Gminatus australis

Orange assassin bug at O'Connor, ACT

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Identification history

Gminatus australis	22 Dec 2016	MichaelBedingfield
Gminatus australis	21 Dec 2016	RogerF
Unidentified	21 Dec 2016	ibaird

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User's notes

Single individual observed on a flowering Bursaria sipinosa (garden plant)

4 comments

ibaird wrote:

22 Dec 2016

OK. My specimen definitely looks orange, but the other posted examples on CNM seem quite red to me.

RogerF wrote:

22 Dec 2016

Orange is probably a misnomer, most local specimens are reddish, but lighting and use of flash often alter the coloration in the final image plus there is individual variability. This is why scientific names based on a detailed taxonomic study are better than common name inventions..

ibaird wrote:

23 Dec 2016

Thanks Roger, agreed. But definitely no flash used, The orange colour on my screen is true to what I recall seeing in the field. And my screen has been re-set to a standard colour chart using a spectrophotometer!

RogerF wrote:

23 Dec 2016

I've looked at your specimen more closely and enlarged it and it appears to be a nymph which may account for the orange compared to the more reddish adults.

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