Stinking out the place

Adults and at least three instars of
Lychee Stink Bug, Lyramorpha rosea. 

These little beasties were found on the Small-leaved Tuckeroo Cupaniopsis parvifolia last week. They are all the same species, Lychee Stink Bug, Lyramorpha rosea. The adults are obviously the larger, less-colourful ones. However underneath they are a beautiful apple green as you can partially see on a couple of them. 
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The smaller ones are three different stages or instars of the bug. (An instar is a developmental stage between each molt until sexual maturity is reached.) These little fellows are quite attractive in their orange and blue uniform.
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It is found on trees, as shown by the photograph, but also on the ground. There are lots of them on the trunk, branches and leaves of our Tuckaroo. They are sap suckers and leafeaters. There didn't seem much damage to the Tuckeroo. We'll have to keep an eye on it. Another species they like, Red Ash or Soap Tree Alphitonia excelsa has been badly attacked by something. Perhaps it is the stink bugs. They also like Leopard Ash Flindersia collina, and as its name suggests, lychees. It seems they are not a real problem in commercial orchards.
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An interesting fact about Shield or Stink Bugs is that the adults take care of their young. In the case of Lychee Stink Bug older instars help as well. No wonder they are so plentiful.

Older instars guarding younger ones.

Blood in the Park

You can’t hear yourself think at Peacehaven at the moment. The lorikeets, all three resident species, are screaming their heads off in the tall timbers. It’s enough to make your blood boil, or have their blood on your hands.

Red Bloodwood, Corymbia gummifera

However that’s not the kind of blood I’m really referring to but the Red Bloodwoods which are flowering profusely at the moment. Corymbia gummifera (once known as Eucalyptus gummifera) make up part of Peacehaven’s mature tree collection and with their summer blossom are causing hysteria in the lorikeet communities.

The Red Bloodwoods are at, or close to, their maturity as they typically grow to approximately 20-30 metres and the ones in the Park are about that height. They are full of flowers and buds at the moment and as the flowers are on the edge of the canopy the creamy mass is very showy.

The showy flowers

Corymbia gummifera flower

As befitting a tree of this magnificence the gumnuts or seed capsules are stylish too. They are urn-shaped and about 1 cm wide. 

Corymbia gummifera seed capsule 

Lorikeets are only one of the nectarivores that love the bloodwood. In the wild honeyeaters, flying foxes, gliders, blossom bats, and diurnal and nocturnal insects also feed on the nectar; while Sugar Gliders eat the sap. It is thought that birds and flying foxes carry the pollen far afield ensuring there is cross pollination. Once the seeds ripen the cockatoos will come into feed so the screaming isn't over yet.

The characteristic red gum staining the bark

The bloodwoods are named because of the sap or kino that seeps from wounds on the tree. This can be a brilliant red in some specimens. Our trees don’t show much of this but a couple of branches that came down in the recent high wind are scarred red.

The timber is a deep red colour and termite resistant so is used for rough construction purposes such as fencing, power poles, house stumps, mining timbers and railway sleepers.

The aborigines used the sap to stop fraying on their fishing lines, and both the sap and the leaves had medicinal qualities particularly for open sores. 

Corymb structure of the floral clusters

Corymbia; from the Latin ‘corymbium’, referring to the branched structure of the terminal floral clusters called a corymb.

gummifera; from the Latin, referring to the gum production that is characteristic of this species.

Strangling Fig

Strangling Fig, Ficus watkinsiana 

I've mentioned before how our park is flourishing. This Strangling Fig, Ficus watkinsiana, was planted about 6 years ago and is already a small tree. 

These trees are commonly seen in our area as forest giants in the national parks of Ravensbourne, Bunya Mountains and the Main Range. With their large buttresses, and lattice-like root system they are easily recognizable. 

Aerial roots

Figs are fascinating to me as they have some very unusual characteristics.

