Spring is really coming now. Wattles galore, Orchids, everything

recently I have been slack with my Blogging, because there is suddenly too much to keep track of, and too much to enjoy.
Too much to share with you all.
Here are just some of the local treasures.

Epacris calvertiana var calvertiana
An endemic plant, named after
a famous early local botanist
Louisa Atkinson, who married James Calvert.
Hence this plant's name.
There is a pink and white form known as
Epacris calvertiana var versicolor
which was named from
a specimen found at Belmore Falls.

Grevillea patulifolia

This next plant is a tiny-flowered heath
with delicious pink flowers
which, when open are clearly "hairy"
on the inner part of the tube
reflecting the generic name Beard Heath.

Leucopogon fraseri

This next plant has a delicious sweet perfume.
It is a small shrub, a Logania.

Logania albiflora

Two tight-growing Mistletoes on Eucalyptus seiberi

A fabulous specimen of Grass Tree
Xanthorrhoea australis

Boronia microphylla
I love the pungent odour produced
when brushing past these low shrubs
in the bush.
A classic Sydney Sandstone bush-scent experience.

Leaves and flowers of Boronia microphylla

Caustis flexuosa

Leaves of non-flowering Chiloglottis Orchids
growing on a near-vertical mossy bank.

Conospermum tenuifolium
Sprawling Smoke-bush

Sequel to the Big Day out at Tallong

This will be relatively short.

Alan Stephenson has sent me some images he took yesterday.

Some I could not take (one of my knee being used as a measuring stick for a tall Corunastylis apostasioides) and others taken at Meryla Pass (Griffin's Fire Trail) where I had made a lazy decision that I was too tired to cart my heavy Macro lens down the first section of the steep downhill Fire Trail.

Alan has kindly sent me some images to fill the gap in my record.

Firstly two excellent images Alan took of Corunastylis plumosa.

Corunastylis plumosa - Tallong Midge Orchid, at Tallong
Photo Courtesy of Alan Stephenson

Corunastylis plumosa - Tallong Midge Orchid, at Tallong
Photo Courtesy of Alan Stephenson

My knee being used to measure the height of a very tall

Corunastylis apostasioides.
PlantNET says it goes to 30 cm tall

Alan measured this as 50 cm tall.

And it was growing in 30 mm of moss

on a normally dry hillside.
No soil. Very "poor" sandstone scrub.
If you have ever seen Kunzea parvifolia growing

near Braidwood, Marulan or here at Tallong, you will know what I mean.

Corunastylis apostasioides against my knee as height measure.
Photo: Alan Stephenson

Then we went back home via Meryla Pass Road.

(off the Moss Vale to Fitzroy Falls Road)

Griffins Fire Trail (top end)
One of two species of Chiloglottis which were

growing in moist moss on a  vertical wall,

part of the old track cut in the rock to make

the original Meryla Pass track.

Chiloglottis seminuda
(long "clubs" below labellum)
Not reflexed backwards
Lower half of labellum clear
Photo: Alan Stephenson

 The second species of Chiloglottis found on Griffins Fire Trail
Ch. reflexa.

Chiloglottis reflexa (Photo: A. Stephenson)

Alan got excited about these next couple of shots.

Cymbidium suave is seldom recorded

growing on Old Man Banksia trees.

But here were three plants on the one Banksia serrata

Old Man Banksia.

Photos:Alan Stephenson.

Cymbidium suave on Banksia serrata

Cymbidium suave on Banksia serrata

These minute fungi gave us some excitement too.

Alan spotted them,

because he thought the moss sheet looked promising 

- for Orchids, of course.

Instead he found these strange Fungi

The moss and lichens and "fungi" were all growing together.

*****

I have told you it was the end of a very long day (at Tallong)

so I was trying to rest on a convenient log. 

But I soon got called over to inspect these Fungi.

I have concluded that they are probably Multiclavula

At the time I guessed Clavaria (which is fairly close).

Just possibly these are

Multiclavula icthyiformis 

"the fruiting body has a short stem 

and then broadens to a thin, somewhat fishtail-like apex"

Source ANBG Basidiolichens website.

