Kristi Ellingsen
Chafers (Subfamily Melolonthinae) have had a big revision which was reflected on the Australian Faunal Directory in the middle of 2025. We have now made the changes to include Subfamily Sericinae and Subfamily Sericoidinae . Most of the “chafers” have now been moved out into the new subfamilies as a result.
The by-Colour pages have proven to be popular, so we have just launched our newest guide; True Bugs by Colour. The true bugs (Hemiptera) are a really diverse order, ranging from scales to cicadas and beetle-like stink bugs. We have grouped them as logically as we can, with a few double ups if there are … Read more
Are you interested in fancy fly hunting this summer? Tony has finished another of his brilliant, easy to use keys. This time he has covered the beautiful Pelecorhynchus species. Pelecorhynchus – key to Tasmanian species
Would you like to support us by buying an Insects of Tas logo item? Maybe a sticker or cap? Our graphic artist, Tilly Ellingsen is selling our logo and other beautiful Tasmanian plant and animal art on her online store, love the little things. 100% of the logo proceeds will be donated back to … Read more
Are you attending the Australian Entomology Society conference in Hobart this week? Welcome to our currently damp state. You have the chance to *win* by simply identifying any Pending ID insects on our website. Each emailed or in-person identification gets a lucky ticket from our trade table, and on Wednesday, fingers crossed, you may get … Read more
Struggling to work out your gnat from your midge? Tony Daley has just hit the publish buttons for the key to Tasmanian Bibionomorpha on IOT. Every choice is clearly explained, with original, annotated diagrams to help at every step.
On the old version of our website many people enjoyed tracking down a beetle by using its colour. It was a much bigger job to set up on the current platform, but the required weeks have been dedicated to the task and we are excited to announce that Beetles by Colour is back!
Yaaay! Michael Driessen and Günther Theischinger have produced a beautiful new field guide to Tasmanian Dragonflies and Damselflies. I’ve already sourced a copy and it is an absolute gem that will be used a lot. It has stunning photos and information for each species, and also has a adult and larval keys with diagram to … Read more
Are you interested in giving feedback as to how we can support endangered species? NRE Tas encourages you to have your say on how Tasmania can protect, recover, and value our threatened species now and into the future. Opportunity for feedback on this first stage is open for public consultation until 5 pm, Friday 22 … Read more
You may be interested to see that not all of our traffic comes from Tasmania. Here are the top 7 geographic visitors to the site from the last month.