at home with three insects and a spider

There are an astonishing 22,000 species of Australian moths and only half have been described. This one, Macrobathra euryleuca, was in the house but I have also seen several in the garden. They are tiny, with delicate markings.

Sac Spider (Cheiracanthium mordax)

This mysterious spider was wedged in a corner in the bathroom, inside a kind of cocoon. Unfortunately, soon after I took this photo,  C. was cleaning the bathroom and wiped it away. But once I managed to id. it, I changed my mind and thought C. did us all a favour!


The Sac Spider is a vagrant hunter, meaning that instead of using a web, it roams around looking for prey. Its silken retreat or sac is for resting during the day, depositing its eggs and guarding them. The bite of this spider can cause local pain and ulceration, nausea, faintness and headache! Lucky it didn't bite C. I always suspected housework was a dangerous business.

Fly - Unknown Species

This may be, probably is, a common old, ordinary, Housefly (Musca domestica). But I think this one looks a bit different, more elegant somehow than the common garden variety. Its legs seem longer and its body thinner than the usual Housefly. 


So far as I know there is no species called Elegant Fly (Musca elegans) . There is a Long Legged Fly (Austrosciapus connexus)  that has a metallic green appearance like this one has. But the Long Legged Fly is metallic green all over and this one's greenness is limited to its head. 


So in the meantime I will call this fly an Unknown Species. Any help with id - even confirming that it's an ordinary Housefly after all - will be appreciated. 

 German Cockroach (Blattella germanica) 

This cockroach is not a native Australian cockroach, but an introduced species, originally from Africa. Here you see it taking a rest on the side of my desk, just asking to be included in the blog. 

Although cockroaches are scorned and feared in our hygiene-obsessed society, some research has shown that although they like to live in dirt, cockroaches clean themselves fastidiously all the time, just like cats.  Their faeces, though, does contain allergens that can affect asthma sufferers, so we're probably better without them.