MOTH COCOON CLUSTER

 (Article and photos submitted by Michael Rooke)

This cocoon cluster was found on a property at the foot of the Toowoomba Range. It was lying beneath a eucalypt tree from which it had obviously fallen. John Moss, of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club, has identified it as the cocoon cluster of the Mistletoe Emperor Moth (pictured). This moth has recently been assigned to the genus Austrocaligula. The eucalypt tree from which the cocoon cluster had fallen has many clumps of mistletoe, which is the host plant of this moth.

Coccoon cluster

                                Opodiphthera-loranthi

Report on Outing: Sunday 9 August 2020

 

Leopard Ash Park (Dougal Johnston)

Sunday the 09 August was a cool windy morning. A good group collected in Charmaine Court and assembled behind the "vine scrub" out of the wind for an introduction to the remnant dry rainforest park. We then walked through the small walking track in the middle of the forest from south to north.

There is a large variety of vines, creepers, epiphytic orchids, fungus and lichen intertwined with the trees.
There are many Flindersia collina (Leopard Ash) and Geijera salicifolia var latifolia (Broad leaf Scrub Wilga).
Of note was a large Flindersia xanthoxyla (Long Jack). The birds and insects were mostly trying to hide from the wind. Morning tea at Hampton, was a bit windy. The visit to the Motleys spring and waterfall on the head-waters of Gomaren Creek followed.

Bird List (compiled by Tricia Allen)

Despite a very cold, windy and mostly cloudy morning at Leopard Ash Park, members noted a reasonable number of bird species. The following list is as they were reported.

Currawong, Double barred finch, Brown honeyeater, Crested pigeon, Lewin's honeyeater, Yellow faced honeyeater, Rainbow lorikeet, Torresian crow, Superb fairy wren, Magpie-lark, Australian magpie, Brown thornbill, Yellow thornbill, Grey shrike-thrush, Golden whistler, Spotted turtle-dove. 

Jan Veacock noted several Fork-tailed kites on route to the site. 

Praying Mantis at Leopard Ash Park  (photo: Michael McGoldrick) 

The group then travelled to Motley's property east of Haden, where, despite sunnier weather, there were few birds. However we were delighted to see a Wood Duck escorting six to eight newly hatched ducklings on their first outing. A small flock of Wood ducks flew off as we arrived, but otherwise the only birds sighted were Welcome Swallow and Masked Lapwings. (Tricia Allen). 

Headwaters of Gomaren Creek on Motleys' property (photo: Linda Mangubhai)

Plant List for Leopard Ash Park:

Exotic species		Vines
Common Name	Scientific Name	Common Name	Scientific Name
Maderia Vine Corky Passionfruit Vine Moth vine Asparagus (climbing) Basket Asparagus   Chinese elm Broad leafed privet Lantana Tree pear Box thorn Green Panic grass African Love Grass	Anredera cordifolia Passiflora suberosa Araujia sericifera Asparagus africanus Asparagus aethiopicus cv. Sprengeri Celtis sinensis Ligustrum lucidum Lantana camara Opuntia tomentosa Lycium ferocissimum Megathyrsus maximus Eragrastis curvula	Slender Grape vine Scrambling Lily Native Jasmine Monkey Rope vine Bower vine Wonga vine Barbed wire vine Wombat berry vine	Cayratia clematidea Geitonoplesium cymosum Jasminium simplicifolium Parsonia straminea Pandora jasminoides Pandorea pandoreana Smilax australis Eustrephus latifolius
		Epiphytes	Ground cover
		Rock felt fern Mistletoe	Bamboo Grass Aneilema acuminatum Stinging nettle Einadia hastata (red-berry saltbush)

Coffee bush Red ash Chainfruit Python tree Currant bush Bush caper berry Scrambling bumble-bush Silver croton Native holly Square stemmed broom Diamond-leaf pittosporum Hickory wattle Leopard ash Scrub whitewood Orange boxwood Sweet Susie Yellow wood Blunt-leaved coondoo

Breynia oblongifolia Alphitonia excelsa Alyxia ruscifolia Gossia bidwillii Carissa ovata Capparis arborea Capparis sarmentosa Croton insularis Alchornea ilicifolia Teucrum junceum Pittosporum rhombifolium Acacia implexa Flindersia collina Atalaya salicifolia Denhamia sp. Psydrax odorata Flindersia xanthoxyla Planchonella sp.

