#1664-1667 - Some Stuff From Bindoon
#1664 - Caladenia hiemalis - Dwarf Spider Orchid
One of the many Wispy Spider Orchids found in SW Australia - this particular species flowers in winter (hence hiemalis), most often after fire and is most common in Wandoo woodland, in damp soils. I spotted these ones on the lower parts of a rocky granite hill north of Bindoon, north of Perth, although the trees were mostly she-oak rather than Wandoo.
#1665 - Camponotus marcens
A species of Carpenter Ant where the minor workers look bizarrely similar to the workers from a completely different genus, the Strobe Ants (Opisthopsis). Found only in the Darling Range (as here, near Bindoon), or the SW Wheatbelt (not far away). Most often noticed running up and down eucalypt trunks (in this case a Wandoo) when they didn’t spot you first and run around to the far side of the trunk
#1666 - Meranoplus fenestratus
If a hardware failure hadn’t eaten my harddrive, AND my external back-up drive, I’d see if I had any suitable Beast-related species to post, but no such luck. So here’s a neighbour of the beast, or at least a neighbour of the last ant I posted.
I spotted this tiny worker on the same Wandoo trunk as the Camponotus marcens minor worker, but as you probably noticed they’re wildly different in appearence, so there was no chance of it being a minum caste of the same species.
There’s at least 80 valid species of Meranoplus, half of them in Australia, and they’re all omnivores or granivores. They nest underground, are active day and night, and if disturbed roll themselves in dirt and pretend to be dead (although I did find an interesting account of them protecting themselves from other ants). They have very large Dufour’s Glands for their size, and presumably rely on scent trails to navigate regardless of the time of day.
I don’t have much info on this particular species, and the scattered distribution records either have it all over the country or just in Western Australia, but the photos on AntWiki were taken on a treetrunk in Wandoo National Park, east of Perth, so it’s keeping in character that far at least.
#1667 - Underwoodisaurus milii - Thick-tailed Barking Gecko
Up at Bindoon again.
Living in a hollow log under a birdbath, and boy was she pissed that people keep lifting it up to get a photo. The barking defense call is typical of the genus, and the source of their common name. Not quite as psychotic as the Asian/Pacific Tokay Gecko, which is also known as the ‘Fuck You Lizard’ from the call and spirited attempts to to bite off your face.
The species is found in rocky areas across most of the southern half of the Australian mainland. It’s more cold-tolerant than most geckos, which might be related to their unusual sociability during the day - multiple geckos will huddle together, apparently to stay warm for the onset of evening.