Two odd little bugs have paid a visit to my house, one just recently and the other last year. They’re not birds (well, duh) but every now and then I like this blog to include interesting creatures that birds may come across.

Here’s the first bug. It was a reasonable size, a bit smaller than the fingernail on my little finger:

Pretty! A knowledgeable friend told me it’s a “true bug”, which is actually a classification of a set of bugs rather than a character reference. True bugs belong to the huge order of Hemiptera.

The bug was on a wooden wall, and spent quite a bit of time around a patch of white stuff with a hump in the middle of it. Perhaps a clutch of eggs? I didn’t see whether the bug spewed out the white stuff, but it did spend time wiggling its abdomen above it.

Here’s another picture of the same bug:

Evidently cicadas are Hemiptera too, though the cicadas around here are much bigger that this little critter. I’m thinking it may be a Eucalypt Planthopper (Eurybrachyidae) like these bugs.

Last year, another odd little bug paid a call. This one was very small indeed. It’s on the armrest of a garden chair:

Another view of the same bug:

It’s hard to tell which end is the front of the creature, and which is the back. In fact, it doesn’t seem to make much difference to the creature either. In this video, you’ll see the bug move forwards and backwards with equal comfort:

Cute huh. Let me know if you know more about either of these bugs.