Remembering Namadgi: celebration of a great park #3 little animals

This was to be the finale in my weekly series both celebrating this wonderful park that is Canberra's back yard and contemplating its setbacks in the great fire which has burnt out just over 80% of it. In the event I found I had too many animal pics to impose on you in one posting, so I've divided this post into two to make a whole month of Namadgi nostalgia, and things to look forward to as the unburnt sections reopen and the rest recovers. 

The series began here; if you missed it you might like to go back to get the back-story - to Namadgi and to this series. The desperately needed rains came on Sunday night, and have continued sporadically since then. As a result the fire, while not extinguished, is contained and not expected to burn further north along the range. The unburnt 20% is important, as it contains the northern high Snow Gum woodlands and sphagnum bogs which burnt very severely in 2003 and could have ill-afforded to burn again so soon. It also includes important wet forests which likewise could well have been damaged long-term by another intense burn in less than 20 years. For now let's concentrate on that good news while we await a detailed analysis of the rest.

Male Splendid Ghost Moth Aenetus ligniveren, high Brindabellas.
A spectacular animal, this one is the only one I've seen. The larvae tunnel into the trunk of the host plant,
and come out at night to feed, not on leaves but the bark.

As hinted by this picture, today we are going to focus on the numerous small animals of Namadgi, the invertebrates - mostly insects, but also some spiders and even a worm. And every one is worthy of our attention and respect. They are too easy to overlook and by doing so we miss out on a big and special world; moreover our lack of interest places the overall world at greater risk, because they play a major role in it. Anyway, enough of that, let's for now just celebrate them.

Butterflies and moths feature heavily today, because they are a significant and conspicuous part of any natural system. Here are some more.

Australian Painted Lady Vanessa kershawi Mount Ginini (above) and Mount Franklin (below).
This familiar and common butterfly is the Australian 'sister' of a world-wide species.

Australian Painted Ladies on Alpine Sunray Leucochrysum alpinum Mt Franklin.
Its larvae feed mostly on everlasting daisies in the high country.

Crimson Tiger Moth Spilosoma (or Ardices) curvata, Mount Franklin.
A striking moth about which not a lot seems to be known - and if you do, please let me know.

Male Shouldered Brown Heteronympha penelope, Yerrabi Track, far south-east Namadgi.
Another common and widespread species - those tend to be the only butterflies I can find and identify!
Its larvae feed on native grasses, hiding in the clumps in the daytime and coming out at night.

Silver Xenica Oreixenica lathoniella, Yerrabi Track. This one is found only in the higher parts of the ACT.
Its larvae too munch on native grasses.

And now I'm going to do something embarrassing and put up four photos that I can't identify. These attractive caterpillars shouldn't be ignored because of my shortcomings however - and I'm also hoping that someone might come to my rescue! (Yes, someone did - thanks Steve Holliday!)

Munching on a Brachyscome daisy on Mount Ginini.
Family Noctuidae.

A superbly camouflaged caterpillar on a Snow Gum stem, Mount Franklin.
It will become a Gum Snout Moth Entometa sp, (Family Lasiocampidae)

For this one and the next I had no idea at all, but Steve tells me it is a Rose Anthelid Chenuala heliaspis (Family Anthelidae). It does indeed turn into a rosy-coloured moth, though only the males gave the tint.
I doubted that it was eating this tough Snow Gum leaf, but I now learn that it could well have been.
Perhaps it was disconcerted by the little red mites infesting it.

Yerrabi Track; not even Steve could help with this one, though he suggests also Family Anthelidae.

For the rest, several groups are represented here by a couple of pictures each, though they certainly deserve wider coverage! Starting with a couple of grasshoppers; this is primarily a dry country group, but is well-represented in the alps too.

Mountain Katydid Acripeza reticulata, Yerrabi Track. This striking grasshopper (which doesn't hop!)
is scattered through eastern Australian forests, but is mainly reported from the alps.
The dumpy female, here, is flightless; he has wings and is a more conventional grasshopper shape.
Both rely on camouflage, which as you can see is very good, but if really concerned they raise the wing covers
to reveal the brilliant warning colours, as this one is doing.
They also exude irritants and toxins, so the warning is not just bluff.

