Cattana Wetlands Night Walk 11 November 2023

Cattana Wetlands is a developing coastal rainforest north of Cairns, Queensland. It was once a sugarcane field but the Cattana family gifted the area to the Cairns Regional Council for natural replanting. Ponds were already present at the site and have been naturally populated by aquatic plants, fish, insects AND the odd crocodile.  Replanting of thousands of trees and shrubs has been undertaken largely by the volunteers of the Friends of the Cairns Botanic Gardens https://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/experience-cairns/botanic-gardens.

It is remarkable to see the growth of trees and shrubs over a ten year period. The Friends have had a number of Night Walks and Moth Nights to stimulate interest. In addition, Bird Walks, Bat Nights and Fish Surveys have proved popular. An astronomical night is planned as some of the open areas and lack of ambient light seem perfect for star gazers. As with many tropical activities, the weather can be a problem.

Remember to click on the photos to enlarge

Green Lacewing, Chrysopidae

Glyphodes multilinealis, Crambidae

Oenospila flavifusata, Geometridae

Thalassodes pilaria, Geometridae

Asura sp, Arctiidae

                                              

  Haritalodes sp., Geometridae BR

Agrotera sp. Crambidae

                                       

Palpita sp., Crambidae

                     

Calolampa sp., Blaberidae, BR

Balta sp female on Lomandra flower spike, Ectobiidae

                                                 Balta sp female on Lomandra flower spike

Carbrunneria maxi, Ectobiidae

                                                           Carbrunneria maxi, Ectobiidae

Neomantis australis, Iridopterygidae

Xanthogryllacris punctipennis, Gryllacrididae, last instar male

Nunkeria sp., Gryllacrididae

Let Me In!

 Might is right. 

Cockatoos get what they want using a combination of numbers, loud squawking and display of the very menacing beak.

The Brush Turkey usews much the same technique but the cockatoos are no match.

Cassowaries 2023 Update 1

 Remember to click on the image to enlarge

 Today the male Cassowary showed up with the three chiks and the large female.

The male was intimidated by the female and kept his distance while the chicks moved freely amongst the two adults.

Cassowary Chicks of 2023

Cassowary Chicks of 2023

On 23 September 2023 Mr Cassowary showed up with three young chicks. He usually ends up with one or two, additional chicks succumbing to predators or accidents. One year he ended up with no chicks at all.

It was obvious that they were young and inexperienced. They stayed close to Pops and were very observant. They will have to be because it is early springtime and hungry snakes, goannas and predatory birds are nesting. A slight error could spell death.

The bubs are very curious about all the new sights, sounds and smells. It seems that they are very young and the dad must have been nesting rather close to our house. Now let's hope the neighbourhood dogs and cats behave themselves. 

 

Autumn Beauties

 The season is changing in the northern tropics of Australia. Daily temperatures are gradually lowering and the "wet season" is coming to a close--hopefully. With the days slightly shorter, there is a changing regime of insects. Many of the same species stick around until conditions become too dry or cool, but many others are appearing.

Here are a few insects that have been coming t the lights.

Remember to click on the photo to enlarge

Drepanidae Tridrepana lunulata 

Geometridae Eumelea rosalia female 

Crambidae Diaphania indica broadcasting

Aganaidae Asota caricae

Geometridae Genus ?

Anthelidae Anthela sp

Noctuidae Phyllodes imperialis the Imperial Moth

Anthelidae Anthela sp head on

Arctiidae Amata bicolor 

Arctiidae Chamaita barnardi

Crambidae Glyphodes actorionalis 

Crambidae Heortia vitessoides

Crambidae Parotis sp 

Crambidae Parotis sp head-on

Geometridae Berta chrysolineata

Noctuidae Donuca castalia 

Geometridae Aeolochroma viridicata 

Noctuidae Anomis lyona

Tettigoniidae; Phaneropterinae; Cuirrimundria delicata female

Tettigoniidae; Phaneropterinae; Cuirrimundria delicata female

Tettigoniidae; Phaneropterinae; Kurandoptera purpura female

Tettigoniidae; Phaneropterinae; Kurandoptera purpura female

This vespid wasp seems to be at the end of her life. She sat in the sun all day.

Active caterpillar on tree trunk.Family Lymantriidae???

Trigonidiidae; Trigonidiinae; Homoeoxipha lycoides The Tinkling Leaf-runner

Gryllotalpidae: Gryllotalpinae; Gryllotalpa sp

Lampyridae: Luciola sp

Aquatic Insect Phenomenon

 From the 15th April to 18th April 2023 we experienced an odd insect phenomenon. Each night in the Cairns-Kuranda area we were beset by thousands of aquatic insects of many different kinds attracted to the lights after dark.

Remember to click on the photo to enlarge

There were many kinds of water beetle, mostly small, and many other aquatic insects such as water striders, caddis flies and aquatic flies.

On the night of the 16th April we ventured out to the Petford, Qld, area some 125 km from Kuranda. To our surprise a similar phenomenon was occurring. Within a few minutes the light sheets were covered with aquatic insects, seemingly the same or similar species that we had seen in Kuranda.

Windrows of tiny aquatics accumulated at the lights. They were so dense that we had to place tissue in our ears to prevent to tiny insects from crawling in.

Amongst the insects were species of the family Tetrigidae, Pygmy Grasshoppers. This one is Paratettix femoralis. These small grasshoppers live along watercourses where they feed on algae and diatoms. But why would they fly away from such habitats?

About 10 years ago I had a call from the Cairns Airport. Management was concerned about large numbers of tiny grasshoppers invading the passenger lounges and the potential damage they could cause if they were to be sucked into the jet engines. What to do?

The following day I had business in Atherton and observed large numbers of the same grasshoppers all over buildings and businesses that were lit overnight.

So what is happening here? Who knows, but it seems that when certain atmospheric conditions prevail, and the moon is in the proper phase, something prompts aquatic insects to leave the water and take flight. They are probably searching for other suitable sites. Most probably meet their demise without finding the perfect aquatic habitat. But the large numbers assure that some will be successful.

Within a few days, all returned to normal and not a single aquatic insect was found on my lightsheets.