Review Issue 1, 2000

Project PagesA Naturalist’s Toolkit

Nature Quiz

Creature Feature

Waterlilies

Mudskippers

The Desert Goby

Waterlilies

Urban EncountersYou mostly find Nephila spiders indry, open woodland. Their large,golden webs shimmer in the sunlight.These are the largest and strongestwebs built by any Australian spider.They’re magnificent feats ofengineering and design, and thefemale Golden Orb-weaver spends allher time there. She has only to sitand wait patiently for her lunch toarrive. The males are much smallerand it is common for a couple ofthem to hang around the edge,waiting for an opportunity to matewith her.The web is also home to tiny

The female’s body canbe as long as 45mmbut the tiny males isonly 6mm long. He’sso small that peoplecommonly mistakehim for a baby spider.

When an unlucky insect arrives for dinner, the spider quickly ties it up with

silk to prevent it tearing the web.

Spiders can’t chew solids like we do. They can only swallow liquids. So

they drool saliva over their prey and mince it into the flesh with their

chelicerae mouth parts. Then they suck the body juices into their stomach.

The Golden Orb-weaver disposes of the remains of her meals by stringing

their corpses in a line above her.

Quicksilver Spiders (Argyrodes spp.)which have worked out a boardingarrangement with their Nephilahost. She allows them to stay andfeed on all the insect prey too smallfor herself, in exchange for cleaningthe web regularly.The ease with which she is able tomove about the sticky web is quiteamazing. Web builders have speciallymodified feet for grasping the silkthread. They always keep their bodyclear of the silk, even when resting.If their body should happen toaccidently brush against the web, anoily coating on their skin preventsthem from becoming entangled.Despite the female’s impressive size,Nephila spiders are completelyharmless to people. They are notaggressive and only bite in self-defence if grabbed or roughlyhandled. Even so, their fangs arenot designed for biting largecreatures such as ourselves.

D I N N E R T I M E

The Golden Orb-weaverdisposes of the remains ofher meals by stringing theircorpses in a line above her.

Did you know...Did you know...

Golden Orb-weavers

• The word cobweb is derived from the old English word for spider: coppe. Cobwebs (or coppe-webs)literally means ‘spider-webs’.

• Two spiders were taken aboard the American Skylab in the 1970’s to see if they could spin their webwithout gravity. These spidernauts had no trouble making a perfect web.

• The Bolas Spiders are relatives of the orb-weavers but have given up web-making. Instead they havedeveloped a highly sophisticated way of catching insects. They produce special perfumes, calledpheremones, to attract male moths and then ‘hook’ them with sticky ‘fishing lines’.

Spider’s silk is one of the strongest and mostelastic materials in nature. It is produced inspecial glands called spinnerets. The femalespider can’t squeeze it out like toothpaste buthas to pull it out with her back legs as shemoves along.

Makinga web

The first step in building an orb web is to construct ahorizontal line. She does this by pulling out a very finethread of silk and letting go of it in the breeze. (There arealways very light breezes blowing, even though we don’tfeel them.) She persists until it catches onto something.

She tests with her feet to make sure it’s secure and thenties down her end. Then she darts across to the other sidelike a tightrope walker in a circus. As she goes, she addsextra silk. She may go back and forth several times, addingsilk all the while until it is strong.

Her next move is to build another line across the space andattach it to something on the ground so it forms a Y shape.Then she can construct the radial threads.

The hard work is now done. All that remains is for herto move around in circles, starting at the centre, andadd the sticky spiral threads.

Nature QuizHow many of these questions aboutspiders can you answer. (You’ll findthe answers on page 11 of this edition

What is a baby spider called?

How many eyes do spiders normally have?