Spotted Mountain Grasshopper Monistria concinna, Mount Ginini.
This is among the very few grasshopper species with an 'extended life cycle', which means they can
pause their development when the seasons change and go into diapause (or 'suspended animation')
until next summer. It may take some years to go through a cycle which most grasshoppers achieve in one year.

Here are some beetles - which of course are more abundant than this suggests.

Long-nosed Net-winged Beetles Porrostoma rhipidium, Family Lycidae.
Another colourful animal which is advertising that "I am highly toxic, don't eat me".
Various unrelated and unprotected beetles, moths and flies mimic it to gain protection.

I do like this picture. Green Scarab Beetle Diphucephala sp. and a flower spider sharing a daisy.
Would the beetle fall off in shock if it looked down, or is it confident in its armour to protect it?
These beetles can be abundant in summer in the high country, feeding mostly on the flowers
of Leafy Bossiaea, B. foliosa.

Unidentified Weevil, high Brindabellas. I love the fact that there are nearly 100,000 species of weevil
so far described. This is just one Family of beetles; all vertebrates (fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals)
together account for less than 70,000 species in almost 1,000 Families!

And I have no idea about this beetle, but I like its face...

A couple of Bugs (no, not just 'bugs', but members of the Order Hemiptera).

Southern Mountain Squeaker Atrapsalta furcilla. A small cicada which clicks and buzzes.

One of the shield bugs; the Pimelea probably regards it as up to no good.

We have a few different Hymenopterans - the wasps, bees, ants and sawflies.

Bull Ant Myrmecia sp. with Honey Bee; Bull Ants are primitive Australians with a ferocious sting.
They live in colonies but tend to hunt and forage alone.

Blue Ant Diamma bicolor Orroral Valley. This spectacular animal is actually a large wingless
parasitic wasp. It hunts only mole crickets, which it paralyses and then lays its egg on the
inert body underground, a food source for the emerging larvae.
I am told that its sting is well worth avoiding.

 

Unidentified flower wasp on Purple Eyebright Euphrasia collina.

Sawfly Larvae (or 'Spitfires') on Snow Gum leaves on Mount Franklim, above and below.
These remarkable animals eat the toxic eucalypt leaves and store the toxins in sacs
on their back for their own protection. After feeding they move down the tree in a column
and pupate underground. The adults are small wasp-like animals.

If disturbed, Sawflies tap their hard heads on the leaf to warn their siblings of danger.

A couple of flies.

Common Hoverfly Melangyna viridiceps, Family Syrphidae, on daisy.
(My thanks to Susan, see Comments below, for this and the next two identifications.)
These quick little hoverers are abundant summer pollinators
in the high country (and of course at lower altitudes too).

A fly I didn't recognise, but which I am told is probably Senostoma sp., Family Tachinidae.
Even without that it was worth meeting, but it's satisfying to know a little more about it.

And this one fooled and embarrassed me, who thought it was what it looks like - a praying mantis -
seen on the Mount Franklin Road. Susan (below) tells me that it's actually a mantis fly, Family Mantispidae.
Despite the name, they are actually Lacewings (Neuroptera). Steve Holliday thinks this one may be
Ditaxis meridiei, which is known from the Victorian and New South Wales high country, but not hitherto
reported from the ACT. They don't mimic mantises, but hunt the same way, with barbed front legs.

And finally a couple more representatives of major insect groups, the promised worm and a couple of spiders (additional to the flower spider above).

Southern Tigertail Eusynthemis guttata. A dragonfly which specialises in high country streams.

An earth worm, almost certainly a native, unlike the ones in our gardens.

I think another flower spider, Family Thomisidae.

Wolf Spider, Family Lycosidae. These are common in the high country, living in burrows
and emerging to attack passing prey when their silken trap lines are touched.

So, a wide-ranging cast of wonderful dwellers of Namadgi, mostly in the Brindabellas. I hope you've enjoyed the post as much as I've enjoyed putting it together.

Next time we really will conclude this series with some larger animals - vertebrates. And at least I'll be able to name all those! Thanks for your company.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 20 FEBRUARY.
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