| It's possible 20 different species can look identical (needing dissection to differentiate); as such many id's here don't go to species level |
| Stat' |
| Thumbnails: 214. 42 native species (7 introduced) listed, with 28 natives (5 introduced) from Ellura |
| Animals (Animalia) - Segmented Worms (Annelida) - Earthworms (Oligochaeta) - Earthworm (Crassiclitellata); 1 species, none from Ellura - Giant Worm (Megascolecidae); 1 species, none from Ellura | Giant Mt Lofty Earthworm Gemascolex cf stirlingi | Na a | Our id here is based on location and size of worm. There's a whole science based on identifying worms, much of which involves dissection. We noticed these in Lobethal in heavy rain periods. They came up onto the concrete verandah as when the soil gets too sodden they can drown. Imaged 3 in Sep(1), Oct(1) & Dec(1) |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Centipedes (Chilopoda) - Centipedes (Scolopendromorpha); 2 species, 1 from Ellura - Centipede (Scolopendridae); 2 species, 1 from Ellura | Giant Centipede Ethmostigmus rubripes | Na e m | Thank you Cael Gallery for helping with the id of this species for us A large (~90mm) common centipede with 4 simple eyes (per side), that hides under rocks, etc. Imaged 3 in Jan(1), Oct(1) & Nov(1) | |
| Giant Centipede Scolopendridae sp | Na a | Imaged 1 in Jul |
| |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Centipedes (Chilopoda) - House Centipedes (Scutigeromorpha); 1 species from Ellura - House Centipede (Scutigeridae); 1 species from Ellura | House Centipede Allothereua maculata | Na e m a | Imaged 5 in Mar(1), May(3) & Dec(1) |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Springtails (Collembola) - Hairy Springtails (Entomobryomorpha); 2 species, 1 from Ellura - Hairy Springtail (Entomobryidae); 2 species, 1 from Ellura | Hairy Springtail Entomobryidae sp ES01 | Na e m a | Very small, ~3mm long. They have a very scaly like surface. Similar to silverfish. There are two different body shapes here, which may be due to gender differences; or different species. Imaged 6 in Jul(5) & Aug(1) | |
| White-spotted Hairy Springtail Entomobryidae sp ES02 | Na a | Found in a Helmet-hood Orchid leaf. As with other springtails, very small. Imaged 1 in Aug | ||
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Springtails (Collembola) - Plump Springtails (Poduromorpha); 1 species from Ellura - Plump Springtail (Poduromorpha); 1 species from Ellura | Plump Springtail Hypogastrura sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Thomas Mesaglio for confirming the id of this species for us They are small (~2 to 3mm long) and have 6 legs, 2 stumpy feelers & 2 eyes (made up of 8 ocelli). Not true insects as they lack wings and have soft bodies. Dark pink underneath with dark purple backs. When walking around they look like ash from a campfire on the ground. Then you notice the ash moving! There are millions on the ground around Ellura at the moment. Unfortunately you can't walk outside without stepping on them. They eat fungi & rotting matter. They are part of the clean up crew, gobble up the tiniest scraps and turn it into chemicals that the plants need We don't see them often. The latest photo's are from the 3rd mass aggregation event we've witnessed at Ellura in 11 years. Prof' Ian Gibbins said, in relation to how springtails have such hydrophobic (water-repelling) cuticle ("skin"). " It's super complicated and involves fluctuations in the orientation of cholesterol molecules that effectively prevent other molecules sticking to them. The main ecological consequence of this is that the cuticle of the springtails stays clean in their damp habitat, which is full of small particles and micro-organisms. This is critical to their survival, since they respire ("breathe") through their cuticle so they need to keep it free from contamination. But it also lets them float on water should they end up in such a situation." Imaged 8 in May(1), Jun(2), Jul(2), Aug(1) & Sep(2) |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Springtails (Collembola) - Globular Springtails (Symphypleona); 3 species, 2 from Ellura - Globular Springtail (Symphypleona); 3 species, 2 from Ellura | Brown Globular Springtail Symphypleona sp ES01 | Na e m | Similar Species: Varied Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus verbasci) Imaged 2 in May(1) & Sep(1) | |
| Green Globular Springtail Symphypleona sp ES02 | Na a | Not a true insect. They are small (we've measured under 2mm) and have 6 legs, 2 feelers & 2 eyes (made up of 8 ocelli). Look more like a spider with a distinct head and abdomen; unlike the other springtails. Imaged 2 in May(1) & Jun(1) | ||
