This Amethystine Python, Simalia kinghorni, was stretched out in our driveway the other morning amidst several Red-legged Pademelons- a wallaby, Thylogale stigmatica, and a number of Musky Rat-kangaroos, Hypsiphrymndon moschatus.
Friday 26 April 2024
On the Prowl
Pops Has Gone Crazy
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This cassowary cannot believe what is happening. His father has driven him and his two siblings off. Just yesterday the world was right with the four of them together finding food and being protected by the adult but today the world has changed. Pops has decided that it was time for the chicks to go on their own way. They will live a life of solitude for 40+ years if they have learned the lessons their father has taught for the past many months. They will have to forage for fruits, flowers and the odd lizard, frog or carrion. Eventually they will establish a territory and drive other cassowaries away. For the present the three will stay together but eventually they will separate from one another. If they encounter other cassowaries, they will be driven away or set upon.
For the moment, the normal sounds of the rainforest are broken by the cries of the young adults. You can hear their loud cries at:https://soundcloud.com/user166874042/young-cassowary-distress-call?si=70975ba6069c4ec1ac5ef7808b3fedc4&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing. Normally should the chicks utter this cry, Pops would come running to their rescue. But no more. Growing up is sometimes cruel.
Wednesday 20 March 2024
Orthopteroids Pay a Visit
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The rainy period, decreased day-length and the oncoming of Autumn has resulted in many adult orthopteroid insects on the move at night. Here are a few highlights.
Thursday 14 March 2024
More Moths from Kuranda
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Sunday 25 February 2024
And Still They Come: Recent Arrivals at the Light Sheet
Recent extended periods of rain have probably contributed to the large numbers of insects that are coming to our light sheet. The rainy period seems to be responsible for some insect populations to have produced abnormally large numbers of individuals.
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Janson's Stag Beetle Aegus jansoni |
Saturday 24 February 2024
Centipede meets an untimely end
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The recent rainy period has proved a bonus for the local spider population. It seems there are many more insects about and the spiders are taking advantage.
We found an odd situation. A Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila) had caught a fairly large centipede. How the centipede managed to get into the web is conjecture. The web is placed under our deck and maybe the centipede just made a fatal mistake and fell into it.
But that's not the most unusual creature a Golden Orb Weaver has caught. See:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-05/golden-orb-spider-eats-microbat-far-north-queensland/102235274
This one had caught a small bat. And there are records of this kind of spider netting birds from time to time.
See: https://bunyipco.blogspot.com/search?q=golden+orb+weaver
Friday 23 February 2024
New Book on Australian Jewel
Front Cover |
The physical shape of buprestids is easily recognised. But the colour and patterns are extraordinary in their variability. The authors state in the Preface that the book is "intended to be an introduction to the interrelationships and diversity of Australia's spectacular buprestid fauna, from which we trust will follow a greater concern for the fauna's conservation, and that of the landscapes and plant communities in which buprestids dwell and interact." It will do more than that and may stimulate an interest in both collecting and photographing these living Australian gems.
Both buprestid larvae and adults are plant feeders. The larvae have a distinctive shape are often found under bark where they feed on plant tissue. The adults are usually found feeding in flowers on sunny days. A small number of adults have nocturnal habits.
The book has sections on fossil history, Gondawanan and extra-continental associations, warning colours and defence and predators.
The excellently reproduced colour plates are in three sections. "Beetle Specimens, Live Beetles, Regional buprestid faunas and habitats.
The photographs in the Live Beetles section were done by Kevin Mitchell who utilised "stacked focus" to achieve the terrific results.
The "Live Beetles" section shows some of the beetles in nature. The splendid photographs were taken mostly by Geoff Williams and Alan Sundholm.
DetailS
Australian Jewel Beetles An introduction to the Buprestidae by Geoff Williams, Kevin Mitchell and Allen M. Sundholm. 215 pages. Published by CSIRO Publishing 36 Gardiner Rd, Clayton, Vic., 3168. Price $Au199.