True or False?More people are bitten by redback spidersthan snakes in Australia each year.Which spider has the most toxic venom?

a) Redbackb) Sydney Funnel Webc) Daddy-long-legs

True or False?A spider can grow a new leg if it loses one.Which creatures are most closely related to spiders?

a) insectsb) scorpionsc) crabs

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The inoffensive Huntsman issometimes called a tarantula.Tarantulas are large, butharmless, American spiders,and are often kept as pets

G L U E T N E M O D B AS E G G R W E B D S C LA A S N A R E N I I H UL F C H P D I L N L E TO C A U D X K I H V L NB U R R O W F U C E I AE R E T O O N B A R C RM L D L R T R V R G E AY E F M S A E O A A R TZ R C M I S C A T R A XN F A N G K C A B D E RE N S P I N N E R E T S

How can you tell a male Daddy-long-legsfrom a female?In the nursery rhyme, little Miss Muffet saton her tuffet, eating her curds and whey.What are curds and whey?The tiny spider Archemorus curtulus is amaster of camouflage. It sits on the leavesof trees disguised as.......?Where are a spider's taste buds located?

The words go in all directions and someare written backwards.Colour the boxes as you find each letter.

ABDOMENACINIFORMARACHNIDATRAXBOLASBRAINBURROWCHELICERAECRABDRAGEGG

ENZYMEFANGGLUEHUNTSMANHURTLEAF CURLERLEAVESLIDREDBACKROCKSAC

SCAREDSILKSILVERSNARESPINNERETSTARANTULATOXINTRAPDOORWEBWOLF

S P I D E R W O R D S

Plant Profile

By early April, the Top End’s wet season is nearing theend and the heavy storms become less frequent. Withthe break in the rain, insects set to work. Termitesrebuild nests in the soft soil, while newly developed greenant workers set about making new homes from leavesbound with silk. Grasshoppers and dragonfliesare abundant.Many plants flower in the Top End at this time. The tallgrasses bend over with the weight of their seeds. Waterliliesbloom and cover the billabongs with a carpet of colour.

Waterlilies

Bush TuckerAboriginal women and children wade around in thebillabongs and dig the waterlily bulbs out of the mudwith their fingers. These are then roasted in a fire for10 to 15 minutes, peeled and eaten.They nibble the green flower stalks like celery and collectthe fruits. The seeds can be eaten raw but usually areroasted inside the fruit. They have a rich, oily tastewhen prepared this way and good nutritional value.

The striking Lotus Lily Nelumbo nucifera has much largerleaves that do not float.They grow in deep, permanent swamps such as Darwin’sFogg Dam.This giant of the waterlily family also grows in India. Itis sacred to Buddhists who say it proves that virtueand purity can triumph in spite of the world’s wickedness.This is because it rises from pure mud to produce a miracleof perfection. The Buddha himself is often depicted inartworks, seated in the centre of a golden lotus.

Nymphaea violacea has smooth glossy leaves 10 to20 cm in diameter. Long green stalks hold thespectacular violet flowers above the water’s surface.

Distinctive fruiting receptacle with seeds inindividual pockets.

The name Nymphaea is a reference to thebeautiful water nymphs of Greek mythology.

31

Project PagesWhen you are going on field trips or justexploring your local bush, it’s handy tocarry a few items with you such as acompact pair of binoculars, a notepad and apen. You might also like to put together asmall naturalist’s toolkit to carry as well.

Use this grid to decode the names

P U T T I N G Y O U R T O O L K I T T O G E T H E R

A dressmaker’smeasuring tape is ahandy item. But ahomemade string rulerwill also do the job.Simply get a piece ofgood string and use afelt pen to mark it offat 5cm intervals.

You will need:• a cheap placemat• scissors• elastic• velcro• pen

Work through the following puzzle for somesuggestions to go in a small toolkit.

D4 C4 A1 D1 C2 C5 A3 C1 A2 A1 B2 D4

D5 B4 A4 A5 A3 B3 A1 D3 D5 D4

D4 D5 D3 B4 C4 B2 D3 E1 C2 A5 D3

C3 A1 B2 C4 B4 B1 E5 B4 C4 B2 B2 C2 A1 D4 D4

A A B C D EB F G H I JC K L M N OD P Q R S TE U V W X Y

1 2 3 4 5

2Used film cannistersare handy forcollecting things youneed foridentification, such asgum nuts or unusualinsects. Ask at yourlocal photo shop.

