No Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos - Just Insects

After reading Denis Wilson's post on photographing Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos I was quite chuffed to see a flock of seven alighting on the dead trees in the gully near my house. I quickly ran inside to grab my camera and off I went up the hill to do a bit of bird stalking. Of course we all know wearing thongs in the bush is a bad idea but I had to get there before the birds took off. (For northern hemisphere readers, thongs = flip flops or rubber sandals - not those other things :-) I slipped twice while pushing through the scrub nearly dropping my camera but I pressed on until I located a good vantage point. I arrived a little scratched up, totally puffed out and with shaky hands. (Moving rapidly uphill no longer agrees with me) . It was all worth it, I thought to myself, as I had a clear view straight across the gully to the cockies. The closest one was a juvenile begging for food. Just as I lifted my camera the clouds blocked the sun and I could see I was not going to get a sharp image. Still it would be better than nothing eh? Then, just as I pressed the button, the camera battery died. Could things get any worse? Yes. A large ant then stung me right between two toes and it is still hurting as I type. Until today I did not know that cockatoos could laugh but I'm sure that's what they were doing.

So dear reader you will just have to imagine the impressive sight of those Cockatoos or go on over to Denis's blog and enjoy his photos. Either that or you can content yourself with these images of some insects which I have come across over the last week. Unfortunately I did not get a shot of the ant as after I was through with it, it was not worth photographing.

(Click on Photos to Enlarge)

Dagger Fly (Empididae)

This tiny fly (around 4 or 5 mm) was attracted to the MV light. Empidid flies are predators. Note the proboscis which can be used for piercing it's prey.

Echthromorpha intricatoria - Cream-spotted Ichneumon (Ichneumonidae)

This is quite a striking wasp. The adults feed on nectar and pollen but they parasitise Lepidopteran larvae. The caterpillar below had better watch out.

Ichneumen Wasp (Ichneumonidae)

Here's another Ichneumon hanging around the trap. There are a variety of similar looking species to this which often come to light. These also parasitise Lepidopteran larvae.

Caterpillar (Noctuidae)

This one came to the MV light trap. This is not that unusual. In Scotland I often had Noctuid larvae come to the light trap. Perhaps, as a nocturnal, ground dwelling species, they simply stumble upon the box and crawl in or perhaps they are actually phototropic. Maybe someone has already answered that question. I'll have to look into it one day.

Soldier Fly - (Stratiomyidae)

This one was photographed on a sunny wall. Again. the adults Soldier flies feed on nectar and pollen. The larvae are found in aquatic or semi-aquatic habitats but some also feed in rotting vegetation. I used to have one of those anaerobic compost bins which was always full of soldier fly larvae.

---

Mothing - 27th October 2008

We had a very warm night last night. The temperature was still around 15 degrees at midnight. Unfortunately I couldn't leave the moth trap on all night as there was a risk of showers but a few did turn up before I hit the sack.

First up there were 3 Helena Gum moths which you can see below photographed on my assistants hand. These are all males so I won't be getting any eggs from these.

(Click to Enlarge all Photos)

.

#1. Helena Gum Moths - Opodiphthera helena (Saturniidae)

Next up is a small Pyralid. This family often sits high on it's front legs with the antennae straight back along the body. The wings often for a triangular shape.

#2 - Unknown Pyralid (Pyralidae)

The migratory Bogong Moths have been appearing over the last 2 weeks. These generally spend the warmer months in the mountains, particularly around the Bogong High Plains in Victoria. However, many of them overshoot their destination and end up in Tasmania.

#3 - Bogong Moth - Agrotis infusa (Noctuidae : Noctuinae)

Two other Noctuids were in the trap. Like the Bogongs, these are both known to be migratory species.

#4 - Southern Armyworm - Persectania ewingii (Noctuidae : Hadeninae)


#5 - Native Budworm - Helicoverpa sp. probably: punctigera (Noctuidae : Heliothinae)

.....and of course there were plenty of insects other than moths. Carious beetles, flies, wasps etc including the two shown below.

#6 - A Lacewing - (Neuroptera)

#7 - An Ichneumon Wasp - (Hymenoptera : Ichneumonidae)

---

Wattle Apple-gall Wasp

.....Trichilogaster sp.

Apple-galls in the inflorescences of Acacias are caused by wasps which lay there eggs in the young flower buds. These wasps belong to the genus Trichilogaster of the family Pteromalidae. Some species are known to lay up to 400 eggs. When they do so, they also inject chemicals which cause the woody growth known as a gall. The wasp grubs then feed on this plant material from within. Eventually they will pupate and then eat their way out. The adult females are short lived surviving just 2 - 3 days.

As you may imagine, there is potential here for a lot of stress and damage to the tree as well as a reduction in it's ability to set seed. For this reason one species, T. acaciaelongifoliae, has been introduced to South Africa as a biological control agent for Acacia longifolia. So, you may wonder why our own Acacias are not being wiped out. It's because we have something the South Africans don't want. There are a range of parasitic wasps that keep the gall wasp population in check. These lay there eggs in the galls and there grubs feed on the gall wasp grubs. OK so what stops the parasites from wiping out the gall wasps? Simple - we have a range of hyperparasites which keep the parasitic wasps in check. In fact, in one study, "twenty-one insect species were reared from galls formed by Trichilogaster acaciaelongifoliae on Acacia secies in Tasmania".

There are at least 10 Trichilogaster species in Australia. From what I've read, T. trilineata is the most likely species to seek out Acacia dealbata an so it is the most likely candidate for the galls below which I photographed at Latrobe the other day. You'll notice in the photos that the plant is making a pretty good effort at flowering despite the galls but they will not set seed.

(Click on Photos to Enlarge)

Wattle Apple-galls on Acacia dealbata

Wattle Apple-galls on Acacia dealbata

References:

• Bashford, R. 2004, The insects associated with galls formed by Trichilogaster acaciaelongifoliae (Froggatt) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) on Acacia species in Tasmania. - Australian Entomologist, 2004 (Vol. 31) (No. 1) 5-12 - Entomological Society of Qld

---