Sunday 7 January 2024

Heart shaped insect

Photographed and unusual looking insect that I hadn't seen before and was able to identify it as a Silky Lacewing Psychopis insolens  a delicate insect found in coastal regions of Queensland and NSW.



 

Out of the swamp

 First day of 2024 and a photo of a snake that I have seen a few times on the property but this was the first photo opportunity.


It is a Black-bellied Swamp Snake Hemiaspis signata also called a Marsh Snake, a smallish venomous snake with a painful bite but not considered dangerous. As their names suggests their habitat is generally marshy land or around water like farm dams, creeks etc where they feed on frogs insects and small rodents.

However they are also found in garden areas around homes, as was the case with this one, on a path between two garden beds.
 

They are quite widespread on the east coastal regions from tropical Queensland though to southern NSW.