Step 1Discount stores sell cheap (laminated paper) placemats. Foldone so that it looks like a satchel.Step 2Attach some velcro so that you can open and fasten the topflap. If you can’t get hold of any velcro, you can use 4 largebuttons and strong thread to fashion some fasteners. (Sewtwo buttons to the top flap and attach a length of thread toeach. This thread can wind around 2 buttons, sewn on thebottom flap, when you want to fasten the toolkit shut.)Step 3Open out your placemat and lay out the various items you wantin your toolkit.Step 4Use a pen to mark a dot either side of each item. The next stepis to cut small slits, where the dots are, so that you can attachelastic to hold each item tightly in place.Step 5Thread elastic through the slits and staple the ends to theother side of the placemat. (Alternately, you could tie a knotat each end of the elastic to stop it pulling through the slit.)

A Naturalist’s Toolkit

I was born in England but it was in Australia thatI became famous as a naturalist.I was assistant to the great ornithologist John Gouldand his wife, artist Elizabeth Gould. In 1838 we leftEngland to undertake the first detailed study ofAustralia’s birds and mammals.I remained in Australia when the Goulds returned toEngland in 1841.

Who am I?

B5 C5 B3 C4 B2 B4 C2 A2 A5 D3 D5

In 1844, I joined Ludwig Leichhardt’s expedition toexplore northern Australia. We travelled overlandfrom Brisbane,heading for the settlement at PortEssington on the Top End coast.I kept a detailed diary describing the flora andfauna we saw along the way. On 28 June 1845, Iwas killed when our party was attacked byAboriginal people near the Gulf of Carpentaria.

What to do:

Use the grid on the previouspage to decode my name.

Creature Feature

Mudskippers are found in mangroves and estuaries alongthe tropical coasts of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Unlikemost fish, they can survive for long periods out of thewater. They do this by trapping air in special cavities intheir mouth and gill chambers. They can also absorb oxygenthrough the blood vessels in their tail.Equally remarkable is their choice of home. Rather thanswimming free like other fish, mudskippers have chosento spend much of their lives in burrows in the mud. Thetrouble is, these muddy dwellings are very poor in oxygen.Atsumi Ishimatsu and his colleagues at Japan’sNagasaki University set out to discover how they

Mudskippers Their protrudingeyes can beelevated orretracted.Mudskippers propel themselves

over the mud using their frontfins like the oars of a row boat.

Mangrove mud is very fine grained. Only the top layershave much oxygen. Burrowing crabs, shellfish and wormslive here.Sulphur-using bacteria thrive deeper in the mud wherenot much else can survive. They give off hydrogen sulphidegas which, along with rotting material, gives the mudits smell.The hydrogen sulphide also reacts with iron compoundsin the mud. New compounds, called hydrated ironsulphides, form and give the mud its characteristicdark colour.

survived in such an inhospitable environment.As they walked around the mudflats, they noticedbubbles coming out of the mudskippers’ burrows. Theyalso noticed that the fish gulped air before enteringtheir burrows and looked deflated when they came out.Chemical analysis revealed that burrows being used bymudskippers contained more oxygen and less carbondioxide than old, abandoned burrows.The fish had worked out how to aircondition their homes.As they walked around in the burrows they forced thestale air out and replaced it with fresh air they hadcarried in with them.

Why is mangrove mudblack and smelly?

Nature Quiz

Mudskippers belong to the Goby family. A distant relative lives in outbackAustralia: the Desert Goby Chlamydogobius eremius. John Glover, Curatorof Fishes at the South Australian Museum, studied it in the 1970’s.He found that it could survive in water of varying salinity, including distilledwater and seawater. This is a real advantage in outback waterholes andsalt lakes where salinity can change considerably. Salt concentrationsdrop after flooding rains and increase as waters evaporate.

