Leprechaun’s Hat - Mt Rubislaw

On the March outing to Len and Frank’s property this enchanting gall was spotted attached to a struggling eucalypt on Mt Rubislaw. After checking with Rod Hobson and the Queensland Museum Enquiry Centre it seems that inside this large four-pronged gall is the female of the scale bug Apiomorpha munita. Almost beyond belief the bug has injected a cocktail of chemicals into the host eucalypt which responds by making just this particular type of gall. The female will never leave and although mature after some months could live in the gall for up to five years.

It came as a surprise to find out that the multiple red structures below were the gall homes of the males. After some months the adult males leave their home and will die after only a few days. However this allows sufficient time for the now mature female to be fertilised. Thousands of minute offspring called crawlers will later emerge from the female gall through a hole in the top. Some crawl to the edge of the foliage and are dispersed by the wind. Maybe it is easier to believe that this bewitching structure was left there by a forgetful leprechaun.   Barry Kenway

Above photo: Female scale bug gall (upper), male scale bug gall (lower)

THE BIRDS AND THE BEES ….

….. or, in this case, wasps.

While we were wandering through Irongate Reserve on the February outing, Shirley brought to my attention a bird’s nest in a low scrubby bush. It was not complete and looked abandoned. We were checking this out when I noticed a Common Paper Wasps’ nest further along the branch. Here's one of their nests at my home.

Common Paper Wasp nest under my eaves

Unfortunately we were too busy looking to take a photograph at Irongate, but this is a particularly interesting association between birds and wasps. Honeyeaters, gerygones and finches have been known to purposefully build their nests near paper wasps nests. It appears the wasps keep predators away from the nest. Overseas research shows that it is only small birds that take advantage of this as wasps seem to attack the larger birds. One study in Costa Rica found that nesting attempts were significantly more likely to fledge young than nesting attempts without wasp nests. Lesley