Gunns Plains Cave

..... Limestone Cave

I haven't posted much of late. That's partly due to being busy and partly due to having broken my SLR camera. It seems the repair bill may be $300 or more so I taking my time deciding whether to repair or upgrade. In any case it meant that on a recent visit to Gunns Plains Cave I had to make do with a small compact camera. The images are not great but they at least give an idea of some of the magnificent formations within the cave. Some better quality shots can be seen in an older post here.

The public access to the cave takes you a little short of 300 metres in and to a depth of around 55 metres. Speleogists have mapped the cave to at least another 1 km.

In no particular order, here are the cave photos:

(Click on photos to enlarge)

#1

#2

#3


#4 - Helectite

#5

#6

#7 - This shawl formation is reputed to be the largest in Australia

#8

#9

#10 - This stalactite looks like a giant uvula

#11 - The wedding cake. The dark areas are caused by bushfire smoke (possibly centuries ago) entering the cave.

#1 2 - The creek that flows through the cave.
Home to the Giant Tasmanian Crayfish which grows up to a metre in length.

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Cicadas of Tasmania

Two other bloggers have recently posted on cicadas (here and here) so I thought I'd keep the theme going by posting some photos of a couple of local ones. For the benefit of those doing Google searches for Tasmanian cicadas I have also included a list below of all the species which can be found in this state.

(Click on Photos to Enlarge)
White Flash Cicada ( Cicadetta torrida )

Yellow-spot Cicada ( Diemeniana euronotiana )

Yellow-spot Cicada ( Diemeniana euronotiana )

In the three and a half years I've been back in Tassie these are the only two species I've seen although I must admit I haven't been actively searching for them. The White Flash Cicada came to the Mercury Vapour light at night and the Yellow-spot Cicada I just stumbled upon.

Two species is not much but it sounds better when you consider there are only eight species found in Tasmania.

Tasmanian Cicada Checklist

Cicadas belong to the order Hemiptera and the family Cicadidae.

Subfamily: Cicadinae

• Psaltoda moerens

Subfamily: Tibicininae

• Cicadetta abdominalis
• Cicadetta spreta
• Cicadetta torrida
• Diemeniana euronotiana
• Diemeniana hirsuta
• Diemeniana tillyardi
• Pauropsalta encaustica

References:

• Semmens, T.D., McQuillan, P.B. & Hayhurst, G. (1982). Catalogue of the Insects of Tasmania - Department of Primary Industry, Hobart.
• Moulds M.S. - (1990) - Australian Cicadas - New South Wales University Press
• Daley. E - (2007) - Wings - An Introduction to Tasmanias Winged Insects - Riffles

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