Y D I A D U S T B I NY D I A D U S T B I NL

Y

TheDesertGoby

Solve this puzzle to reveal the outback stronghold of the Desert Goby. Match theauthors from the list to the 10 book titles. The shaded boxes spell out thesolution.

List of AuthorsAmos QuitoBob DownfastEnid SpankingHal LoweMike Robes

SolutionArthur Itis

Constance NorahEva Brick

Lydia DustbinPaddy Fields

A Knock at the Door

The Naughty Boy

Cold and Flu

Noisy Nights

Growing Rice

The Calypso Band

Aches and Pains

Broken Window

A Buzz in the Room

All Guns Blazing

On the brink

The BronzebackThe Bronzeback Ophidiocephalustaeniatus is one of Australia’srarest lizards. Specimens have onlybeen found in a small area extendingacross the border between the NTand South Australia.It is a legless lizard, 25cm long,belonging to the Pygopod family. Ithas a grey head but a bronze-coloured back and a dark brown bandalong each side from nose to tail.The animal is hardly ever seenbecause it spends all its time"swimming" through the top layer ofloose sand and leaf litter beneathtrees and shrubs. On the rareoccasions that it does venture ontothe surface, it’s colouring providesexcellent camouflage.It’s diet consists of termites, insectlarvae, small roaches and beetles.The country it inhabits has beenheavily grazed by cattle in the past.

Trampling by cattle compacts thesoil, making life difficult forsandswimmers such as theBronzeback.However, wildlife researchers arecurrently unsure whether the lizardis endangered or not.

An animal’s appearance affects its chances of survival. Someanimals try to confuse predators by mimicking other animalswhich are dangerous or poisonous. Some of the Pygopodlizards mimic juvenile Brown Snakes.Pygopod means flap-footed. This refers to the fact thatnothing remains of their hind legs except two small flaps.Despite their snake-like looks, these legless lizards’ closestrelatives are geckoes.

Pygopods differ from snakes in a number of ways. They have:• a broad, fleshy tongue, rather than a forked tongue;• ear openings on their head;• the ability to shed their tail when threatened;• more head scales than snakes have.

P y g o p o d s : L i z a r d s t h a t l o o k l i k e s n a k e s

??Creature Feature

Puzzle AnswersNature Quiz (Page 4)1. spiderling 2. eight 3. True4. (c) While the Sydney Funnel Web isAustralia’s most deadly spider, the venom ofa Daddy-long-legs is actually more toxic.However, its tiny poison sac contains too smallan amount of venom to trouble us.5. True, but only if it’s a juvenile. Once a spiderreaches maturity it loses the ability toregenerate lost limbs.6. (b) Scorpions7. The male is much slimmer and has longer legs.

8. When milk goes sour, it separates into athick, white solid (called curds) and a wateryliquid (called whey). Cheese is made from thecurds.9. Bird droppings10. On the tips of its feet and pedipalpsNature Project Page (Page 6)snaplock bags tide chartsstring ruler magnifying glassJohn Gilbert (Page 7)Creature Feature (Page 9)Lake Eyre S.A.

Burton’s Legless LizardLialis burtoni preys onskinks and geckoes. It hasa long snout and sharpteeth. Its jaws are flexible,allowing it to seize andswallow large prey.

Did you know....

A legless lizard may drop its tailto distract an enemy. The tailregrows but is rarely as long orthe same colour.

The Bronzeback was firstcollected in the 1890’s but itwasn’t until 1978 thatscientists saw another one.

Legless lizards are found inAustralia and New Guinea butnowhere else.

The Common Scaly-foot

Pygopus lepidopodus is

Australia’s biggest, being up

to 75 cm long.

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?Some legless lizards

mimic snakes in behaviour

as well as appearance. If

threatened they raise

their heads and hiss like

snakes. They may even

strike like snakes, even

though they have no fangs

or venom.

? ?