Normally strangler figs of this type grow high in the branches of other rainforest trees. This is known as being hemiepiphytic. An epiphyte such as an orchid growing on trees in the wild is a plant which grows on another but is not parasitic. A hemiepiphyte starts by growing on the plant until its aerial roots reach the ground and then becomes independent. In the Strangler Fig's case it surrounds the host tree which eventually dies. In cultivation it can be grown straight from the ground as it is in Peacehaven.

Unripe, green figs of the Ficus watkinsiana

The Ficus watkinsiana, like other fig species,  has both male and female flowers on the same plant. This is known as being monoecious from Greek meaning 'one house'. However you won't see them because they are actually inside the fruit! This seems very strange, but in true botanical terms the fig isn't really a fruit it is a cluster of hundreds of flowers enclosed in a smooth skin.

So they have to be pollinated in a very special way. Along comes the tiny fig wasp, Pleistodontes nigriventris. The female wasp, carrying pollen, squeezes through a minute opening in the fig which has two types of flowers. She lays her eggs in one type of flower, pollinating the other type at the same time. The young wasp larvae develop, and the adult wasps mate, inside the fig. The males are wingless and die while the females exit from the opening gathering pollen on the way. Each fig species has to be fertilized this way with its own species of wasp. The fig depends on the wasp and the wasp depends on the fig. By the way, there aren't any wasp eggs or remnants in ripe figs, because figs produce a protein-digesting enzyme that digests any waste left inside. By the time the fig is ripe, the wasps have done their work and flown away or were digested by the developing fig. This is just another amazing fact about figs.

A female Australasian Figbird eating a fig
in the Ficus watkinsiana

Cleaning her beak after her meal

Birds love the figs. In the dense rainforest the patter of half-eaten fruit falling on the leaf-litter alerts you to the birds in the fig trees. This happened to me at Peacehaven and I was able to photograph this female Australasian Figbird, Sphecotheres vieilloti, in the Strangling Fig.

Another bird, the Green Catbird, Ailuroedus crassirostris, is very important to Ficus watkinsiana. It carries the figs into the high canopy to eat. The seeds fall into forks and crevices in the branches successfully dispersing away from the parent tree. This is of mutual benefit to the fig plants and the catbirds.

Aborigines used the fruit, the bark and the latex for food, medicines and tools.

More about the Strangling Fig at the Noosa Native Plants website.

Ficus is the latin name for the common edible fig, watkinsiana honours George Watkins, former president of Qld. Pharmaceutical Society and plant collector.

There is more about George Watkins at the Australian National Herbarium website.

Busy Bees

In the garden at the western end of the rainforest area is a slim stump. If you look carefully at the little holes about two-thirds up you will see that one is occupied by tiny bees. Inside will be a nest with many individuals, perhaps hundreds.

Stingless bee stump

They are a species of native stingless bee, Trigona carbonaria or Sugarbag Bee. As the scientific name, carbonaria, suggests they are very black unlike the European Honey Bee. The Trigona species are only found in the tropics and subtropics. 

There are over 1500 species of native bees in Australia. Only about a dozen species are stingless. These are social bees living in nests of hundreds of individuals. Female Solitary bees can sting but Australian bees are not aggressive.

Native bees at their nest entrance

As pollinators these small insects are incredibly important. Many of our native plants need the smaller insects for pollination. The Sugarbag Bee is known to pollinate King Orchids and other Dendrobium spp., cycads, Dianella sp, some wattles, grevilleas, wonga vines and more.

In the last twenty years they've become more important as effective pollinators for fruit and nut crops. Avocado and macadamia benefit from the native bee. Orchardists have found that the size of the crop increases. Other commercial crops also benefit from our little bees; strawberries, watermelons, cucumbers and tomatoes are just a few. In fact there are experiments in Japan for using Trigona carbonaria in commercial glasshouses.

