Australian Invertebrates

The invertebrate life of Australia is rich and varied

Invertebrates are animals with no vertebral spine of bone or cartilage protecting the central nervous system. They include:

• Sponges
• Jellyfish, anemones and corals
• Flatworms
• Roundworms
• Segmented Worm
• The joint-legged animals (Athropoda) Insects, Arachnids (Spiders and kin) and Crustaceans
• Molluscs
• Various other less conspicuous groups

Insects

Australa is home to many colourful butterflies, the biggest of which are the birdwing butterflies of the northeast. The orchard butterfly is also  very large and is quite common. The most conspicuous species, and very common, is the monarch butterfly intgroduced from America over a century ago. Food plants for the larvae of the local representatives of the five major butterflky families in Australia have been planted out aling a nature trail on he Araucaria property

Glow worms produce quite a magcal effects. They are really fly larvae, a group found only in Australia and New Zealand which kive in caves or other dark places and drop a short length of sticky thread which they light up from their glowing abdomens to attract their prey: the effect is like a starry sky on the roof of the cave or overhang

Ants are many and varied. One famous species is the honey ant: some of the wiorkers hang upsidedown from the ceiling of the nest while others feed them. The stationary ones become living honeypots, storing carbohydrate-rich food for the rest of the colony in hard times. Beware of large ants, ants that jump, and ants with large jaws held prominently forward: none are dangerous, but these are indications of aggressive species with painful stings.

Cicadas often produce a deafening chorus on hot days. There are many species, each with its own repetitive call.

Thousands of insect species in Australia have been named and described, but there are more and more being discovered all the time, especially from relatiuvely inaccessible places such as the canopies of rainforests, and many questions remain as to their ecological roles in the ecosystems they dwell in.

Relatives of insects

Spiders include:

• ‘primitive ‘ spiders – trapdoors and funnelwebs
• ‘true’ spiders

Crustaceans include marine, freshwater and terrestrial species (the terrestrial ones are the slaters commonf under rocks and logs)

Scorpions are commong in some drier habitats, but none are known to be dangerous, and they are shy, and usually keep themselves concealed undr rocks or logs.