As Darwin gears up for the start ofthe Junior Ranger Program in Aprilwhere Junior Rangers will becelebrating Seaweek on rockpoolrambles, discovering snakes from theoutside and inside, learning bushmedicine and more we’d like to sharean extract from a story with you fromone of our Junior Ranger families......Sparky the Cute Baby Bird“My mum was doing some cleaning inthe house on a Tuesday. Then she had

Around the Traps

Contributions arewelcome and should

be sent to:The Editor, Junior Ranger Review

PO Box 496

Palmerston NT 0831

The Junior Ranger Review is produced 4 timesa year by the Parks and Wildlife Commissionof the Northern Territory. This edition waswritten by Stuart Traynor and design andlayout are by Big Picture Graphic Art. Thecover was drawn by Robbie Henderson.Illustrations in this edition are by Keith Davey,Andrea Hope, Christine Payne, Adrian Salterand Bob Whiteford. Illustrations on pages 9and 10 were sourced from ‘Our AridEnvironment’ by Keith Davey, Reed NewHolland Publishers.

Katherine

Welcome to our first edition for the year2000! I hope this is a great year for youall and one where you discover more aboutthe natural and cultural environment ofthe Territory.A story from a Darwin Junior Rangerfamily highlights the important role thatis carried out under the Parks and WildlifeCommission’s Wildlife Rescue Programwhich involves the rescue, care,rehabilitation and release of sick, injuredand orphaned native animals. Volunteersin the community assist with the careof these animals.These situations offer opportunities forus to help wildlife where possible and atthe same time learn more about ourTerritory species through this process.Remember if you are going to assist sick,injured or orphaned native wildlife theseanimals require specialist treatment andmust be referred on to the Wildlife RescueCo-ordinator in your area.Through the combined professionalknowledge of Wildlife Rescue officers andthe energy and assistance of thecommunity this will help to ensure thecontinuing survival of our wildlife and raiseawareness of the importance of ournative species and the role they have toplay in our natural environment.Ranger Bill, Assistant DirectorPark Operations.

Alice Springs

Darwin

Please note: You are welcome to photocopy the textand illustrations in this book without prior permissionfor non-profit educational purposes only. If text isreproduced separately it must not be altered andmust acknowledge Parks and Wildlife Commission ofthe Northern Territory as the source. (If you wish touse illustrations, permission must be sought). Pleasecontact the editor if in doubt.

G’day from Ranger Billto go outside for some reason. Shesaw something on the ground thatlooked like some grass clippings with abeak sticking out of it. So my mumpicked it up and discovered it was ababy bird. We called it Sparky. When wefound him he only had some little tuftsof feathers with fluff on the end.”By Skye and Cameron JacksonSparky, the bar-shouldered dove wasreleased at Casuarina CoastalReserve on Sunday 5th March 2000on the advice of a Wildlife Rescueofficer. With other bar-shouldereddoves in the area Sparky wouldhave been able to find some newfriends quickly.Remember all sick, injured or orphanedwildlife must be reported to WildlifeRescue for the correct care.

Katherine Junior Rangers bravedcreeks, swamps, and some very heavyrain to carry out this years frog watch,species survey. By comparing ourrecords from last year’s frog watchfrom the same sites, it seems thefrogs are looking healthy, even aftervery late rains.Ranger Andrew took frog watchfurther afield this year by including thetowns of Pine Creek, Timber Creek,Mataranka, Borroloola andJilkminggan Community, with greatsuccess frog wise.The 2000 Junior Rangers is startingsoon. April, May, and June, are goingto be based on ‘water’. Water isprecious to all life, sculptures theerosive features we see in rocks suchas sandstone, and covers much moreof the earths surface than the landdoes. Water is also one of the mainattractions that people come toexperience in our National Parks. Sodon’t miss out, because a wholeprogram has been set-up on ‘water inour environment’.

With all the rain in the last coupleof months it’s a great time to getout and about in the bush.February’s rainfall was the highestin Central Australia for 20 years.The desert has been a sea of colour.Seeds that have lain dormant inthe ground for months have madethe most of the rain by germinatingand quickly flowering. Animals arealso making the most of the idealconditions with budgies and otherbirds flocking to full waterholes.