The weekend
of our May outing to Mc Ewan State Forest didn’t get off to an auspicious
start. The Saturday saw the general area around Toowoomba and Pittsworth
shrouded in cloud with intermittent showers through-out the day. It certainly
looked like our Sunday field day was going to be put on the back burner,
however it evolved into one of those magnificent autumn days; clear and brisk
under a cloudless blue sky. It was one of those “great-to-be-alive’’ days that
south-east Queensland can pull out of its hat this time of year. And there was
a good number of Club members, family and friends on hand to take advantage of
the lovely weather. I always find it a joy to join these sorts of people in the
field especially when I have the privilege of being the outing’s leader
although “leader” is a fairly flexible definition with this mob. Participants
on a Toowoomba Field Nats excursion emulate the inhabitants of ancient
Jerusalem. By their own volition they are “scattered to the four winds” and
leader is really only a titular title. I managed to attach myself to a small
group of about six participants, so this account is very much skewed towards
our perspective of the day but, nevertheless, at most times throughout the
morning I could see small knots of people scattered over McEwan’s bluegrass
flats like grazing antelope on the Serengeti. Everyone seemed to be having a
good time.
We wandered
aimlessly without any fixed purpose enjoying things as the presented. It’s
peculiar what takes a naturalist’s fancy and our group was particularly
enthralled when a lone red velvet mite put in an appearance trundling
purposefully over the damp ground like a miniscule, red and hairy turtle. I
love these little creatures that belong to a cosmopolitan family of arachnids,
the Thrombidiidae of the order Aracina. The Aracina is very little researched
and understood in Australia with just 31 described species that probably only
represents about 5% of that order in our country. Many of the red velvet mites
are large (for a mite), short-haired and brilliantly red, as their common name
suggests. Our specimen fitted this description to a tee. It was impossible to
identify our little dandy to species level, but it likely belonged to either
the genus Parathrombium (11 Australian
species) or Allothrombium (five
Australian species). Wet weather seems to get velvet mites going and the large
northern Indian species, the Giant Velvet Mite Thrombidium grandissimum is also known by the quaint moniker, the
Little Old Lady of the Monsoon. It is great to come upon these peasant names
that show how in touch these rural people are with their natural world,
something we have lost in the hurly burly of our modern-day life. What a pity.
Our group had
a good morning with the invertebrates also encountering large numbers of nymphs
of the Soapberry Bug Leptochoris
tagalicus. This bug can appear in its millions at times although we didn’t
encounter any adults this day. Like the red velvet mite their similar
colouration likely advertises their unpalatability to predators, which seemed
apparent when we encountered several trundling over an active nest of the Meat
Ant Iridomyrmex purpureus with
impunity. The local pestiferous Velvety Tree Pear Opuntia tomentosa was getting a thorough working over by the
Cochineal Mealy Bug Dactylopius opuntiae.
This plant is host specific for this very effective control insect. This is not
the case with the Cactoblastis Moth Cactoblastis
cactorum however, and we saw both Velvety Tree Pear and Prickly (Pest) Pear
Opuntia stricta being ravaged by the
caterpillars of this very useful insect. Neither are likely to run out of
tucker any time soon, though.
Our tally for fauna sightings for the day was 20 bird
species, two species of lizard, one native land snail, one dragonfly, six
butterflies including the splendid Satin Azure Ogyris amaryllis, two bug species, and one moth. The botanists
appear to have had a good outing, as well, as is evidenced by Lisa Churchward’s
excellent list. It was a great day and it’d be good to visit this state forest
in the spring, especially if we have some good rain, for a completely different
suite of its denizens.Nats at McKewan Forest (Photo: Lisa Churchward) |
(Report by Rod Hobson)
Our species list for
the day is:
Lizards:
Boulenger’s Snake-eyed Skink Morethia
boulengeri, and *Straight-browed Ctenotus Ctenotus spaldingi.
Birds: Speckled Warbler, Weebill, Spotted Pardalote, Striated Pardalote,
Lewin’s Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Grey-crowned Babbler,
Australasian Figbird, Olive-backed Oriole, Rufous Whistler, Golden Whistler,
Grey Butcherbird, Pied Butcherbird, Australian Magpie, Pied Currawong,
Torresian Crow, Silvereye, Mistletoebird and Double-barred Finch. Butterflies and Moths: Lesser Wanderer,
Cabbage White, White Migrant, Meadow Argus, Satin Azure, Common Grass Blue and
Cactoblastis Moth. Other Invertebrates:
Nomadic Velvet Snail Neveritis aridorum,
Meat Ant, Australian Emperor Anax papuensis (dragonfly), Soapberry Bug, Cochineal Mealy Bug and a red velvet
mite (family Thrombidiidae)
*known as Striped Ctenotus Ctenotus robustus in some field guides.
Taxonomy of this skink disputed by some researchers.
Plant List – (compiled by Lisa Churchward).
Euycalypts: Eucalyptus cerebra NARROW LEAFED
IRONBARK. Dry Rainforest Trees: Geijera salicifolia SCRUB WILGA, Pittosporum angustifolium GUMBY GUMBY, Elaeodendron australe RED OLIVE PLUM, Psydrax odorata SWEET SUZIE, Alectryon diversifolius SCRUB BOONAREE, Alectryon pubescens HAIRY BOONAREE, Brachychiton populneus KURRAJONG, Alphitonia excelsa SOAP ASH, Notelaea macrocarpa SMALL FRUITED MOCK
OLIVE, Auranticarpa rhombifolia
GOLDEN HOLLYWOOD, Denhamia bilocularis
HEDGE ORANGE BARK. Wattles: Acacia decora PRETTY WATTLE, Acacia irrorata GREEN WATTLE.
Shrubs: Beyeria viscose STICKY WALLABY BUSH, Santalum lanceolatum NORTHERN
SANDALWOOD, Rhagodia parabolica
FRAGRANT SALTBUSH, Dodonaea viscosa
NARROW LEAFED HOPBUSH, Dodonaea sinuolata
THREADY LEAF HOPBUSH, Senna Coronilloides
BRIGALOW SENNA, Cassinia Laevis COUGH
BUSH, Teucrium junceum SQUARE STEMMED
BROOM.
Forbs, Lilies
and Ground Covers:
Dianellia brevipendunculata SHORT
STEMMED BLUE FLAX LILY, Eremophila
debilis DEVIL’S or WINTER APPLE, Olearia
elliptica STICKY DAISY BUSH, Chrysocephalum
apiculatum BILLLY BUTTONS, Einadia
nutans RED-FRUITED and YELLOW-FRUITED SALTBUSH.
Climbers: Jasminium simplicifolium STIFF JASMINE, Parsonsia lanceolata ROUGH SILK POD, Eustrephus latifolius WOMBAT BERRY.
Grasses: Austrostipa verticillata SLENDER BAMBOO
GRASS, Cymbopogon refractus BARBED WIRE GRASS, Dicanthium sericeum Subsp sericeum QUEENSLAND BLUE GRASS.
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