It's been a long time since the last email, so I've made a Jumbo edition.

 

This is the Chrysalis (the cocoon that houses the stage between caterpillar and butterfly) of the Common Crow butterfly. Although this is a remarkably beautiful object, the butterfly that emerges from it is less than spectacular, being dark brown with plain white spots around the edges of its wings. Common Crow butterflies (Euploea core) are found right across northern and eastern Australia, becoming rare in NSW and Vic. Enormous gatherings occur during the Dry season in the tropics, where thousands gather in dark forests. The caterpillar feeds on toxic plants, including the introduced Oleander. It retains these poisons for the rest of its life. No bird I have seen will eat a second one of these! Stay tuned for pictures of the adult stage, plus some other local butterflies next update.

 

 

   

This rather ugly critter is a Giant Water Bug. These marvellous creatures (complex of species from the family Belostomidae) are found in many areas of Australia, and other parts of the world. The identity of this one is still unclear. I found it, and perhaps 40 of its friends flapping about on the concrete at the BP service station at Proserpine before sunrise a few weeks ago. They normally live in ponds, hiding in debris on the bottom, ambushing passing fish, tadpoles and insects, seizing them in the hooked, raptorial front legs. Each front leg has a single, needle-sharp hook. When the ponds dry out, these bugs fly away in search of new hunting grounds. Being a true bug (only a selected group of insects can be called "bugs") they have a straw-like mouthpart. This is used in all predatory bugs including this one, to inject the victim with a powerful venom that turns the insides into soup. The bug then drinks its liquid "health shake."

 

Here is the bug eating, or shall we say drinking, a fish. By the way, it is a massive insect, at over 70mm long, without the legs. They will only feed once every few weeks.

 

 

 

 

This cute little creature is the Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog, Litoria fallax. It's a common species found from the Cairns area to southern NSW. A population exists in Melbourne, due to arriving in banana shipments. True to the name, it is a tiny frog, adults rarely exceed 30mm. capable of colour change, they can go from bright green to spotted brown, depending on their habitat. They are commonly seen on Paperbark (Melaleuca) trees during the day.

 

 

 

 

 

These fish here are Empirefish (Hypseleotris compressa.) They are common here in the Whitsundays in freshwater and brackish creeks with plenty of weed growth. The unusual name refers to the male in breeding display. He will exhibit amazing colours, with a greenish body and a red underside. The fins will be banded in blue, red and black, with white spots. They will eat most small animals that fit in their mouths.

 

A small freshwater shrimp, unknown species.

 

 

 

 

 

 This is a young Black Necked Stork. Once called the Jabiru, it has undergone a name change. However, the name Black Necked Stork is inaccurate, as the neck is iridescent peacock-green and blue. This little fella is yet to acquire the full bold colours of the adult, complete with orange-pink legs. This is a generalist predator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A smaller generalist predator is the Mangrove or Striated Heron (Butorides striatus,) a bird that lives in the intertidal zone pretty much exclusively. This bird is a sub-adult. These will line up along current lines on twigs above the water, flipping over leaves to look for animals hiding underneath.

 

 

 

Hard at work here is a colony of Green Tree Ants (Oecophylla smaragdina.) If you look carefully, you will see teams holding the leaves together while another is holding a young, grub-like member of its own species in the jaws. As the leaves are held in place, the worker with the larva stitches the gap, using a thread that the larva extrudes. You can see the thread in the image. The plant the ants are using is the Beach hibiscus, or Cottonwood (Hibiscus tiliaceus.) It is their favourite native tree, as it has at the base of the leaves, an extrafloral nectary. This is a gland that produces a sugary liquid primarily to attract ants to colonise the tree, in turn they protect the tree from pests.

 

 Hovering around the ant nest is a tiny, match head sized insect, possibly (most likely) a parasitic wasp. Its business at the nest is unclear. It would dive in, and race back out and continue hovering. Laying eggs on an ant? Who knows?

 

 

 

 In a nearby branch, a young Assassin bug sits in ambush. Apart from the obvious, Assassin Bugs are just like the Giant Water Bug in feeding methods, ambushing a passing insect and injecting it with venom and drinking the soup. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a small Crocodile

 

 

 

 

 

This is the same small Crocodile smashing a crab or a fish on the water's edge in the Proserpine River.