| Globular Springtail Symphypleona sp ES03 | Na e m | Eating a bracket fungi. These are tiny at <2mm long. We didn't realise it was there until publishing the bracket fungi photo Imaged 1 in Jul | ||
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Millipedes (Diplopoda) - Millipedes (Polydesmida); 1 species, none from Ellura - Millipede (Paradoxosomatidae); 1 species, none from Ellura | Native Brown Millipede Somethus castaneus iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Dr Bob Mesibov & Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming and Cael Gallery for helping with the id of this species for us Bob said it could either be S. castaneus or S. lancearius based on location. DaBugBoi said "They differ in distribution, and size. Judging by his paper, S. castaneum is found in the Adelaide metro region and the south and eastern MT. lofty ranges, while S. lancearius is smaller (from memory) and found typically north of adeladide" Imaged 3 in Apr(1), May(1) & Oct(1) |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Millipedes (Diplopoda) - Juliform Millipedes (Spirostreptida); 1 species from Ellura - Juliform Millipede (Spirostreptida); 1 species from Ellura | Juliform Millipede Spirostreptida cf sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Dr Bob Mesibov for identifying this species for us Of this specimen, Bob said "Very interesting, and probably a (native) spirostreptidan - never seen this patterning before, though!" The legs on the 1st-5th segments are diagnostic, as are the eyes & genetalia. So it's important to try and photograph these areas clearly for id. As you can see, we weren't able to. Everytime we turned it over, it turned back and ran. In terms of colour (ie darkness & amount of orange coming through); this specimen varied considerably depending on the camera settings. Imaged 2 in May |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Earwigs (Dermaptera); 3 species from Ellura - Earwig (Forficulidae); 1 species from Ellura | European Earwig Forficula auricularia iNaturalist | If e m a p | Thank you David Muirhead for confirming the id of this species for us ~14mm long plus pincers are a further ~7mm. Found in the kitchen, so most likely came from produce (fresh vegetables). Imaged 3(2M,1F,1J) in Feb(1M), Aug(1:1F,1J) & Nov(1M) |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Earwigs (Dermaptera); 3 species from Ellura - Striped Earwig (Labiduridae); 2 species from Ellura | Brown Native Earwig Labidura riparia iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Matthew Connors & Stephan Kleinfelder for confirming the id of this species for us ~17mm long, pincers ~5mm long. S1, S2 & S3 = female, S4 = male. S3 was larger at 19mm, but doesn't have any visible wings behind the elytra; neither does S4. Stephen said "some individuals develop hind wings and some don't." A similar situation occurs with grasshoppers. These have a very distinctive orange "V" on the thorax; and a very parallel sided abdomen. Males are differentiated by have a spur on the inside edge of their pincers (cerci), and the join of the pincers to the body is noticibly thicker. S1 & S2 came to a night light sheet. The taxon associated with these is a mess. Mark Hura said "The taxonomy is interesting on this one - only Labidura riparia (Pallas, 1773) recognised in Australia on AFD with no fewer than 44 synonyms! :-/ BioLib lists 7 species worldwide, but looks like only L. riparia from Aust". And followed up with "Weird - L. truncata was resurrected from synonymy by Giles & Webb, 1972. Revalidated by Stuart et al 2019, although they acknowledge not all authors accept it as valid. McLean & Horridge, 1977 list it as L. riparia truncata just to confuse the situation even more!". Matthew said "I'm pretty sure the accepted name is still L. truncata, it's just that not all databases have updated with the new name for some reason. I think Dermaptera Species File missed one paper and then everyone else has copied them". As we use Atlas (AFD) as our reference database (which currently considers them synonyms) we'll keep using Labidura riparia, with L. truncata as a synonym. We aren't making any opinions about which is right or wrong. Imaged 4(1M,3F) in Feb(2:1M,1F) & Mar(2F) | |
| Black Bush Earwig Nala lividipes iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you David Muirhead & Konstantinos Kalaentzis for confirming the id of this species for us Both male & female were measured at ~11mm long, excluding ~2.5mm pincers. The genders can be separated as the male pincers are much further apart than the female. Imaged 6(2M,4F) in Feb(2:1M,1F), Mar(1F), Oct(2F) & Dec(1M) | ||