This ID awaits confirmation from the Experts.

Possible Multiclavula icthyiformis

Possible Multiclavula icthyiformis

Possible Multiclavula icthyiformis

I will say this for Alan.
For an Orchid Expert, 
he is very open-minded when it comes 

to investigating other aspects of Nature

be they Turquoise Parrots, 
or these Fungi, or interesting Insects.

A fat grub, and a pretty, strange fly are partners

This is a long story, so I will try to keep it simple.

Kirsten and I were out at Meryla Pass road, just taking in the sights, out towards Bundanoon Creek. We stopped off at the first creek crossing there (a deep gully) which plunges even further down towards the Bundanoon Creek Reservoir.

This first creek crossing is a nice dry rocky outcrop, which is very good for Orchids in most seasons, except just now. We found lots of leaves and seed pods, though.

As we got back to the car, to go down to Griffins Fire Trail and to admire the views along that road, back towards Red Hills Ridge and Fitzroy Falls, we noticed some strange insects flying around, with prominent white tail tufts. Most unusual, and looking for all the world like the kind of "flies" that Fly Fishermen spend their lives "tying".

We went for a drive further out to Griffin's Fire Trail, which I thoroughly recommend, even if you do not run all the way down to the Shoalhaven River, which my friend Tegyn likes to regard as a "training run". I prefer to admire the view from the top.

Flying "bristle-tailed insect" as I dubbed it in my filing system.

 What a handsome Insect (even from the underneath side)

At least you get to see the tail bristles, and his "equipment".

Click to enlarge the image.

While I was chasing these shots,

my friend Kirsten had discovered some totally different strange grubs.

"Come and have a look at these weird things" was how I remember her call to me. 



Female of Bird of Paradise Fly (Calipappus sp)

They are not agile, but grip strongly on the bark of Scribbly Gums. 

 Here is a colony of them hiding under the loose bark of the Scribbly Gum.

Here is one photographed on my 62mm lens cap.

Partly for scale (size) reference, and frankly I wanted to check

if they could bite me, sting me or otherwise inflict injury to me.

Seemingly not.

The antennae. There is a tiny dot behind the base of the antennae

Apparently it is the eye.

 There is no mouth or chewing parts, or sucking probe.

How do they eat?

This one is demonstrating some flexibility, righting itself.

On a 62 mm lens cap, it is obviously approx 45 mm long. Quite large.

This last shot is a bit blurry, but it reveals the soft powdery coating that some of these insects had.
It also reveals that the insect is very front-end oriented. Behind the last pair of legs, it has no obvious vital organs. What's that about?

Anyway, having searched all the obvious insect reference sites looking for what I assumed were "ephemeral" insects, without any luck, I sought expert help from Dave Rentz of Bunyipco

What a guy!

He quickly responded with the advice that my insects were very interesting (very large specimens) and that they were a kind of bug, related to the "scale insects". (That's a puzzle for me, as they had no "sucking probe" as you can see in the underneath head shot).

More importantly, he told me that my "two insects" were male and female of the same species!!!
Final clue - the males are called "Bird of Paradise flies". What a wonderful poetic name, (except they aren't true flies).

Wow, that's some sexual dimorphism.

Finally, Dave sent my email on to Dr Penny Gullan, Emeritus Professor in the School of Biology at the ANU.

Her reply is as follows:

• Well what an amazing coincidence!  I was looking at my microscope slide-mounts of these insects today as I am training a colleague in identificationhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-6055.1998.tb01534.x/abstract of scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea). Denis' photos are of the adult male (winged "fly"), called a bird-of-paradise fly, and his adult female (the large larviform insect) of the genus Callipappus (family Callipappidae, previously in Margarodidae which has been split into more than 10 families). Callipappus nymphs feed underground on the roots of their host plant (we know very little about which plants they feed on) and emerge from the soil as adults to mate. The female then pulls her abdomen into her thorax to make a chamber, or marsupium, into which she lays her eggs. Probably the double orifice behind the legs is where the cuticle invaginates for attachments of muscles that help to pull the abdomen into the thorax. When the eggs hatch the little nymphs, called crawlers, head back down into the soil. Autumn is the only time of year when the adults are around.  