Narrow-leaf Red Olive-plum   Narrow-leaf orange thorn Box-leaf Canthium Black plum Bitterbark Hard Quandong Blind your eye tree Sandalwood Small-leaved canthium Blueberry ash Hairy Birdseye Scrub Boonaree Narrow-leaved orange bark Whalebone tree Eastern Cottonbush Broad-leaf Scrub Wilga

Elaeodendron australis var. integrifolium Pittosporum viscidum Psydrax buxifolium Diospyros sp. Alstonia constricta Elaeocarpus obovatus Excoecaria dallachyana Santalum lanceolatum Everistia vacciniifolia Elaeocarpus reticulatus Alectryon tomentosus Alectryon diversifolius Denhamia silvestris Streblus brunonianus Maireana microphylla Geijera salicifolia var. latifolia

Report on Speaker at August 2020 Meeting: Glenda Walter

 

Small creatures of Hartmann Bushland Reserve 

I have been photographing and studying the invertebrates in Hartmann Reserve on the corner of Alderley and Rowbotham Streets over the past five years. This park is particularly interesting, as the insect life there seems to be more prolific than in other nearby parks.

Hartmann Bushland Reserve and homestead were gifted by the Hartmann family to Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service in the 1980s, having first been used as a nursery by the family who had owned it since the 1860s, and later as a rest home. Conditions were attached, such as the preservation of the trees and original vegetation and maintenance in perpetuity as a natural area. QPWS and the Friends of Escarpment Parks regularly remove weeds and care for the Reserve.

The variety and amount of original vegetation (Remnant Ecosystem 12.5.6), and the size of the block have played a part in the very prolific and varied invertebrate life found there. In the five years of the study, 718 species of invertebrates plus a number of birds, reptiles and mammals have been photographed, identified and recorded. Many were seen but escaped before an image was captured, and who knows what other creatures live above head height and in the tops of the mature trees?

I’m grateful to experts such as Martin Lagerwey (Leaf beetles), Ron Atkinson, Robert Raven and Rob Whyte (spiders), Ken Walker (bees), Bob Mesibov (Millipedes), Justin Bartlett (Clerid beetles), Geoff Monteith, Rod Hobson, Christine Lambkin and other Qld Museum staff members, for help with identifications (my apologies for not using titles). I also used websites and Field Guides.

Some examples of the invertebrates found in the five-year period 2015 to 2020 were 11 species of ants; eight species of bees; 122 species of beetles in 22 families; 67 species of bugs in 23 families; 28 species of moths in 13 families; 34 species of flies in 12 families; 26 species of wasps in 10 families; and lastly, 119 spiders in 19 families plus eight which were unidentified to family level. A new millipede was collected under permit and described and named by Bob Mesibov as Cladethosoma toowoomba.

Many images were shown during the talk, and brief mention was made of the habits of some of the subjects, such as spider camouflage (bird dropping spider Arkys curtulus, wrap-around spider Dolophones species, flower spider Thomisus spectabilis); insect mimicry (several Lycid beetle mimics, and spiders and bugs which mimic ants); insect and spider hunting techniques; insect mating habits (the wasp Catocheilus apterus); para-sitism of insects by wasps and flies.

I have now moved house and live some distance from Hartmann Reserve, but was still finding new species every time I visited, so I am sure that there are more to be discovered. It would be an interesting exercise to go back in 10- or 20-years’ time and conduct a similar survey to see how the invertebrate population had changed.

Please contact me on 0429185445 if you’d like a copy of the spreadsheet containing the list of names and other details of these creatures.

(Written by Glenda Walter)

OUTING REPORT Dingo Mountain Park, Crows Nest, Sunday 19 July 2020

Dingo Mountain Park, Crows Nest, Sunday 19 July 2020 (Deb Ford)

Twenty-three members and twenty-three visitors met in Chasely Park, Crows Nest, at 9.00am on a beautiful sunny morning, eager to enjoy the Club’s first outing since the beginning of March. Our guide for the morning was Steve Plant from Crows Nest Community Solutions. A long time Crows Nest resident with extensive knowledge of the local flora and fauna, Steve has been working on conserving this large area that represents a unique ecosystem type occurring only on sandstone near Crows Nest. 

