Bugs of Australia & Oceania
Continental isolation produced the world's strangest spiders, bees, and beetles.
56 on file
Globe Skimmer Dragonfly
Longest insect migration on Earth (18,000 km). 95% kill rate. 360-degree vision.
African Dung Beetle
Navigates by the Milky Way. Rolls perfect straight lines. Pound-for-pound, the strongest insect ever measured.
Red Imported Fire Ant
Builds living rafts during floods. Floats for weeks. Costs the US $6 billion a year.
Giant Huntsman Spider
Largest spider in the world by leg span — 30 cm. Runs sideways. Doesn't bother you.
New Zealand Glow-Worm
Not a worm. Hangs glowing fishing-lines from cave ceilings. Catches insects on glue.
Peacock Mantis Shrimp
Sees 12 colors. Punches at 50 mph. The flash is hotter than the sun's surface.
Peacock Spider
Tiny dancing spider. Iridescent fan. Has its own choreography.
Sydney Funnel-Web Spider
Sydney's only deadly spider. Venom kills humans but barely affects dogs. Antivenom has stopped every death since 1981.
Australian Tiger Beetle
Fastest insect on Earth. Runs so fast her eyes can't keep up.
Asian Weaver Ant
Builds nests using their own larvae as living glue guns. Used as pesticide for 1,500 years.
Common Yellowjacket
Stings you. Stings you again. Stings you a third time. Doesn't die.
Compass Termite
Builds termite mounds aligned to true magnetic north. Uses Earth's magnetic field.
Argentine Ant
One global super-colony. Ants from Italy and Portugal recognize each other as family.
Queen Alexandra's Birdwing
Largest butterfly on Earth — 28 cm. The first specimen was shot down with a shotgun.
Hercules Moth
Largest wing surface area of any insect alive. 300 cm². Adult lasts a week. No mouth.
Lord Howe Island Stick Insect
Declared extinct in 1920. Found on a sea-cliff in 2001. Now back from the brink.
California Trapdoor Spider
Lives in a burrow with a hinged camouflaged door. Lived 43 years (longest spider ever).
Citrus Leafminer
Larvae develop INSIDE citrus leaves. Diagnostic SERPENTINE silver mine trails visible in leaves.
Oriental Fruit Moth
Most damaging stone fruit pest worldwide — sister to codling moth, controlled by pheromone mating disruption.
Cactus Moth
Saved Australia from prickly pear (1925-32) — now THREATENING native NA cactus and Mexican prickly pear agriculture.
Asian Blue Cattle Tick
Most damaging tick species globally. $20-30B annual cattle losses. Successfully eradicated from US in 1943.
Macleay's Spectre
Australian giant spiny stick insect. Four defensive behaviors. Popular giant pet stick insect worldwide.
West Indian Drywood Termite
Most damaging drywood termite worldwide. Reason for the dramatic WHOLE-HOUSE FUMIGATION TENT.
California Red Scale
Most damaging scale insect pest of CITRUS worldwide. Foundational AUGMENTATIVE biocontrol case study.
Migratory Locust
Catastrophic crop pest of Africa/Asia/Europe. Foundational PHASE POLYPHENISM case — solitary becomes gregarious.
Greenhouse Whitefly
Most damaging pest of GREENHOUSE production worldwide. First-ever commercially mass-reared biocontrol target.
Pink Bollworm
Major historical cotton pest. Successfully ERADICATED from US in 2018 — flagship Bt+SIT eradication program.
Fall Armyworm
Major NA agricultural pest. INVADED Africa in 2016, Asia in 2018, Australia in 2020. Threat to global food security.
Sirex Woodwasp
Injects FUNGAL SPORES into pine trees with eggs. Fungus digests wood for the larva. Major invasive pine pest globally.
Yellow Crazy Ant
World's 100 worst invasive species. Killed 10-15 MILLION red crabs on Christmas Island. Catastrophic.
Cinnabar Moth
Brilliant CRIMSON-RED-AND-BLACK day-flying moth. Most successful weed-biocontrol species ever introduced to NA.
Mediterranean Fruit Fly
Most economically destructive global fruit pest. Attacks 250+ plant species. Hundreds of millions in CA control costs.
Alfalfa Leafcutter Bee
Second-most important managed pollinator on Earth. Essential for ALFALFA SEED PRODUCTION worldwide.
Coconut Crab
LARGEST land-living arthropod on Earth. 4 kg, 1 m leg span. Climbs trees and opens coconuts.
Black Soldier Fly
Larvae are the foundation of MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR global insect-protein industry. Bioconverts waste into feed.
Bulldog Ant
Australia's giant primitive ants. Massive sickle jaws. Sees prey from 1 meter. Most ANCIENT surviving ant lineage.
Marmalade Hoverfly
4 BILLION migrate across Britain annually. Largest insect migration on Earth. Pollen mass ~80M tons.
Mediterranean Recluse
Most invasive recluse spider on Earth. Sphingomyelinase D venom causes necrotic skin lesions.
Seven-Spot Ladybird
The original 'ladybird.' Named for Mary's Seven Sorrows. Eats 5,000 aphids per lifetime.
German Yellowjacket
Most cosmopolitan invasive yellowjacket. NZ has 10x more biomass than native pollinators. 5,000-worker colonies.
Australian Tiger Beetle
Fastest insect on Earth at ground speed. Runs SO FAST her vision blurs and she goes temporarily BLIND.
Dark-Winged Fungus Gnat
The houseplant pest. NZ cousin glows in caves to attract prey. Major greenhouse vector.
Wellington Tree Wētā
Male defends a harem of 1-10 females in a tree gallery. Wrestles rivals with enlarged jaws.
Velvet Worm
Squirts adhesive slime to trap prey. 540 million years old. Closest living relative of arthropods.
Cottony Cushion Scale
Almost destroyed California citrus in 1888. Saved by 130 imported Australian ladybeetles. Founded biocontrol.
Asian Needle Ant
Painful sting comparable to a wasp. Anaphylaxis documented. Displacing native ants in eastern US.
Emerald Cockroach Wasp (Jewel Wasp)
Stings the cockroach's BRAIN. Cockroach becomes zombie. Wasp leads her by the antenna into the grave.
Giant Burrowing Cockroach (Rhinoceros Cockroach)
Heaviest cockroach on Earth. 35 grams. Lives in 1m underground burrows. 10+ year lifespan.
Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter
Vector of Pierce's disease — wiped out California vineyards. Has gear teeth in her legs to jump.
Queen Alexandra's Birdwing
Largest butterfly on Earth. 28 cm wingspan. Discovered by a collector who shot her with a shotgun.
Brown Widow
Black widow's invasive displacing sister. Spikier egg sac. Bite is milder despite stronger venom drop-for-drop.
Portia Spider
Smartest invertebrate on Earth. Hunts spiders using deception, detours, and multi-step planning.
Stingless Bee
Has no sting. Maya kept her in hollow logs for 1,000 years. Honey is medicine in three civilizations.
Chigger (Harvest Mite)
Larva liquefies your skin and drinks it through a tube. The 'burrow into the skin' myth is false.
European Earwig
Practices maternal care. Did NOT inspire her name — the ear-burrowing myth is false.
Wētāpunga (Giant Wētā)
Heavier than a sparrow. Endemic to one NZ island. The mammal-substitute insect of an island without mammals.