Penny sent me a pdf copy of an article she has written about them. Unfortunately, I seem to be unable to upload to from the borrowed computer I am using at present. The article is called "Giant females and "Bird of Paradise Flies".

Of course, as often happens with the Internet, once you know the name, you can find lots of images.
Sure enough the Chew Family website on Insects of Brisbane has a page on them, which shows males and females "together" as proof positive of their relationship.

Many thanks to Dave, and it is a tribute to the power of the Blogging network that I was able to seek help and get this one sorted. Much appreciated, Dave.

I am off to meet Penny tomorrow, to take a few live, hopefully fertilized specimens to her, so she can try to get some more life-cycle data from them and their "crawlers" if any hatch.

Finally, Penny answered my last question, this afternoon, about why they had no "sucking mouth parts", if they are "bugs"?

Simple, they feed underground (on roots) in the larval or nymph stage, and then these emerge as mature females, whose only function is to mate, and then tuck their long bellies back inside themselves, to form the "marsupium", and hold the eggs until the "crawlers" hatch out.
No feeding = no need for mouth parts.
Devoted mothers, they live only to breed, and die.

A few last questions remain unanswered, for me.

• If the females are virtually sightless, why are the males so spectacularly showy?
• What's the advantage of the long bristle-tail? That shuttlecock tail appendage surely slows them down when flying.
• What's the point in being such an attractive violet colour?

A Flying Duck Orchid Portrait

In response to Martin's comment yesterday on the fact it was the "first time he had seen the Flying Duck remblance", I commented that I had had problems with the dark flowers against a dark background. I went on to say perhaps I ought take a board or other light background with me.

I had an hour and a half to spare, today, so I went back out to Meryla Pass.

Well here is the new image:
(Click to enlarge)

Now that's a real "Flying Duck" Orchid, surely?

Flying Duck Orchids at Meryla Pass

Several days ago I went down the Meryla Pass road, in the Meryla State Forest. I stopped when I got to the Morton National Park - simply because I was going to run out of time and light, if I had kept going. It is great country. However, I did take a single shot of the spectacular Bluff opposite Meryla Pass. You can see why this country is regarded as "Blue Mountains" habitat, albeit lower and further south. Still sandstone, and still spectacular.

This Bluff must be close to the end of "Red Hills Road",
near Fitzroy Falls.
It is overlooking part of the Morton National Park,
with the Shoalhaven River Gorge beyond it.
This country, which I am yearning to access
is inaccessible to most human beings.
Indeed, even the road I was on (which is accessible)
leads to a locked gate.
That is the start of the Northern Section of the Ettrema
Wilderness Area.

The road to Meryla Pass leaves the Nowra Road (the road from Moss Vale to Fitzroy Falls and down through Kangaroo Valley and on to Nowra). There is a small sign saying Meryla Road, and Manchester Square. The first 5 Km take you down a winding road, dropping off the fertile red basalt soil farmlands of Avoca and Werai districts, down into the moist rich farm lands of "Manchester Square". (A most unlikely name for a farming district in Australia - but that's what the district is called. There is no township, just a "locality").

Passing on from Manchester Square two things happen, you leave the bitumen and you enter the Meryla State Forest. You have also driven down onto the Sandstone. That's what I am interested, for its rich flora and fauna habitat.

Nothing says "Classic Sandstone Flora" to me
more than Boronia bushes.

Boronia thujona - close up.
(Edit: In retrospect, I realise the leaflets are smaller
and more rounded than B. thujona.
It may in fact be B. microphylla.)
B. thujona is very common at the Barren Grounds.
I have not identified B. microphylla previously.
These plants are growing just on top of rocky outcrops.We are overtopping Bundanoon Creek,
on a small sandstone outcrop.

This is what the small rocky outcrop looks like.
Another of the "typical" shrubs here is the large-flowered pink
Tea-tree - Leptospermum rotundifolium.

