Australian
Insect Farm
Established
1986
Suppliers
and Breeders of Insects
Delivering World-Wide
|
About
Us
The AIF Story |
|
Insect
Pets
Cockroaches, Stick Insects, Beetles, Grubs |
|
Insects
in the Classroom
Teacher's page |
|
Catalogue
and How to Order
Insect Kits, Prices and Freight |
|
Environmental
and Agricultural
Consultation Services |
|
Insect
Wranglers
Insect Supplies And Wrangler Service |
|
Dioramas
Insect Diversity Displays |
|
Newsletters
All the news from the AIF |
|
Contact
Us
For all your insect enquiries |
|
AUSTRALIAN INSECT FARM QUARTERLY NEWS |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Vol 1. No. 4 August 2001 This Issue: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
After having a moderate winter season we head out to the garden with Cassowary Sightings and in The Bug Files we look at Birdwings in the Garden. A special feature this issue is an extensive list of Food Plants for a Selection of North East Queensland Butterflies and Moths - Part 1: Butterflies. Plus the regular segments as well as a Book Review of a 2001 Whitley Award Winner. Corresponding with maximum abundance of fruit in the forest at this time of year, Cassowary breeding season is underway. Being territorial, one particular adult bird has been frequenting the garden eating fallen Cassowary Plum and Quandong fruits. Previously unrecorded on the property, this cassowary appeared in good health except for a single tick upon its neck. Over the years we have observed a number of Cassowaries and at times adult males with young birds. My first encounter with a Cassowary was indeed by surprise. Working in the office one day, I looked up from the computer to be greeted by one enormous eye peering in through the window. This initial encounter led to eight months of study and documenting this single bird's activity. For the purpose of my study and due to his mode of introduction, I nicknamed this bird 'Cheeky'. A young bird with his early mature colourings, he also had a tick on his neck as well as a cataract on his left eye. Cheeky appeared in the breeding season of 1996 but unfortunately has not been seen since. Attention: All Budding Entomologists! If you're involved in a study group working on insect related topics then we want to know about your activities! Reports on insect observations or surveys; class activities; even an environmental issue being addressed at your school or completing a group project, as long as insects play a part in the overall project we would like to hear from you. Only one catch, you're group or project must be teacher/leader administered. The most interesting contributions will be posted on our regular website update. All contributions will be acknowledged and if accepted, contributors will receive notification as to when their work will be posted. Send your contributions via email info@insectfarm.com.au;
by mail to AIF, PO Box 26, Innisfail, Qld 4860; or fax on 07 40
633 860. CONGRATULATIONS! This issue we congratulate Hartley Stevens
from Trinity Grammar School, Kew who recently received a B+ for
his school project. Hartley was set a project topic of farming
The Australian Insect Farm
There has been a common phobia of insects and spiders as they were unknown, new and a pest so people killed them, ran from them or captured them to stop them from hurting people. Most of the insects are harmless and won't hurt you, if you leave them alone. They are considered by insect lovers as beautiful animals, not monsters, and insect lovers are trying to stop pesticides that kill them. The education of people about insects is widely ignored and people pay no attention to the insects. The AIF (Australian Insect Farm) is trying to teach people about insects and why we should look after them. Here are some things that the AIF teach. A. They are increasing awareness of insects and their fauna. B. To supply entomologists, professional and amateur, and other researchers. C. To supply information to schools and other public organisations. D. To promote insect habitats and their conservation. E. To establish working relations with entomologists and the government. F. To promote the economic value of the project as land management. The farm is right next to a river that offers a great breeding place for water insects and flies.
