


Top 17 Most Common Insects in Fiji
Insects, with their fascinating features and diverse habitat, are a significant part of Fiji's ecosystem. The diversity of insects is largely influenced by Fiji's unique geography, varying climate and ecosystems as well as human intervention. With both beneficial insects and pests making the list of the top 17 most common insects, their existence draws a curious parallel to Fiji's environmental makeup.

Most Common Insects

1. Blue moon butterfly
Hypolimnas bolina, the great eggfly, common eggfly or in New Zealand the blue moon butterfly is a species of nymphalid butterfly found from Madagascar to Asia and Australia.


2. Green skimmer
Orthetrum serapia is a medium-sized dragonfly with a wingspan of 60-85mm. Its wings are clear except for a small dark spot at the base of the hindwing. The thorax is greenish to greyish yellow with black markings. The abdomen is black with pale yellow or pale green markings. Orthetrum serapia appears very similar to Orthetrum sabina and can be confused where the range of the two overlap in north-eastern Australia.


3. Yellow-barred flutterer
The scientific name Rhyothemis phyllis was first validly published in 1776 by Sulzer.

4. Meadow argus
Meadow argus has two brownish wings, each covered with two distinctive black and blue eyespots as well as white and orange marks that appear on the edge of the wings. The underside of the wings are mainly unmarked, except the lower part of the forewing has similar markings as the upperside.The wingspan measures 4 cm in males and 4.5 cm in females.


5. Giant Crab Spider
The giant Crab Spider is a large spider native to the tropics; the largest reported individual had a leg span of 30 cm. This cosmopolitan spider is highly valued in some areas, as it's able to catch cockroaches and other indoor pests. Reportedly, it hunts even scorpions and bats. This spider is venomous and sometimes bites humans, but it's considered harmless.


6. Pacific cleaner shrimp
Like all cleaner species, pacific cleaner shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) derives at least some of its food intake by consuming parasites and dead particles on the skin of friendly fish. Due to its appealing variety of colors, it is one of the most common crustaceans in the pet trade.

7. Asiatic blood tail
The species is on the IUCN Red List as not endangered, year of assessment 2009.

8. Magpie moth
The wingspan is 4.5 - 5 cm.


9. Painted rock lobster
The multicolored lobster (Panulirus versicolor) is a ten foot crayfish of the crawfish family.

10. Common evening brown
The common evening brown (Melanitis leda) changes its appearance based on the season. During wet seasons, it has a pale brown underside and a dark brown top. Then, during dry seasons, it often has more distinguished bands or spots. It uses these neutral colors to help it blend into leaves and trees. It usually only flies during the evening, resting during daylight.
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