This month's feature species is the Moose Orchid or Large Tongue Orchid (Cryptostylis subulata). The Moose Orchid has long and leathery green leaves that are erect and lance shaped, and is usually found growing in swamps, marshes and stream edges. The flowering stems can range...
Utricularia is a genus of carnivorous plant, more commonly called Bladderworts. These plants are also known as Fairy Aprons, and when you see the flowers, it's easy to understand why. Australia has around 60 species of Bladderworts, with approximately nine found in the South East...
The Eight-armed Sea Star (Meridiastra calcar) is a common sea star found on reefs and under rocks throughout much of Australia, from southern Queensland to south-west Western Australia.. It is brightly coloured, and as you can see from the photos below, ranges from bright oranges,...
Prescribed burning is a well documented and necessary management tool for improving the viability of a number of our threatened plant populations, especially those with germination cues that are triggered by this form of natural disturbance. In a previous 'species of the month' post we...
The Swamp Bluet (Coenagrion lyelli) is a damselfly endemic to Australia, and also the only species of this genus known from Australia. Until recently, the Swamp Bluet was recorded in south-east Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania, central and eastern Victoria. In 2012, one male was photographed...
Avenue Cassinia (Cassinia tegulata) is Critically Endangered in Australia, endemic to South Australia and south-west Victoria, and has been a focus of NGT actions since 2015 including pre-planting and post-planting work to establish new populations in 2016.[caption id="attachment_33111" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Cassinia tegulata in full bloom...
This month we're highlighting an insect which has recently seen a distribution expansion thanks to local observations. The Maroon Ghost Moth Elhamma australasiae, first described in 1856, has a wide distribution in south-eastern Australia, but was not known until recently to occur in South Australia. In February...
Andy, our resident caretaker at Eaglehawk Waterhole, contacted me early one Sunday morning back in September with this photo of a large reptile he’d just seen. He'd been out fumigating rabbit warrens and said it “scared the %$#@ out of me...
The orchid flowering season is well upon us and the following photograph is of the Metallic Sun-orchid or Thelymitra epipactoides which is a nationally threatened orchid species. This photograph was taken at the translocation site in Desert Camp recently by one of our valued volunteers...
It has been a pleasure to be involved in a project being run through the Adelaide City Council recently revolving around - would you believe - ‘a little butterfly’. This creature is called the Chequered (or Grassland) Copper and it belongs in the Lycanidae family...