This
is a flow chart of what the farm does with the insects. They send
some insects off to entomologists and other researchers. A few insects
go to pet shops to be sold. The rest of them the farm does their
own things with. By Hartley Stevens Native Bees of the Sydney Region - A Field Guide Winner of the Whitley Award 2001 Best Field Guide Australia's first field guide to Native Bees, this book is designed for the enthusiast interested in observing and supporting Native Bees in their garden. Easy to read text and beautiful colour photographs, this is a handy book for quick identification. The first smaller section provides information on garden plants for native bees, nesting habits as well as designs for artificial nests. Most of the book is devoted to species identification in which both common and scientific names are used. It also features a useful guide to the pronunciation and meaning of scientific names. As this book explains, native bee species deserve more recognition for their important role as pollinators of native plant species as well as commercial crops. With around 200 native bee species known in the Sydney region, 31 of the most easily recognised species are clearly detailed in this book. While it is a regional guide many of the species covered are also common in other states. I highly recommend this book for any persons with an interest in native bees. For book enquiries or more information on The Australian Native Bee Research Centre visit their web site: www.zeta.org.au/~anbrc/ The feeding of beetle larvae has now mostly finished as many species have started pupating and a few tanks now showing pupae. After resting in their pupal cells since winter, the first of the adult Stag beetles has freshly emerged. As cockroach-breeding season is approaching, females have been housed in preparation for the delivery of their young. The Lepidoptera shelves are full with larva of all stages of development. Mantid nymphs have started to emerge from their oothecas. The first of the female Centipedes has produced a clutch of eggs. Lastly, stick insect ova are hatching at a steady rate with freshly emerged nymphs being transferred daily to the stick insect house and other suitable housing. RESEARCH NEWS Stanwatkinsius rhodopus sp. nov. Described by Dr. S. Baker & Dr. C. L. Bellamy Genus Revision *summary from - Stanwatkinsius, A New Genus Of Australian Jewel Beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Agrillinae) With A Key To Known Species. By S. Baker and C. L. Bellamy. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 2001 New Distribution - Buprestidae Dr S. Baker, University of Adelaide, South Australia described this species in 1996, which at that stage had been recorded from a single locality. Extending its distribution, Jack has since collected a few specimens from a further two areas in North Queensland. Castiarina paulhasenpuschi sp. nov. * summary from - Seventeen New Species Of CASTIARINA (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) by S. Baker. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 1996. Two New Areas of Distribution: The known distribution of this species has been extended to include Georgetown, Qld; Bang Bang (100km south of Normanton) Qld. BIRDWINGS IN THE GARDEN Butterflies are very host plant specific with individual species relying upon their selected host plant. Females are attracted to their host plants for depositing ova as well as providing a food source for the emerging larva. Without the correct food plant available butterflies simply cannot survive. Two main factors need to be supplied to successfully have butterflies frequenting the garden. The first is a food source for the adult butterflies such as nectar producing flowers. Adults will be enticed to visit and feed upon the nectar. Second and just as important is the food plant necessary for the females to deposit their eggs upon. Without the correct food plant available female butterflies will not lay their eggs to produce the next generation of butterflies. This is the tale of a tree in our garden that supports the growth of a single food plant for the Cairns Birdwing Butterfly - Ornithoptera priamus. At the base of a Canthium odoratum tree, a single Aristolochia vine grows. A four year old vine, at present resembling only a mere shadow if it's former self. During the summer months a large healthy vine grew, weaving its way through the branches, reaching the very top of the tree where its lush tips reached out beyond the trees foliage. The food plant for the Cairns Birdwing butterfly, many females visited the vine over the summer season, each depositing just a couple of eggs before flying off in search of other vines. Those females that did visit deposited a total of 38 eggs from which 27 fat little grubs emerged. After initially feeding on the lush tips of the vine, they moved out to the older leaf growth on the vine. With such a large number of grubs being supported by one food plant, at times up to five and six larva feeding on a single leaf, in due course leaves disappeared. When this eventuated the grubs quickly turned to eating the stalk of the vine, completely severing it in several places. But all was not lost for the vine, fortunately at this stage of the larva's development, they were ready to pupate. Within days all larvae were wandering aimlessly around the tree. Some larva travelled down the trunk and left the tree all together. For the ones that remained on the Canthium tree, they individually selected their site for pupation. Eventually, larvae spun their silken girdles and hung in their pre-pupa stage after which they soon changed to pupa. A total of 18 large golden pupae hung scattered amongst the tree foliage. After supporting so many larvae the vine had taken a considerable battering and had been reduced to only a four inch chewed off stalk. But like other Aristolochia vines in the garden which had also been devastated in this manor, the first tiny new shoots appeared within days. Some weeks passed by in which time the vine had started to speedily inch its way back up the tree. FOODPLANTS FOR A SELECTION OF NORTH EAST QUEENSLAND BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS - The Wet Tropics and Cape York regions have Australia's largest, brightest and the greatest variety of butterflies and moths. In the Wet Tropics alone there are well over 60 % of all the continent's butterfly species. Below are species of plants which are caterpillar food hosts of the widest range and most impressive of moths and butterflies in North East Queensland (Cooktown to Townsville and westerly tablelands). Common names are used for all butterflies, whereas the majority of moths are identified by their Latin names. The caterpillars of many species accept the foliage of more than one host plant species as food. Of more than 20,000 Australian species, less than 1 % of moths and butterflies are listed below. There are about fifty times more kinds of moths than butterflies in Australia! As this list is quite extensive, it is presented in two parts. * Largest and most colourful species of butterflies.
Part 2 - Moths, next newsletter. WEB SITE UPDATE *
Cassowary Sightings Next newsletter will feature Part 2 of the Foodplants list for Lepidoptera. Cheers Sue Hasenpusch Editor Copyright 2001 Australian Insect Farm. If you would like to be placed on our
email list to receive our newsletter, send an email to info@insectfarm.com.au,
with Newsletter Listing in the subject line. Australian Insect Farm |
in Australia and after researching via the Internet, he chose the
Australian Insect Farm. 