The Sugarbag Bee has a very different hive or nest from the European Honey Bee. They don't have hexagonal cells where the larvae are fed by the workers. 

T. carbonaria nest in its bee box

Instead they have a spiral structure of brood cells. The egg is laid with nectar and pollen in one cell and then sealed. In the photo above you can see the spiral of brood cells with the larger nectar and pollen cells around the edges.

For more information try these two websites,

Australian Stingless Native Bees

Aussie Bee

also this magazine article,

Stingless Bees by Tim Heard

The little things in life - Budgeroo

Budgeroo, Lysicarpus angustifolius in flower

This tree is flowering in the park, Budgeroo, Lysicarpus angustifolius. From the photo you can see it is beside the Stan Kuhl Way. You'll find it between the Dry Rainforest Area and the Brachychiton collection. Some years it produces just a little flower and masses of flower in others. This year it is masses. Little is known about it's pollination but by the look of one of the close-ups, insects may have something to do with it. 

It grows naturally on slopes and crests of sandstone ridges, often on very rocky country. You can see how easily it takes to the Highfields soil.

The timber is used for fence posts and wood turning and historically it was used for general construction. It is termite resistant and doesn't burn readily so fence posts may last for decades. Aborigines of the sandstone ranges used the bark for burial cylinders.

Masses of bud ready to flower.

Close up of the pretty little flower.

Insects foraging in the flowers.

The funny blue blur is a damselfly which just flew in
as I was taking the picture.

 Powderpuff Lillypilly, Syzygium wilsonii

Remember I wrote about the colour of the new foliage and buds of this lillypilly last month? It is flowering now and what a luscious display. Well worth a visit if you live close by.

Powderpuff Lillypilly, Syzygium wilsonii

It is a plant of the northern rainforests of Queensland. The fruit is decorative too and attracts birds. With foliage, flower and fruit colouring the shrub for much of the year, it would be a beautiful addition to any garden.   If you want to know more about growing this shrub, click here.

Down by the Dam

Weeping Bottlebrush, Melaleuca viminalis,
on the island

The dam, or lake if you prefer, is a lovely feature at Peacehaven. The 
Weeping Bottlebrush, Melaleuca viminalis (or Callistmon viminalis as we've 
always known it), is flowering at the moment so attracting the honeyeaters. 
Also flowering is the unusual Woolly Frogmouth, Philydrum lanuginosum. If you go close you can see the wide open "frog mouth" that the petals form. If you are lucky enough to have a pond in your garden this pretty plant will enhance it.

 

Woolly Frogmouth, 
Philydrum lanuginosum

Woolly Frogmouth
at the water's edge

How is the lovely water fern, Common Nardoo, Marsilea drummondi, so important to our early explorers? 

See http://victoria.slv.vic.gov.au/burkeandwills/expedition/lastdays.html 

to discover how this innocent plant killed the famous Burke and Wills! Floating like large four-leaved clovers on the dam no one would imagine their dark history.

Common Nardoo, Marsilea drummondii

Other animal life is plentiful too, and you can easily see the turtles pushing their snouts above the water, and making ripples amongst the Nardoo. They are probably the Common Snake-necked Turtle. Calling from the sedges and other water plants at the edge of the dam are Spotted Marsh Frogs, Limnodynastes tasmaniensis. They're easy to hear, but not to see. More about this frog at  http://frogs.org.au/frogs/species/Limnodynastes/tasmaniensis/. 

Australasian Grebes, Tachybaptus novaehollandiae

The pair of Australasian Grebes are constantly foraging for food. At the moment their lovely chestnut-coloured facial stripe which is from just behind the eye through to the neck glows in the sunshine. Welcome Swallows and Blue Skimmer Dragonflies flit over the water. The swallows rest on the bottlebrush on the island, whereas the dragonflies fleetingly perch on foliage on or near the water.

Blue Skimmer Dragonfly, Orthetrum caledonicum

So when you are at Peacehaven next, it's worth a wander down to the water!  

