Every garden.
A new mystery.
Meet the insect neighbours you might walk past. Explore Australian insects through close-up imagery, animated explanations and tiny field missions, with a focus on Wyndham and Melbourne’s western suburbs.
Meet the heliotrope moth, Utetheisa pulchelloides, through licensed Victorian larval photographs, an animated identification guide and its dramatic transformation into a red-and-black-spotted white moth. Plant feeding is documented; bark dwelling is not claimed.
Watch on YouTubeA practical, welcoming tour for beginners, families and insect enthusiasts. Follow real demonstrations of the atlas, discoveries and map, then build your first private Fielddex record with photo metadata and searchable names.
Explore the discovery studio, habitats and all three game modes. Learn the pet journal and calendar, find events and supplies, inspect real 3D specimens, and create a little wonder in Bug Maker.
Filmed 20 October 2026. Private workflows use an isolated demo profile and clearly labelled example data. Interface details may evolve.
Open any chapter on YouTube, or watch the full guide above.
A mystery under bark, a garden hunter and a caterpillar with a spotted surprise. Follow real close-ups, original moving anatomy diagrams and a new question in every episode.
Start a bark-dweller mystery, inspect real Australian barklouse reference photographs, then reveal the group using body and wing clues. Compare barklice with earwigs and learn why a shelter is not enough to name a species.
Watch on YouTubeMeet a praying mantis face to face. Australian garden mantis photographs, clearly labelled real-motion comparison footage and original articulated diagrams reveal its eyes, folding forelegs and patient hunting approach.
Watch on YouTubeA twig that walks. An evening musician. An insect that stands on water. Follow the clues with our gravelly, friendly narrator, then try a field mission of your own.
A suspicious twig becomes a camouflage investigation. Follow shape, colour and movement, then try a patient branch-watching mission.
Watch on YouTubeMeet a fly that hunts other insects. Follow an animated perch-to-capture sequence and learn which behaviour clues belong in your field notes.
Watch on YouTubeInvestigate the evening musician hidden in the grass. Explore a cricket’s wing instrument, its unusual ear position and a dusk listening mission.
Watch on YouTubeLook beyond a leaf-shaped body to the extraordinary antennae. Compare adult and young katydids, and discover what an ovipositor does.
Watch on YouTubeFollow a weevil’s remarkable snout to its mouthparts. Use real Australian references and a close-up diagram to sharpen your identification clues.
Watch on YouTubeIs that shield-shaped insect a beetle or a true bug? Compare body features and feeding equipment, then build a record from several useful views.
Watch on YouTubeUncover the silk engineering behind a caddisfly larva’s case. Adult photographs meet an animated underwater explanation and a riverbank observation mission.
Watch on YouTubeAn insect stands on the water itself. Investigate surface tension, non-wetting legs and the tiny movements to watch from a safe, dry bank.
Watch on YouTubeDecode the nursery behind a patch of mud. Discover why an adult wasp’s flower visit and its young’s stored prey tell different parts of the story.
Watch on YouTubeRead an Australian painted lady’s different wing surfaces. Follow its life cycle, separate feeding from resting, and try a five-minute butterfly watch.
Watch on YouTubeTiny recyclers, living instruments and a caterpillar with its own suitcase. Guess, learn and take the curiosity outside.
Follow a dung beetle's underground recycling job, compare tunnellers with rollers, and investigate habitat clues around western Melbourne without disturbing a beetle or collecting dung. Licensed reference imagery and simplified educational diagrams; these are habitat observation prompts, not verified sightings at a named local site.
Watch on YouTubeHow does a cicada make that enormous sound? Explore a tymbal diagram, a hidden underground childhood and a listening mission for western Melbourne. Licensed reference imagery and simplified educational diagrams; these are habitat observation prompts, not verified sightings at a named local site.
Watch on YouTubeHover, dart, hover: meet a fly that can look like a bee. Compare wings, discover different larval diets and try a flower-watching field mission. Licensed reference imagery and simplified educational diagrams; these are habitat observation prompts, not verified sightings at a named local site.
Watch on YouTubeInvestigate ant teamwork and the chemical signals behind some foraging trails. Watch a simplified pheromone diagram and map a trail without disturbing the colony. Licensed reference imagery and simplified educational diagrams; these are habitat observation prompts, not verified sightings at a named local site.
Watch on YouTubeLook beyond the pincers to discover an earwig's body, folded wings and unexpected egg care. Practise observing the sheltered habitats around a western Melbourne garden. Licensed reference imagery and simplified educational diagrams; these are habitat observation prompts, not verified sightings at a named local site.
Watch on YouTubeA delicate adult and a determined larva tell different parts of a lacewing's story. Explore wing veins, curved jaws and green lacewing eggs on stalks. Licensed reference imagery and simplified educational diagrams; these are habitat observation prompts, not verified sightings at a named local site.
Watch on YouTubeInvestigate jewel beetle colour with an animated light-angle diagram, then connect a bright adult to the hidden habitat of its larva. Licensed reference imagery and simplified educational diagrams; these are habitat observation prompts, not verified sightings at a named local site.
Watch on YouTubeFollow a leafhopper from a sudden hop to its sap-feeding mouthparts. Learn why the plant and a second camera angle belong in your Fielddex notes. Licensed reference imagery and simplified educational diagrams; these are habitat observation prompts, not verified sightings at a named local site.
Watch on YouTubeInvestigate a caterpillar's portable silk case, watch a simplified movement diagram and meet Saunders' case moth as one example rather than a rule for every species. Licensed reference imagery and simplified educational diagrams; these are habitat observation prompts, not verified sightings at a named local site.
Watch on YouTubeA brief flight hides a longer aquatic life. Explore mayfly nymphs, the remarkable extra winged moult and freshwater habitat observations near Werribee. Licensed reference imagery and simplified educational diagrams; these are habitat observation prompts, not verified sightings at a named local site.
Watch on YouTubeGrasslands, blue-banded bees, butterflies and the habitats around us.
Look beyond the grass to discover flowers, soil and the small habitats that support an insect community.
Watch on YouTubeMeet a distinctive native bee and explore buzz pollination, flower visitors and useful observation clues.
Watch on YouTubeRead wing patterns and eyespots, then follow the different food stories of a butterfly and its caterpillar.
Watch on YouTubeDiscover a moth that flies in daylight and the grassland habitat at the heart of its conservation story.
Watch on YouTubeFollow a life cycle from water to wings and learn why a dragonfly needs more than a place to fly.
Watch on YouTubeExplore freshwater invertebrates and how trained waterway monitors use them to investigate river health.
Watch on YouTubeFollow the changing life of an emperor gum moth and keep its food plant in the picture.
Watch on YouTubeLook beyond the familiar spots to explore beetle wing covers, diversity and behaviour.
Watch on YouTubeInvestigate camouflage, hunting front legs and the clues that separate a mantis from a stick insect.
Watch on YouTubeTurn a garden visit into a useful habitat notebook with repeat observations and clear reference photographs.
Watch on YouTubeWatch an episode, look closely on your next walk, then record the habitat and what you notice.
Episodes combine licensed insect photographs and footage with original explanatory animations. International comparisons are labelled. Reference imagery is not a new local sighting. Research sources, visual credits and synthetic narration details accompany each video on YouTube. English captions are available in the player. Follow @InsectaAU for the next tiny surprise.