Journal 4
3:30pm - 5:00pm / Wednesday the 8th of June, 2022
Mount Tibrogargan, Glasshouse Mountains
We're really getting the hang of this citizen science entomology! Everyone's eager to get started, we get our gear organised, reconnect with each other and can't even leave our meeting point without finding bugs. Seven of us set out and chose a different path this time and were rewarded by finding a totally different range of bugs from our last visit. We are constantly looking for clues as to where to find bugs. We take notice of the bark on trees, spider webs, we look under leaves on trees as well as those that have fallen to the ground. Rotting sticks and logs can also have surprises. Bugs are much harder to find in cool weather however our observation skills are getting better each time we venture out.
One of the prettiest bugs found was a Mirror-ball Spider (Genus Thwaitesia). It shone just like a golden mirror-ball and there were cries of delight when it was found. Other bugs we found were a Treehopper species (Genus Aconophora), a Golden-tailed Spiny Ant (Polyrhachis ammon), a species of Ground hopper from the Subfamily Cladonotinae, a Planthopper species (Genus Raivuna), a Net-casting spider (Family Deinopidae), a Torpedo Bug (Siphanta acuta), a Melaleuca Sawfly (Lophyrotoma Zonalis), a Steelblue Lady Beetle (Halmus chalybeus) , Termites (Genus Nasutitermes), a Lacewing Larvae (Subfamily Myiodactylinae), a Crane fly (Gynoplistia Bella) and newly hatched Spiny Leaf Stick Insect (Extatosoma tiaratum). A total 13 species.
We also found a Cordyceps, a species of fungi, that had parasitised a spider and taken over its tissue. For a while the spider lives in a zombie-like state and eventually dies when the fruiting bodies of the fungus burst through the exoskeleton and releases spores to complete its life cycle.
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