#sea green northern jumper

@allbino​ submitted: Hello fellow insect lover!

I Just moved to a new place in Brisbane, QLD, Australia and have been finding heaps of cute insects in my new garden, all on my lime tree. I’d love if you could help me identify them? Thank you!

This caterpillar that morphs from brown/white (like bird poo ) then to white/green with red retractable horns?

This cute little leaf hopper?

This (actually huge?!) stink bug, largest I’ve seen

And I’ve seen a few of these beautiful iridescent spiders ✨

How exciting to have a garden full of pals you can go admire any time you like! I can certainly help you ID them. The caterpillars are orchard swallowtails, and they prefer citrus trees as their host plant! The “horns” are called osmeteria and they evert them from inside their body defensively. They emit a stinky odor that predators don’t like.

The planthopper is a citrus planthopper, which makes sense. The Large Dude is not a stink bug, but it is related to stink bugs! It’s called a bronze orange bug and once again feeds on citrus. Technically the family they’re in are called the tessaratomids, but colloquially people call them giant shield bugs or giant stink bugs.

And finally the absolutely beautiful spider man is a sea-green northern jumper! Keep your eyes peeled for females nearby as well. They’re more rotund and are a sort of bronzey-purple color.

Thanks for sharing all these great pals, tell them all I love them!