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Web-spinners (Embioptera); 1 species from Ellura - Web-spinner (Embioptera); 1 species from Ellura | Winged Web-spinner Aposthonia gurneyi iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Matthew Connors for identifying this species for us Matthew said: "There are several subspecies and specimens from Adelaide are apparently intermediate between A. g. gurneyi and A. g. centralis" "The principle difference between the families is the structure of the male left cercus, which is heavily modified in the Notoligotomidae and Australembiidae (so that makes this one Oligotomidae - take a look at site)." "From there we have two genera - Oligotoma, which is introduced and currently only known from Qld and NSW (and with slightly different proportions), and Aposthonia which is widespread. Two species are restricted to WA and a third to Qld, with A. gurneyi widespread. Full details of subspecies are at this site (although still under genus Oligotoma)" Not all web-spinners are winged. Imaged 2 in May |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Mayflies (Ephemeroptera); 2 species, none from Ellura - Mayfly (Baetidae); 2 species, none from Ellura | Mayfly Centroptilum elongatum iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Asaph (Asaph01) for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: This male was ~5mm long (head & body). The tail cerci are just under 9mm. The specimen we found keyed out to Centroptilum, and C. elongatum is the only one in this genus found in SA. Notice the weird overhead eyes of the male; used for searching for a female (thank you to Ian Gibbins for confirming this assumption When we mentioned we couldn't think of another invert' with a 2nd pair of compound eyes, Ian also told us that they are not strictly a 2nd pair of eyes; but a genetic situation where the normal eyes split during development. This is a similar trick to the way mantids, eg, have striped eyes; and other insects have different zones in their eyes for varying purposes. Pretty fascinating stuff Imaged 1M in Mar | |
| Mayfly Cloeon cf paradieniense | Na a | This female was ~6mm long, with 10mm long tail cerci, found dead. Notice it has no hind wings (a species trait), nor the strange eyes of the male. To re-iterate, Mayflies are the only insects other than Flies (Diptera order) where some species have 2 wings not 4. Imaged 1F in Mar | ||
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Stick Insects (Phasmida); 5 species from Ellura - Stick Insect (Diapheromeridae); 2 species from Ellura | Rough Pachymorpha Stick Insect Pachymorpha squalida iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Aidan Beutel for confirming the id of this species for us Between ~41mm & ~45mm long males. Range extensions of the species. It is quite orange compared with other specimens; which tend to be grey-brown. We've since found one at Ellura that has the typical grey colour. We actually miss-ided our grey one at Ellura as Hyrtacus tuberculatus. They are similar, but looking at the antennae length, tubercle size and posterior shape you can see there a significant differences. Imaged 2M in Feb(1M) & Dec(1M) | |
| White's Stick Insect Sipyloidea whitei iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Matthew Connors & Aidan Beutel for confirming the id of this species for us ~60mm long. Found at a night sheet. When looking into what species it was we discovered that the shape of the anal segment, & whether it has wings or not, splits our stick insects into major groups. The other thing that makes this one easy to identify is the black stripe running the full length down it's back ... well we couldn't check that exactly as the wings covered a lot of it Imaged 2(1M,1F) in Mar | ||
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Stick Insects (Phasmida); 5 species from Ellura - Stick Insect (Phasmatidae); 3 species from Ellura | Spur-legged Stick Insect Didymuria violescens iNaturalist | Na e m a |
Thank you Ethan Beaver & Aidan Beutel for confirming the id of this species for us The only one we measured was S4, Adult Female, on Ellura at only ~57mm long (excluding appendages). This is very small compared to the expected 75-110mm. As can be seen from the mating shot (S2 & S3), they can be quite brown, but still with green highlights; or they can be completely green. The colour isn't gender specific (ie you can get brown females & green males). In regards to the Male nymph, Aidan said "One moult until adulthood" Imaged 4(2M,2F,1J) in Feb(2:1M,1F,1J) & Mar(2:1M,1F) | ||
