March Meeting Details - Glenda Walter "Backyard Beasties", 4 March 2022

Austral Ellipsidion
(Ellipsidion australe)

Time and Place: 7.00pm. St. Anthony’s Community Centre, Memory Street, Toowoomba

Club member, Glenda Walter, will give a talk on the little scuttling things in your garden.
Not having had an opportunity to study biology at school, Glenda's interest firstly in fungi, and then when drought intervened in insects and spiders, meant a steep learning curve. This meant, sometimes making embarrassing mistakes, but also that there are creatures out there which she'd never encountered before – finding something new and observing its behaviour was and still is very exciting. When living in Toowoomba she spent a lot of time in local parks with her camera, but since moving to Crows Nest in June 2020 she's photographed and attempted to identify the creatures she's seen in her backyard. She looks forward to sharing some of them with you.

Current Covid Rules for Attending Meetings at St Anthony’s:
1. Until further notice, only double vaccinated members will be allowed to attend our Friday meetings.
2. Because we have supper at our Meetings, members will have to log in to the Queensland Covid App. If you have attached your vaccination certificate to this App, your name will show with a green tick, signifying that you are double vaccinated. If your vaccination certificate is not on your phone, please bring along a paper copy.
3. People with a medical exemption for Covid vaccination can attend but should wear a mask.
4. It is strongly recommended that you wear a mask during the meeting.

We are sorry to any unvaccinated members but we, the Committee, are asking you not to attend meetings until the State Government changes the rules.

Outing Report - Sunday, 6 February 2022, Ravensbourne N.P.

Pointy Orbweaver
(Araneus acuminatus) female

Plants, birds, spiders, insects and more. A delightful time was had at Ravensbourne National Park by our members on our February outing. Quite a number of invertebrates were recorded. The first two images here are of a female and male Pointy Orbweaver (Araneus acuminatus). You can gauge by the size of the leaves in the second pic that they are very small and easily overlooked. Like many orbweavers the female will build her web at night and pack it up in the morning, then find a retreat in which to shelter during the day. Sometimes they can be found in daylight head down on their web. The male is almost half the size of his mate. Their abdominal patterns vary.  

Pointy Orbweaver
(Araneus acuminatus) male

Dotty Lynx Spider
(Oxyopes punctatus)

Another tiny spider (approx. 7 mm) is this Dotty Lynx Spider (Oxyopes punctatus). Like its name, Lynx, suggests it is an ambush spider rather than a web-builder. Again colouring and patterns can be variable. They have been found from Cape York to Brisbane.

Leaf Beetle sp. (Chrysomelidae sp.)

Tricolor Soldier Beetle
(Chauliognathus tricolor)

Red and Blue Pollen Beetle
(Dicranolaius bellulus)

All photos by G. Walter.

Combined Species List for Cedar Block Circuit and on tracks from Blackbean Picnic Area

introduced species = _*

Fauna (not a comprehensive list):

Birds: Australian Brush Turkey, White-headed Pigeon, Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Superb Fruit-Dove, Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove, Topknot Pigeon, Rainbow Lorikeet, Australian King-Parrot, Laughing Kookaburra, White-throated Treecreeper, Green Catbird, Variegated Fairy-wren, White-browed Scrubwren, Large-billed Scrubwren, Brown Gerygone, Lewin's Honeyeater, Scarlet Honeyeater, Eastern Whipbird, Cicadabird, Golden Whistler, White-breasted Woodswallow, Pied Currawong, Rufous Fantail, Grey Fantail, Black-faced Monarch, Spectacled Monarch, Eastern Yellow Robin, Silvereye, Red-browed Finch.

Butterflies: Yellow Admiral (Vanessa itea), Small Green-banded Blue (Psychonotis caelius).

Other Invertebrates: Beetles; Fungus Weevil (Ancylotropis waterhousei), a beetle (Cardiothorax sp.), Tricolor Soldier Beetle (Chauliognathus tricolor), Leaf Beetle sp. (Chrysomelidae sp.), Red and Blue Pollen Beetle (Dicranolaius bellulus), a beetle (Dynastine sp.), Passalid Beetle (Pharochilus dilatatus), Darkling Beetle (Ecnolagria sp.), Bugs; Zebra Shield Bug (Bathrus variegatus), Colourful Broad-headed Bug (Noliphus erythrocephalus).

Spiders: Pointy Orbweaver (Araneus acuminatus), Dotty Lynx Spider (Oxyopes punctatus).

 

Flora discussed or taken note of on the day (not a comprehensive list):

Herbs: Native Wandering Jew (Aneilema acuminatum), *Cobblers Pegs (Bidens pilosa).

Vines, Scramblers & Climbers: Native Yam (Dioscorea transversa), Passiflora sp.

Shrubs: *Lantana (Lantana camara).

Palms: Piccabeen or Bangalow Palm (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana).

Trees: Plum Ebony or Black Plum (Diospyros australis), Tallowwood (Eucalyptus microcorys),), Sydney Blue Gum (Eucalyptus saligna), Rock Fig (Ficus rubiginosa), Strangler Fig (Ficus watkinsiana), Gee-o-ah or Wild Quince (Guioa semiglauca), *Tobacco Bush (Solanum mauritianum).