees destroys all the micro climates n food for many animals n insects.
But you can't stop progress.
Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..
^^^ Yeah and insecticides - bee loss is very concerning.
About a year or so ago, few of us had not seen a ladybug for a verrrry long time.
Then last summer, a few were seen and at the same time it was a humid crap year for wind, so I surmised it was weather.
I now reckon I was wrong
Lady bugs are interesting, they feed on aphids, so often a good aphid season is followed by large numbers of lady bugs and hover flies. Dry winters in cropping areas often increase aphid populations because it's too dry for aphid-killing fungi and micro-organisms.
You need to use earplugs to walk in the bush around here. The Cicadas are ear splitting! I haven't seen so many in years..
The cicadas around Perth are wimps compared with NSW species, but his year there are hardly any.
Select to expand quoteremery said..Mark _australia said..
^^^ Yeah and insecticides - bee loss is very concerning.
About a year or so ago, few of us had not seen a ladybug for a verrrry long time.
Then last summer, a few were seen and at the same time it was a humid crap year for wind, so I surmised it was weather.
I now reckon I was wrong
Lady bugs are interesting, they feed on aphids, so often a good aphid season is followed by large numbers of lady bugs and hover flies. Dry winters in cropping areas often increase aphid populations because it's too dry for aphid-killing fungi and micro-organisms.
There are good ladybugs and bad ones. The bad ones have more spots on them.