| Dog-eared Stick Insect Hyrtacus tuberculatus iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Matthew Connors & Aidan Beutel for confirming the id of this species for us The adult male was ~55mm long, the adult female was considerably larger and just over 80mm. The body parts of stick insects are a little harder to work out than most insects. It looks like they have 5 main parts rather than 3. This is because the thorax is broken up into 3 distinct parts, where it often looks like one. The head is obvious, then the thorax starts with the pronotum (looks like a collar behind the head). The 2nd part of the thorax is the Mesonotum & the 3rd part is the Metanotum, followed up by the abdomen from the hindlegs back. Imaged 5(2M,3F) in Jan(2:1M,1F), Mar(1F) & Dec(2:1M,1F) | |||
| Orange Stick Insect Lysicles sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Aidan Beutel for identifying and Ethan Beaver & Matthew Connors for helping with the id of this species for us Originally thought to be Children's Stick Insect (Tropidoderus childrenii), named after zoologist John George Children, not because children like them. More details about him can be found here John George Children Thank you to Frank Prinz & Martin Lagerwey for the link; via Bowerbird. Imaged 1M in Jan | |||
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Bark Lice (Psocodea); 3 species, 2 from Ellura - Bark Louse (Ectopsocidae); 1 species, none from Ellura | Bark Louse Ectopsocus sp | Na a | To separate Bark Lice from Psyllids, Dr Francesco Martoni said "the shape of the head (quite "detached" from thr body), the very long antennae that look very sinuous and almost appear not segmented, as well as the wing veins, which tent to generate more than one cell per vein towards the margin of the wing." Imaged 1 in Oct |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Bark Lice (Psocodea); 3 species, 2 from Ellura - Bark Louse (Psocidae); 2 species from Ellura | Bark Louse Clematostigma cf maculiceps iNaturalist | Na e m | ~3mm long. Not quite sure on this one. It looks very close to C. maculiceps in terms of markings and wing venation. But the wings are cloudy and it just seems too small. Imaged 1 in Oct | ||
| Bark Louse Trichadenotecnum enderleini iNaturalist | Na e m |
1st Live Photo on-line: At only 2.5mm body & head length, it wasn't the easiest animal we've tried to photograph It seems to be a relatively common species but isn't described in Smithers (1990) that we can see. However, it matches very closely Ptycta enderleini, in the paper "Systematic Position of Trichadenotecnum enderleini" by Yoshizawa & Smithers. We use the ALA for naming, which still uses the old name; Trichadenotecnum enderleini, not Ptycta enderleini as described in the above paper. Imaged 8 in Apr(3), May(3), Aug(1) & Sep(1) | |||
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Thrips (Thysanoptera); 2 species from Ellura - Thrips (Phlaeothripidae); 2 species from Ellura | Giant Thrips Idolothrips spectrum iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us ~8mm from the front of the eyes, to the base of the abdomen; not including antennae nor tail. This is a bit of a scientific joke we think "Giant" as in much bigger than others, but still tiny. Note the hairy wings. Imaged 2 in May(1) & Oct(1) | |
| Thrips Phlaeothripidae sp | Na e m a | A strange note on the English language - it seems it's one thrips or two thrips, not one thrip. Imaged 5 in Feb(1), May(2), Nov(1) & Dec(1) | ||
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Caddisfies (Trichoptera); 2 species from Ellura - Tubecase Netspinning Caddisfly (Ecnomidae); 1 species from Ellura | Small Caddisfly Ecnomus sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Body & head are only ~4mm. Often surprises us we find water born insects on Ellura given we don't have any standing water & it's semi-arid. But they keep turning up, to our wonder & enjoyment These look a lot like brown lacewings. Superficially the long palps separate them out. Imaged 4 in Jan(2) & Feb(2) |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Caddisfies (Trichoptera); 2 species from Ellura - Long-horned Caddisfly (Leptoceridae); 1 species from Ellura | Long-horned Caddisfly Leptoceridae sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Came to night light. We didn't realise but we still didn't get the entire antenna into the shot. The other antenna seemed shorter, perhaps snapped off. It also seems to be split. These look a lot like brown moths. Officially the difference is that moths have "scales", caddisflies have "hairs". However, it's very difficult to differentiate. Superficially the long, jointed palps separate them out. Imaged 13 in Jan(2), Mar(6), Apr(1), May(2), Sep(1) & Oct(1) |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Silverfishes (Zygentoma); 4 species from Ellura - Silverfish (Lepismatidae); 4 species from Ellura | Striped Silverfish Lepismatidae sp ES01 | Na e m | Imaged 1 in Dec | |
