Outing Report - February 2017

On a warm evening in February a group of Field Nats gathered at Judi and Brendon Gray’s property in anticip-ation for the light to fade and what creatures this may unveil. The Grays are true environmentalists, they live and breathe being custodians of the land. They also have shown great respect to the local traditional custodians through naming their property after them, Jarowair. (For more information check out the Gray’s blog http://jarowairourpatch.blogspot.com.au/)

As the sun was setting and we waited for everyone to arrive we got our torches ready (thanks to Trish bringing red cellophane) so we didn’t hurt any eyes. Then off we headed into the dark. The first encounter was a beauty-ful Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) that the Grays had cared for in the past, now often returning for a snack and visit. As we wandered further into the property we discovered a number of Geckos, including the Robust Velvet Gecko (Oedura robusta), Bynoe’s Gecko (Heteronotia binoei), Stone Gecko (Diplodactylus vittatus) and a very cute Barking Gecko (Underwoodisaurus milii) which fell in love with Trish G’s pants. Judi pointed out that due to the tail being darker we could confirm that this Gecko still had its original tail.

As we wandered around we meet various Orb spiders, came across a Rocket Frog (Litoria nasuta) in the dry creek bed, saw an Ornate Burrowing Frog (Opisthodon ornatus) and Bleating Tree Frog (Litoria dentata). To the delight of many we also saw two Koalas in the neighbouring property, one small one was sitting in an Iron bark, not a Koala food plant but a favourite for resting. The occasional Brush tail possum was seen and we were impressed at the number of nesting boxes the Grays had put up around the property. As we finished the circuit walk and after a drink of lovely cool water, we were drawn like moths to Helen Schwencke’s insect light trap.

What an amazing array of invertebrates were found on the lit-up sheet! The king of them all was a beautiful large eucalyptus moth. Others included a robber fly, variety of leaf beetles, lacewings, katydids, horse headed katydid, emerald moths, and many other. Glenda made friends with a quite large click beetle that later in the night showed us his beautiful antennae. Helen is an amazing source of information and shared an insight, “If you want to plant for wildlife then the best place to start (and the most essential) is to plant for the invertebrate”. This is something I will be taking into my gardening!

What a fantastic night! Thanks to the Grays, Helen and everyone who came.

(Report by Jane Orme. Photographs below by Jim Ball)

Thick-tailed Gecko - Nephrurus milii

Broad-palmed Rocket Frog - Litoria latopalmata

Ornate Burrowing Frog - Platyplectrum ornatum

Northern Emerald Moth - Prasinocyma rhodocosma (identified by Don Gardner)

Rhinoceros Beetle - Xylotrupes gideon

Speaker's Report: Caring for Caterpillars - February, 2017 meeting

Helen Schwencke’s talk began with the question why we should care about caterpillars. They are nature’s tip pruners, decomposers, composters and food for other animals, such as birds. They thus play an important role in making our habitats liveable, are a part of a food web, and then, if they survive their predators, parasites and diseases, turn into beautiful, colourful butterflies.

As a preparation for further discussion, Helen touched upon the more complex metamorphosing of butterflies (egg, larva, pupa and adult) and other less complex metamorphosing for example with silverfish and bugs (egg, nymph, adult). She made the point that if one wanted to care for caterpillars, one had to start by learning how to care for eggs, and these eggs came in all shapes and sizes. Some species lay a single egg, while others lay a group of eggs. Different butterflies lay eggs on different leaves and hence if one wanted a variety of butterflies in one’s garden, one had to know which plants to grow. Helen gave a number of examples of types of trees she grew in Brisbane in order to attract a wider variety of butterflies.

Common crow egg about to hatch and caterpillar  © Helen Schwencke, 2017

Helen also showed us some slides of beautifully coloured caterpillars, which have been reproduced below.

Top left: Joseph’s Coat moth.                              Top right: Twitchy tail – a Hawkmoth

Bottom left: Common Pencilled-blue                Bottom right: Speckled moth

©Helen Schwencke, 2017

The table below lists the top ten butterfly plants. The plants on this list won't be suitable for all locations, and the selection you make needs to be appropriate for your local environment.

Top Ten Butterfly Plants for 32 Butterflies in SEQ

Grow this plant:	Encourage these butterflies to breed in your garden:
Climbing Senna (Senna gaudichaudii)	Yellow Migrant, Small Grass-yellow, Large Grass-yellow
Corky Milk-vine (Secamone elliptica)	Common Crow, Blue Tiger
Emu Foot (Cullen tenax)	Chequered Swallowtail, Common Grass-blue, Tailed Pea-blue
Karamat (Hygrophila angustifolia)	Chocolate Argus, Meadow Argus, Varied Eggfly, Dainty Grass-blue
Love Flower (Pseuderanthemum variabile)	Australian Leafwing, Blue Argus, Blue-banded Eggfly, Danaid Eggfly, Varied Eggfly
Mangrove Wax-flower Vine (Cynanchum carnosum)	Swamp Tiger, Lesser Wanderer, Common Crow
Native Mulberry (Pipturus argenteus)	Jezebel Nymph, Speckled Lime-blue, Yellow Admiral
Thornless Caper (Capparis lucida)	Caper White, Chalky Pearl-white, Caper Gull
Zig Zag Vine (Melodorum leichhardtii)	Four-barred Swordtail, Pale Triangle, Eastern Dusk-flat
Finger Lime (Citrus australasica) also Citrus (mandarin, lime, orange trees)	Orchard Swallowtail, Fuscous Swallowtail, Dainty Swallowtail.

(From Earthling Enterprises Pty Ltd – www.earthling.com.au)

Helen’s love of caterpillars and butterflies was evident in a set of photos she had taken capturing a Lemon Migrant as it comes out of its pupal case.

  

Shirley Cormack, who moved the vote of thanks to Helen, summed up the feelings of club members: “We will pay a much greater attention to the caterpillars in our gardens as a result of this talk”.

(Report by Francis Mangubhai)