Nightlife and spotlighting
Tropical Queensland, Australia
13/02/21
Taking a torch and a tent out into the rainforest at night is the best end to a busy day. There were plenty of mosquitos around, so long clothes are needed as usual - also helps protect you from stinging trees! After a couple hours I also found two ticks on me which was 'lovely', and had me doing the tick search for a while afterwards. But well worth it for the animals.
Trichosurus johnstonii
Coppery brushtail possum
An aboreal marsupial endemic to the rainforests of the Atherton Tablelands. A nocturnal species, they sleep in dens in trees during the day, and are mostly active during the first half of the night. They are generally herbivorous, eating leaves, flowers and fruit.
Rhinella marina
Cane toad
Cane toads are everywhere, not surprising considering they are highly poisonous and almost no native species can eat eat them. The prominent bulges on the shoulders are their parotoid glands, from which they excrete the milky alkaloid, bufotoxin. It can even squirt out up to two meters if the toad is provoked.
Hemidactylus frenatus
Asian house gecko
Another invasive, this gecko is now far more common than the native Gehyra genus it has displaced! They are often heard 'chucking' loudly in the afternoon or at night. This is mainly a territorial call, used to ward off other males.
Ranoidea caerulea
Australian green tree frog
A widespread chunky tree frog found across north-eastern Australia. They grow up to 12cm and can scream to ward off predators when scared. They are long-lived (between 16-20 years) and are very popular pets worldwide.
Ranoidea wilcoxii
Stony-creek frog
True to its name, I found these frogs in a stony creek. They are highly sexually dimorphic - females like this one grow to 8cm.
Ranoidea wilcoxii
Stony-creek frog
And males like this one grow to only half that size. Males turn bright yellow during the breeding season in warmer months!
Litoria rubella
Desert tree frog
The common name of this frog seems far less apt when found in the tropics. While desert populations follow boom and bust cycles driven by rainfall, tropical populations follow the more usual annual breeding cycle, laying eggs over summer.
Cherax depressus
Orange-fingered Yabby
A small, widespread aquatic yabby. That black blotch on it is a temnocephalan - an ectocommensalic flatworm. These are found on almost all Australian freshwater crayfish.
Sipyloidea sp.
Sipyloid stick insect
Being generally solitary insects, two seen like this at night suggests mating, further indicating that this may be the adult size for this species.
Catopsilia pomona
Lemon migrant
Great camouflage! Can you spot at least 3 butterflies? They are strong, fast fliers and migrate in large swarms to new areas with the seasons.
Caedicia simplex
Common garden katydid
A generalist herbivore that will eat most kinds of plants. They live in foliage, and looking live a leaf themselves, camouflage very well. Juveniles can also change colour to whatever plant material they have been eating for a while. Interestingly, these katydids have two hearing systems - eardrums located on their forelegs, as well as an auditory trachea on the thorax.
Agrianome spinicollis
Poinciana longicorn
A large, 6cm beetle that can be fairly aggressive. They are herbivorous, spending the first stage of their life as wood-boring larvae. A native species normally found in rainforests and open forests, they have adapted to eating many non-native plants, including the introduced poinciana - from which it gets its name.