Pretty as a picture

Female Joseph's Coat Moth, Agarista Agricol, possibly laying eggs. 
(Photo P.Gardner)

Have you seen these flying around at the moment? Although seen during the day and are brightly coloured they are not butterflies, but moths. The Joseph's Coat Moth, Agarista Agricol, male and female are very similar though the female has a larger creamy-white bar across the thorax and running into the forewings as illustrated here. 

These links give more information on the Joseph’s Coat Moth,  http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/agar/agricol.html,   http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_noctuidae/JosephsCoatMoth.htm. The caterpillar is amazingly attractive too, with black, white and orange stripes.

The moth larva or caterpillar feeds on Australian Native Grape, Clematicissus opaca, (also known as Small-leaved Water Vine, Forest Grape, Wappo Wappo, and Pepper Vine), and Slender Grape, Cayratia clematidea, (aka Native Grape, Bushy Water Vine, Slender Water Vine, Mor-bir). Both have inconspicuous creamy-white flowers, but dark blue-black fruit which also attract birds. 

Both vines would be an added attraction to a wildlife garden. The Clematicissus opaca is a dry rainforest vine and grows at Gowrie Junction so is most likely suitable for gardens west of Highfields. It is moderately frost hardy, drought hardy and likes full or part sun. Whereas the Cayratia clematidea is found in moist and dry rainforest, and vine thickets and probably more suitable for gardens closer to the range. It resists light frosts, is drought hardy and thrives in full or part sun.

Both are supposedly bush tucker plants and more can be read about them here, http://tasteaustralia.biz/bushfood/bush-tucker-garden/, but be very cautious eating anything you find in the bush. Also this link has more about ‘native grapes’ and bush tucker, http://toowoombaplants2008.blogspot.com.au/2010/05/round-leaf-vine.html. 

Crows Ash

The Crows Ash Flindersia australia is one of the Park's iconic trees. It is a wonderful specimen that stands alone in the south-west section of the park.

The Crows Ash in Peacehaven Botanic Park

It gives a wonderful amount of shade and is an ideal tree for a large block. However it takes some time for it to grow as large as the one in Peacehaven which is estimated to be about 150 - 200 years old.
The Park's botanic logo is based on the lovely capsule. 

Crows Ash capsule

It is also a host plant for the beautiful Orchard Swallowtail Papilio aegeus caterpillar.

 

Orchard Swallowtail larva

Male Orchard Swallowtail

Native Plumbago

The Native Plumbago, Plumbago zeylanica, is flowering in the Dry Rainforest section of the park after being hit hard this winter. This delightful little plant is very similar to the plumbago we grow in our gardens, the introduced Plumbago auriculata. Like many exotic species the South African plumbago can become a nuisance with its the spreading suckers. 

Plumbago zeylanica

The Australian plumbago has a lower, less invasive growing habit. In the wild it will grow in dappled to fairly heavy shade, so is good for a ground cover around shrubs and trees in your garden.

For those who like to attract butterflies to their garden the Native Plumbago has other advantages. It is a host plant for our little Plumbago Blue Butterfly. The flowers are the food  for the larvae (caterpillars), and many butterflies are attracted to their nectar.

Plumbago Blue Butterfly, 
Leptotes plinius

The caterpillars of the Plumbago Blue are very cryptic and difficult to find, but the butterflies are usually fluttering around any plumbago plant. The male butterfly has a bluish sheen which is usually only seen when flying. The female has a slight wash of blue but more distinctive brown and white markings which may be the cause for their other name, Zebra Blue. The beauty of this butterfly is their underwings, as you can see by the picture taken in a Toowoomba garden. (Remember to right click on the image if you want to see an enlargement in a separate tab.)

If you want to know more about either the plant or the butterfly, please click on either of these links:

Brisbane Insects, Plumbago Blue  

Native Plumbago in Franke Scrub