On the Prowl

 

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.

From the looks of it, this fellow needs a feed. Its skinny body suggests that the snake has not been very successful in prey-catching. With cold weather approaching, the snake must have a feed if it is to survive. The snake was about 3 m in length so it has had success in the past!

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.

 

Orthopteroids Pay a Visit

 Remember to click on the image once to enlarge

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.

Caedicia sp 6, Tettigoniidae; Phaneropterinae

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Caedicia sp 6, Tettigoniidae; Phaneropterinae

Ducetia antipoda female: Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae

Ducetia antipoda male : Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae

Nunkeria sp, female: Gryllacrididae

Nunkeria sp, female: Gryllacrididae

Nunkeria sp, female: Gryllacrididae

Methiola picta: Acrididae

Parapodacanthus hasenpuschorum male: Phasmatidae

Johnrehnia triramosa male: Ectobiidae: Blattellinae

Johnrehnia triramosa male: Ectobiidae: Blattellinae

More Moths from Kuranda

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Barbacha eurychrysa: Geometridae

Unknown genus: Drepanidae

Eudocima salaminia: Noctuidae

Eudocima iridescens: Noctuidae

Eumelea sp: Geometridae

Lyclene pyrala: Arctiidae

                                                                      Lyclene reticulata: Arctiidae

Tridrepana lunulata: Drepanidae

Oxyodes or near: Geometridae

Phazaca mutans: Uraniidae

 

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.

Remember to click on the image to enlarge

Webber's Caedicia Caedicia webberi

Kuranda Bush Katydid Ozphyllum kuranda

The Eumundi, Leucopodoptera eumundii male in defensive position

The Eumundi, Leucopodoptera eumundii male

Purple-winged Katytid, Kurandoptera purpura female

Greenes' Katydid Greenagraecia attenuata male

Ingrisch's Olive-green Katytdid Ingrischagraecia iterika male

Big-headed Raspy Cricket Chauliogryllacris acaropenates

Small Mediastinia Mediastinia australica 

Rosenbergia megalocephala

Rosenbergia drouini a rarity!

Rentz's Buzzer Aesa rentzi

Elephant-nosed weevil

Noctuidae Cyclodes spectans

Noctuidae Donuca rubropicta

Noctuidae Hulodes caranea

Noctuidae Ischyja sp

Crambid moths responsible for stripping Alstonia trees in the Kuranda region. Stemorrhages amphitritalis

Stalk-headed Fly Achias sp

An icon of tropical Australia

Rainbow Stag Beetle Female Phalacrognathus muelleri 

Janson's Stag Beetle Aegus jansoni

Centipede meets an untimely end

Remember one click on the image to enlarge 

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

New Book on Australian Jewel

 

Front Cover

A wonderful new book has just appeared. It features the colourful Australian Jewel Beetles, family Buprestidae. Owing to their size, colours and patterns, the Jewel Beetles are among the most popular with collectors world-wide. The Buprestidae is the eighth largest family of beetles (the beetles are represented by around 450,000 described species). Australia has over 1200 species of Buprestidae.

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.

Beetle Specimens

The "Live Beetles" section shows some of the beetles in nature. The splendid photographs were taken mostly by Geoff Williams and Alan Sundholm.

Habitus photos

These photographs are arranged on a regional basis. This should be helpful to folks speeding up the process in beetle identification. The main text of the book comprises statements on general distribution and "comments" that will help identification. There are also notes on plant associations. At the end of each species writeup, general references are provided. 

The book concludes with five Appendices comprising a list of genera, summary of larval and adult plant relationships, pollen loads collected from collected beetles. Historians will be delighted with the appendix on early taxonomists and buprestid collectors. The appendix on the divisions of geological time should be helpful to students and researchers alike. A glossary, bibliography and index complete the book.

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.