Posts Tagged ‘Daintree rainforest fauna’

This giant green white-lipped tree frog (Litoria infrafrenata), is just one of a number of wildlife movements that we noted in April and the beginning of May.  During the warmer summer months, our tree frogs return to the rainforest, but during the cooler months, they have their favourite resting places in our house.  This one is sometimes called ‘The speaker of the House’ because he often sleeps on our television speakers.  Other times he is the clock frog or the kitchen frog or the soup ladle frog, but he never becomes an ingredient in our soup.

Read the rest of this entry »

Southern Cassowary

This brilliant shot taken by National Geographic photographer Christian Ziegler won first prize in the nature section of World Press Photo contest, 2013, Nature, 1st prize singles, Christian Ziegler. 

For over 55 years the World Press Photo contest has encouraged the highest standards in photojournalism. The contest creates a bridge linking the professionals with the general public.  As the announcement of the winners makes headlines around the world, so the inspirational role of photojournalism is highlighted to an audience of hundreds of millions.

Read the rest of this entry »

This beautiful Zodiac Moth, Alcides metaurus or zodiaca, has an amazing display of irridescent yellows and pinks against black.  The interesting thing is that it is diurnal (active during the day), whereas most moths are nocturnal.  Like other members of the Uraniidae moth family, the preferred food of the caterpillars are plants in the Euphorbiaceae family, such as Omphalea queenslandica and Homolanthus populifolius – bleeding-heart tree.  Resembling swallow-tail butterflies in shape, the moths give themselves away by flattening their wings, as they settle on the leaf and rotating to face down towards the ground.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tour guides from the Wet Tropics attended the inaugural workshop in the Daintree on 7 and 8 December, 2012.  Approximately 60 people, mainly professional tour guides enjoyed the collegiality of like-minded presenters of the natural environment in an engrossing engagement with the landscape and the people in the tourism industry within the area.  The Daintree really turned on the fauna with a rare sighting of a Bennett’s Tree Kangaroo in Jungle Surfing canopy.

Read the rest of this entry »

Trap-jaw ants (Odontomachus cephalotes) reputedly have the fastest moving predatory appendages within the animal kingdom.  A pair of large, straight mandibles, capable of opening 180-degrees and snapping shut up to 230 kilometres per hour and with a peak force in the order of 300-times the body weight of the ant, makes for a mighty powerful bite!

Read the rest of this entry »