Our morning commenced with Steve providing an overview of the extent of the park and neighboring Hart-mann Park and the Bungaree section of the Crows Nest National Park. He gave us a brief history of how the land was acquired and future plans for the park. Before European settlement this area was traversed by Abor-igines travelling from the east to the Bunya Mountains to take part in the triennial Bunya Feasts. Post European settlement (c.1848) the land was used variously for timber getting, grazing, cropping, and pig and chicken farming and as we walked through the park remnants of some of these activities were visible. 

We followed a path down to Crows Nest Creek, passing beside tall Grey Gums (Eucalyptus biturbinata) where Koalas (Phascolarctus cinereus) are often seen, but not on our visit. Spotlighting along this section at night will frequently reveal Greater Gliders (Petauroides Volans), Sugar Gliders (Petaurus breviceps), and Feathertail Gliders (Acrobates pygmaeus). Crossing the Crows Nest Creek, remnants of the old weir are visible, built in the 1930s to augment the town water supply. A permanent water hole is flanked on one side by an attractive sand-stone cliff. 

Leaving the creek, we walked up into Dingo Mountain Park following a track to an ephemeral waterhole, admiring a very large Forest Grasstree (Xanthorrhoea johnsonii) along the way. This first part of the walk was over land previously grazed and, sadly, African Lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula) and Blue Heliotrope (Helio-tropium amplexicaule), both environmental weeds, are well established. Stopping at several places, Steve described the historical use of each place, pointing out items of interest. Leaving the waterhole, we followed a track up the side of a long ridge that rises above the surrounding area. We meandered our way through attractive woodland to the ridge top, skirting sandstone boulders and admiring the many grasstrees. 

Queensland Silver Wattld (Photo: Mike Ford)

With such a large group, and so many questions and explanations, progress was slow but once we reached the ridge top, we were rewarded with 360^o views of the surrounding countryside.  Retracing our steps, we returned to the shelter at Chasely Park around midday for a late morning tea/early lunch. With only the morning at our disposal we were unable to visit other areas of Dingo Mountain Park, which we hope to do at a later stage.

Here is a selection of some of the flora encountered along the way:

Acacia granitica GRANITE WATTLE, Acacia podalyriifolia QUEENS-LAND SILVER WATTLE, Angophora leiocarpa RUSTY APPLEGUM, Angophora subvelutina BROAD LEAVED APPLEGUM, Angophora woodsiana SMUDGEE APPLEGUM, Baeckia diosmifolia FRINGED BAECKIA, Banksia oblongifolia DWARF BANKSIA, Banksia spinulosa HAIRPIN BANKSIA, Breynia oblongifolia BREYNIA, Caustis flexuosa CURLY WIG, Chloanthes parviflora, Grevillea floribunda RUSTY FLOWERED GREVILLEA, Kunzea flavescens YELLOW KUNZEA, Leptospermum polygalifolium WILD MAY/ TANTOON, Leptospermum brachyandrum, HARLEQUIN BARK TEA TREE, Petrophile canescens CONESTICKS, Pimelia linifolia SLENDER RICE FLOWER, Pomax umellata, Stylidium laricifolium TREE TRIGGER PLANT, Persoonia sericea GEEBUNG, Xanthorrhoea johnsonii FOREST GRASS TREE.

(Report by Deb Ford)

Bird List compiled by Francis Mangubhai

Kookaburra, Noisy Miner, Striated Pardalote, Spotted Pardalote, White-throated Gerygone, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Lewin’s Honeyeater, Currawong, Noisy Friarbird, Magpie, Pied Butcherbird, Little Lorikeet, Rainbow Lorikeet, Bar-shouldered Dove, Grey Shrike-thrush, Superb Fairy-wren, Red-backed Fairy-wren, Rufous Whistler, Whipbird, Galah, Torresian Crow, Rose Robin, King Parrot, Brown Treecreeper, Grey Fantail, Brown Thornbill, Yellow Thornbill, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike.

During Dingo Mountain walk (Photo: Francis Mangubhai)