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Flying foxes to wilt with climate change, by ABC Science Online’s Stephen Pincock, contends that new research shows some of Australia’s flying foxes face a grave threat from extreme temperatures expected to become more frequent with climate change. (more…)
The piercing, descending shriek of the Lesser Sooty Owl Tyto multipunctata sounds much like a falling bomb, without the explosion at the end. It has enormous eyes and exceptional hearing, allowing it to hunt in almost total darkness.
It is a formidable rainforest predator of almost all the creatures I have posted at this weblog over the past few years.
Formerly classified as a sub-species of the much larger and darker Sooty Owl Tyto tenebricosa, it has since been re-classified into a distinct species that is endemic to Australia.
Macleay’s Spectre Extatosoma tiaratum would have to be one of the most spectacular insects in the Daintree rainforest. Males readily fly in search of mates, but much larger females are incapable of flight. First instar nymphs resemble ants. (more…)
I photographed this praying mantid last night on the flowers of a Wax Jambu Syzygium samarangense. There are around 160 described species of mantid in Australia with the greatest diversity in the tropics. (more…)
Driving to Cape Tribulation two nights ago, I was hit with the unmistakable stench of what the Guugu Yimithirr indigenous people (just up the coast) call yumu; a scummy residue of coral spawning (more…)
In the centre of the Daintree rainforest, Giant White-lipped Tree Frogs Litoria infrafrenata ordinarily call for mates at the beginning of September, but much cooler temperatures persisting until very recently, have delayed the unmistakable clatter of competing males.
They are world’s largest tree frog (more…)