| Silverfish Lepismatidae sp ES02 | Na e m | Imaged 4 in Nov(2) & Dec(2) | ||
| Silverfish Lepismatidae sp ES03 | Na e m | Imaged 2 in Apr(1) & Dec(1) | ||
| Orange Spotted Silverfish Lepismatidae sp ES04 iNaturalist | Na e m | Imaged 1 in Apr | ||
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Crustaceans (Malacostraca) - Crustaceans (Amphipoda); 1 species, none from Ellura - Landhoppers (Talitridae); 1 species, none from Ellura | Terrestrial Amphipod Talitridae sp iNaturalist | Na a |
~6mm long. Found in the front lawn of our place in Lobethal, in January on the shady side of a large tree. There's one here with different coloured antennae & legs to the others. They were all collected at the same time in the same location. This variation is possibly due to different species/gender/age. Thomas Mesaglio said "They need moisture/water to prevent drying out, but will drown with too much water. I think there are a few different genera/species as you'd expect, but the most common one in Australia is Arcitalitrus sylvaticus, which has also been introduced to the US, UK, NZ, etc". Chris Lambkin said "Yes we get lots of these on occassions when pan trapping as Thomas described. Even get them in Malaise Traps in moist environments. Interestingly when they die they turn orange, especially in alcohol!" Ian Gibbins said "Amphipods are terrestrial crustaceans. They are probably related to another group of terrestrial crustaceans, the Isopods, which include slaters and so-called pill bugs". "They are not especially closely related to true shrimps, prawns, etc. Amphipods are common in our garden in Belair - turn over a long standing pot or old brick, and they will spring out." Imaged 1 in Jan |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Crustaceans (Malacostraca) - Peracarid Crustaceans (Isopoda); 4 species, 3 from Ellura - Terrestrial Crustacean (Armadillidae); 1 species from Ellura | Grey Slater Buddelundia sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Agapakis Nikos for confirming and Grant Schiermeyer for helping with the id of this species for us Those we have found vary between 10 to 16 mm long. We photographed the 5th, dead, specimen to highlight the hour-glass shape We thought this was a Pill Bug (Armadillidium vulgare). It's difficult to see here but the Telson (last posterior plate) has an hour-glass shape. Grant spotted our mistake and also noted: "You can tell the families apart by the telson and the front of the head. Armadillids will have an hourglass telson and Armadillidiids have a triangular or trapezoidal telson. The front of an Armadillid head is usually one smooth line that may be broken in the center while an Armadillidiid will have a nose-like projection in the middle of the head." Imaged 10 in Mar(1), Apr(3), May(2), Jun(1), Aug(1) & Nov(2) |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Crustaceans (Malacostraca) - Peracarid Crustaceans (Isopoda); 4 species, 3 from Ellura - Terrestrial Crustacean (Armadillidiidae); 1 species, none from Ellura | Pill Bug Armadillidium vulgare iNaturalist | If a |
Thank you Grant Schiermeyer for confirming the id of this species for us Interestingly, Atlas only has 2 species described in this family and they are both introduced. Notice the trapezoidal telson of this family mentioned by Grant above. We think the colour variation is due to the specimen #4 recently moulting. Specimen #7 is the colour of an older specimen. Imaged 7 in Jan(1), Mar(3), Sep(1), Oct(1) & Dec(1) |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Crustaceans (Malacostraca) - Peracarid Crustaceans (Isopoda); 4 species, 3 from Ellura - Terrestrial Crustacean (Philosciidae); 1 species from Ellura | Slater Laevophiloscia yalgoonensis iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Agapakis Nikos for confirming the id of this species for us Imaged 1 in Jun |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Crustaceans (Malacostraca) - Peracarid Crustaceans (Isopoda); 4 species, 3 from Ellura - Terrestrial Crustacean (Porcellionidae); 1 species from Ellura | Common Rough Woodlouse Porcellio scaber iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you Matt Campbell for confirming the id of this species for us ~10mm long Imaged 1 in Nov |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Ostracods (Ostracoda) - Ostracods (Ostracoda); 1 species, none from Ellura - Ostracods (Ostracoda); 1 species, none from Ellura | Ostracod Ostracoda sp | Na m | Imaged 1 in Mar |