Here is a close-up shot of the lovely "Round-leaved Tea-tree"
While I was there, I saw this male Gang-gang Cockatoo
"watching me, watching him".
Click to get a better view of him.
And here are the Flying Duck Orchids (Caleana major)
A veritable flock of them.
They are relatively tall (30 cm on average).
But small flowqers, on thin stems, so at first glance they look
more like a swarm of flying insects than Flying Ducks.
Here is another view.
Two flowers on a single stem (which is a common arrangement).
Now you can see how they earn their name.
Another view.
The bud on top is just unfurling.
the top parts will fold back, as wings.
The lower section, which is green, will turn red
as the flower matures, becoming the "body" of the Flying Duck.
The "head" is the "labellum" of the Orchid,
which at this stage is still inside the flower.
Now we come to the "pointy end" of the story.
The top flower is fully open.
The second (lower) flower has been triggered by an insect
(or stray movement).
The "head" (labellum) snaps shut over the body (column)
hopefully trapping any stray insect inside until it
collects a dob of sticky pollinia on its head or back
(or deposits one from another plant)
thus achieving pollination.
On the lower flower
The head is completely folded down over the Duck's "stomach".
(Click to see it better.)
Here is the "head" and the all important "neck".
The "lamina" (neck) is flexible
and when triggered by the sensation of movement in the flower
the "lamina" snaps shut.
The head bends right down,
closing off the previously open "body" of the flower.
Here is the front on view of the "body" of the Flying Duck Orchid.
The lowest section shows the anther where the pollen is stored.
The head snaps over to completely close off this "body".
The round shape allows room for an insect pollinator
to move around inside the flower,
even when the head snaps closed.

Echidna - live and digging, out in the bush.

About once every 6 months I see an Echidna. Usually they are walking along beside a road. Once I stopped to prevent one committing suicide by trying to walk down the main street of Robertson.

Anyway, this little Echidna (I would estimate it as 3/4 sized individual) I found in the bush along Meryla Pass Road. The soil was very loose, grey sandy soil, in heathland shrubbery, under Scribbly Gums, over a sandstone rock shelf. There were lots of nests of small ants, which probably explains why it was there.

Nose marks of Echidna, poking into ants nest.

I was very surprised to come around a patch of low heath-type shrubbery and suddenly find the back of the Echidna sticking out of the loose sandy soil. Clearly the animal had heard me coming, and burrowed its head into the soil. Naturally I gave it a little prod, which produced a response of it wriggling further into the soil.

Echidnas have very powerful legs, especially their front legs, with which they do most of their digging. This little guy clearly did not want me to disturb it, and I agreed. They have a very wide flat tail, and that is quite muscular as well, and the flap of its tail was tucked down very tight into the soil, to prevent me trying to do the bushman's favourite trick of lifting them up by the back legs. So, I left it in peace and kept on exploring for Orchids and other interesting things.

On my way back to the car, I found "another Echidna". A quick check of the original spot showed the marks where the Echidna had originally burrowed in - but it was no longer there.

Marks where the Echidna had first burrowed in.

Clearly I had found the same Echidna twice. It was doing exactly the same thing as before, but ina slightly different location.
Suddenly it lifted its head, to see if I was still there. I was! Thanks for the photo opportunity - about 3 seconds worth.

On a closer view, you can make out its long thin snout (where its long tongue is housed) with tiny nose holes on top. (Click on image, to see it more clearly).And the verdict? It still didn't want to know anything about me. Time for me to leave it alone.
You can clearly see where the tail is located, from the different shape and angle and colour of the spines at the rear. A set of long, white spines poke out in a radiating pattern from the rear of the animal. Those spines are protecting its flat tail.

There is an Echidna research project (Australia wide) being conducted by a researcher on Kangaroo Island, South Australia. According to the information there, Echidnas have been around for 110 million years. They apparently survived, when the dinosaurs died out. Not a bad effort!

You can even fill in an Echidna Watch Form. I have done so, and I will post the form off.