Wildlife Round Up V

It's been a great summer so far for the insects at our place - and I'm pretty curious to see what the rains will bring ... should it ever decide to bloody rain!. Such dramatic weather events as monsoons usually bring out some really interesting animals [would you believe that as I am typing this it has started to rain! ...?].

Hopefully it'll be more than just the spoonfuls we've been getting and the garden can have a well deserved drink -we'll have to wait and see eh?

In the meantime here's a few pics of some groovy little critters that I took today:

Queen Green Tree Ant/Weaver Ant Oecophylla smaragdina

We've had a massive influx of these ants with the Queens even coming into the house. They haven't really been present in the garden until now [although when I'm working in the bush I seem to come across them with every second step I take lol]. These really are fascinating creatures and I'll be doing a post dedicated to them in the coming weeks - so stay tuned ok?.

Coreidae sp

This is another critter that deserves more than a passing mention. A true bug [meaning it has a tube for a mouth called a rostrum], these striking insects use their rostrum to pierce the stems of plants in order to feed. They can apparently be quite destructive in large numbers - however, we have a fairly good balance of predator/prey in our garden - so this shouldn't be an issue. They are related to the Assassin Bug and if you'd like to learn more about them - head here: Bee Killer Assassin bug or here: Predatory Shield Bug.

St Andrew's Cross Spider, Argiope keyserlingi

Speaking of predators here's a handsome one. She has set up shop in the middle of Jo's herb garden - which isn't a problem and in fact she's our very own 24hr 7days a week chemical free pest control agent ... that is until a hungry Friarbird comes along and snaps her up ... circle of life and all that right?

Whaddya mean ya can see me?

Next to the herb garden is this purple reddish bush [don't ask me what kind of plant it is - I have enough trouble with bees]. Anyway, on it was this Grasshopper and I swear he looked positively stunned that I'd noticed him - everything about this pic makes me smile - I hope it has the same effect on you.

Mating Tiger Moths Arctiidae sp

It's always good to see that the next generation of animals is being created in the garden and such bodacious little moths as these are always welcome. Hope you enjoyed the post - take care :)

The northern Australian monsoon season generally lasts from December to March. It is associated with the inflow of moist west to northwesterly winds into the monsoon trough, producing convective cloud and heavy rainfall over northern Australia. These moisture-laden winds originate from the Indian Ocean and southern Asian waters. The north Australian wet season encompasses the monsoon months but can extend several months on either side. Parts of the north Queensland coast also receive significant rainfall throughout the cooler months. In the Top-End of the NT, the Bureau considers the wet season as being from 1 October to 30 April, while in some other parts of tropical Australia, particularly in WA, the wet months are often only from about January to March. source