| Animals (Animalia) - Molluscs (Mollusca) - Bivalves (Bivalvia) - Cockles (Cardiida); 1 species, none from Ellura - Tellins and Allies (Tellinidae); 1 species, none from Ellura | Little White Tellen Tellinota albinella iNaturalist | Na c | Thank you Ben Travaglini for identifying and Thomas Mesaglio for confirming the id of this species for us ~60mm wide. Found on the beach by our little 16m old grandson. We thought it was a cockle or pipi, but we've never seen one this salmon colour before. It turns out it's in a totally different taxon family! Even Pipi's are in a different order to cockles. Imaged 1 in Jul |
| Animals (Animalia) - Molluscs (Mollusca) - Bivalves (Bivalvia) - Venus Clams (Venerida); 1 species, none from Ellura - Trough Shells (Mactridae); 1 species, none from Ellura | Reddish Trough Shell Austromactra rufescens iNaturalist | Na c | Thank you Ben Travaglini for identifying this species for us ~55mm wide. Found on the beach by our little 16m old grandson. We thought it was a cockle or pipi, but it's in a totally different taxon order! Ben said "Almost definitely has to be this species, just haven't seen one with ribs this far towards the umbo." The umbo is the raised bit at the top of the photo; near the hinge. Imaged 1 in Jul |
| Animals (Animalia) - Molluscs (Mollusca) - Gastropods, Slugs, And Snails (Gastropoda) - Marine Snails & Slugs (Hypsogastropoda); 1 species from Ellura - Large Sea Snails (Buccinidae); 1 species from Ellura | Predatory Sea Snail Cominella cf sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ben Travaglini for identifying this species for us ~15mm long. We're pretty sure this is a calcified fossil we dug up when installing our septic tank. Didn't find it then, only the other day on the ground. We weren't sure if it was Terrestrial or not, but Ben's id pointing to Marine species confirms it's a fossil. Ben said "Definitely a marine species, potentially in the genus Cominella" We were an ocean here millenia ago, and the floor is supposed to be ~60m below us. But we're pretty sure that's incorrect as we've found fossils here on the surface before. Shell Hill at Black Hill is only 10 or so km to our South. All the limestone (calcrete actually) rocks on the surface out this way were formed from leaching of the limestone table/ocean floor below. The calcium came from sea shells. Imaged 1 in May |
| Animals (Animalia) - Molluscs (Mollusca) - Gastropods, Slugs, And Snails (Gastropoda) - Land Snails & Slugs (Stylommatophora); 5 species, 4 from Ellura - Typical Snail (Helicidae); 2 species, 1 from Ellura | Garden Snail Cornu aspersum iNaturalist | If e m a | Thank you Thomas Mesaglio & Dr Kevin Bonham AM for confirming the id of this species for us The shell was ~28mm long & ~23mm high. 4 eye stalks. They don't seem to have an obvious umbilicus (centre hole). They are very variable in colour & pattern making id difficult. We normally mirror some images to always have the head point to the left. Kevin said "As snails and slugs are not symmetrical it is best not to reverse photos of them as genuinely reversed specimens are very rare natural freaks." As such, we have now put them all in there natural orientation. Imaged 3 in Apr(2) & Dec(1) | |
| White Italian Snail Theba pisana iNaturalist | If c | Thank you Dr Kevin Bonham AM for identifying this species for us ~18mm across. These are easily confused with another introduced snail, the Common White Snail (Cernuella virgata). The centre hole (the umbilicus) is covered, or nearly covered, here. Kevin said "Theba - partly closed umbilicus, this colour pattern is very characteristic of Theba and also spiral micro-sculpture (absent on Cernuella) just visible in some images." Imaged 1 in Jul | ||
| Animals (Animalia) - Molluscs (Mollusca) - Gastropods, Slugs, And Snails (Gastropoda) - Land Snails & Slugs (Stylommatophora); 5 species, 4 from Ellura - Small Land Snail (Hygromiidae); 1 species from Ellura | Common White Snail Cernuella virgata iNaturalist | If e m |
Thank you Mike Burrell, Kevin Huang & Dr Kevin Bonham AM for confirming the id of this species for us ~6 across. These are easily confused with another introduced snail, the White Italian Snail (Theba pisana). The centre hole (the umbilicus) is covered, or nearly covered, with T. pisana. So a photo of the umbilicus is requred for definate identification. It was how we were able to id these specimens. Matt Parr from iNaturalist says that T. pisana has a flatter top/spire and more inflated shell than Cernuella virgata. Thanks Matt Imaged 4 in Jun(1), Jul(1), Oct(1) & Dec(1) |
