Herps and Caterpillars

[jordo]

Went back to the mallee in NW Vic during the easter break. We opened a couple of pitfall lines, here's some of what we got:

A couple of sub-adult Ctenotus brachyonyx


As always plenty mallee dragons running laps around the triodia


Morethia boulengeri were common in nearby Callitris woodlands.


As were white browed babblers


We also caught some nobbi dragons, beardies, painted dragons and dunnarts in pitfall buckets, and a spiny-tailed gecko (s. intermedius) found spotlighting on a road.

But the main reason I was up there this time was to study the processionary behaviour of caterpillars of the bag-shelter moth, Ochrogaster lunifer:





We gave them haircuts to see if they used their setae to mantain contact


If any of the caterpillars stopped they would wait for the lagging one to catch up, however if we cut their bum hairs off they wouldn't sense the caterpillar directly behind them in the first place.

[ex_oh_ex]

haha do catapillas really do that, they look like ants

[Owzi]

Awsome photos jordo.

So your saying after you gave em haircuts they bailed on their mates?

Also "processionary behaviour"?? Can you explain that for me.

Thanks for posting the shots

[Chris1]

haha, funny!!

[jordo]

Originally Posted by Owzi

Awsome photos jordo.

So your saying after you gave em haircuts they bailed on their mates?

Also "processionary behaviour"?? Can you explain that for me.

Thanks for posting the shots

Processionary behaviour is just the head-to-tail following behaviour of the caterpillars you can see in the pictures, processions could be made up of over 100 individuals or be just pairs walking around together.

Yeah if we cut hairs around the head area it didn't seem to have as much of an effect (although a few would overtake as if they didn't realise there was another one infront), but if we cut their bum (posterior) hairs they wouldn't wait for slower caterpillars that they would usually wait for if they had hairs to sense they were there to begin with.

[sezza]

Did you see the latest Australias Funniest Home Video show? They had a video of these guys following each other around and around in a circle - it was so cute

heres the link - http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-au&bran...-1:ind:1:ff:8A

[Tatelina]

Thanks for sharing those photos! Very random but interesting.

[DanTheReptileMan]

heres some nesting at the base of a tree, as jordo informed me

[moloch05]

Hello Jordo,

Interesting thread and great pics. What is thought to be the reason for the processionary behaviour?

So S. intermedius were still active at night? Were the nights still mild or does this species remain active when the temps are cool?

Do you ever see Chestnut-crowned Babblers at your study site? I have seen them before at Hattah.

Regards,
David

[Vincent21]

wow, i like the giant long caterpilla picture!

[michelleryan]

Is the Processionary behavior to deter predators, so they think they are larger then they are??

What are you researching?

[willia6]

You know how they nest at trees?
Well I saw them in sydney!
in a tree at some garden place and at the bottom of a tree at my house!

[Vincent21]

Originally Posted by willia6

You know how they nest at trees?
Well I saw them in sydney!
in a tree at some garden place and at the bottom of a tree at my house!

Where abouts it that garden place?
I really wanna see a caterpillas nest.

[FNQ_Snake]

Awesome photographs mate. Well done. Looked like a great trip.

[moloch05]

... this is a reply from Jordo:

David - I'm guessing the behaviour is to do with safety in numbers. Although they may look snake like they're quite slow and not very convincing but potential predators may see it differently.

The first night when I found the gecko was mild (we got the most in the pitfalls after the first night as well), after that it was below 0 degrees and we found nothing spotlighting.

I didn't see any Chestnut-crowned babblers at our site heaps of white-browed though.

Michelleryan - I'm doing a bachelor of Biol. Science. We spent a week in the mallee divided into groups doing various small research projects like this one.

The nests are made up of crap and skin held together by silk, there are canopy nesting and ground nesting populations thought to be at least 2 different species. They leave the nest as a procession at night to feed and return to the nest in the morning.