| Animals (Animalia) - Molluscs (Mollusca) - Gastropods, Slugs, And Snails (Gastropoda) - Land Snails & Slugs (Stylommatophora); 5 species, 4 from Ellura - Keelback Slug (Limacidae); 1 species from Ellura | Threeband Slug Ambigolimax sp iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you Dr Kevin Bonham AM for confirming the id of this species for us It's not possible to separate these into species with dissection. We asked Kevin if this might be native. He said "All Ambigolimax in Australia, and anything else that looks like them, are introduced." When we querried the hole in it's side he said "That hole is the pneumostome or breathing pore. Normal feature." It's so weird that it's only on one side! On another obs, when comparing Limax sp to these, Kevin said "Limax often have well-defined stripes on the tail end but typically not on the mantle. There are a few here and there where the spotting on the mantle forms into irregular stripe-like markings, generally broader than on Ambigolimax. Some other differences include that the end of the tail in Limax tends to be sharply keeled and also the tubercles (ridges) on the tail end of Limax tend to be serrated-looking." Imaged 1 in May |
| Animals (Animalia) - Molluscs (Mollusca) - Gastropods, Slugs, And Snails (Gastropoda) - Land Snails & Slugs (Stylommatophora); 5 species, 4 from Ellura - Chrysalis Snails (Pupillidae); 1 species from Ellura | Bronze Pupasnail Omegapilla australis iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Dr Kevin Bonham AM, Frank Walther & Ben Travaglini for identifying this species for us ~3mm long. Woo Hoo, our first native snail! It does get disconcerting to only find introduced species. Notice there are different colour forms, which is not diagnostic. They look remarkably like Gecko/small reptile scats. At first we didn't even recognise them as animals. Gently removed them from the wall and they stayed motionless. After catching 10 or more over the last month, one of them started moving and we were lucky to get a shot of the animal (well outside it's shell) Kevin said "This is what they look like when adult - the outer lip is thickened" We noticed the darker one became pale around the 1st whorl within hours, which really surprised us. We suggested the colour difference was perhaps due to the animal inside retreating further in. Ken responded with "Yes the shell is paler than the live animal. These multi-whorled species can retreat a long way into their shell when not active for whatever reason." This indicates how translucent the shell is. Imaged 2 in Jun |
| Animals (Animalia) - Flatworms (Platyhelminthes) - Free-living Flatworms (Rhabditophora) - Planarians (Tricladida); 1 species, none from Ellura - Flatworm (Geoplanidae); 1 species, none from Ellura | Adelaide's Planarian Artioposthia adelaidensis iNaturalist | Na a |
Thank you Dr Leigh Winsor for identifying and Reiner Richter for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line 1st Record on Atlas Very variable in size, ~45mm, as they can easily stretch out or compress. Weight would be a much more useful measure. Imaged 1 in Nov |
| Animals (Animalia) - Sponges (Porifera) - Demosponges (Demospongiae) - Demosponges (Demospongiae); 1 species, none from Ellura - Demosponges (Demospongiae); 1 species, none from Ellura | Demosponge Demospongiae sp iNaturalist | Na c | Thank you Ben Travaglini for identifying and David Muirhead for confirming the id of this species for us ~120mm wide. Found on the beach by our little 16m old grandson. Ben said "As far as I can ID, sponges can be tricky." Dave then said "Many, sometimes most of the sponges found beach washed (anywhere in the world AFAIK, but certainly here in southern Australia) are very different in appearance, slightly reduced in size and much lighter (density/weight). And when they are very degraded like your grandkid's example, they have lost basically all their living colour. They usually look light brown or grey, even white, when they've been degraded (by natural processes of decay) to this extent. Really they are just the mineral skeleton at this stage. Your sponge might have been grey, orange, mauve, pink, red or just about any colour of the rainbow when alive and attached to substrate. Imaged 1 in Jul |
| Copyright © 1996-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. |