The Victorian Naturalist Volume 112(1)1995 February Conservation of Invertebrates Published by The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria since 1884 Notice of the Annual General Meeting The Annual General Meeting of the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria will be held at the Herbarium, Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra, 8 pm, Monday, 10 April 1995. Agenda 1. Confirmation of the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting held 11 April 1994. 2. Receipt and adoption of Annual Report for the year ended 3 1 December 1 994. Receipt and adoption of Financial Statements and associated reports. Election of Members of Council. Election of Office Bearers. Appointment of Auditors (remuneration to be determined by Council). Any other business of which proper notice has been given in accordance with the Articles of Association. 8. President's Address. Election of Councillors and Office Bearers All members of Council and Office Bearers retire annually but arc eligible for re-election. Nominations by two financial members of the Club are required for the following positions: Council President 2 Vice-Presidents Secretary Treasurer Six other members Office Bearers Assistant Treasurer Excursion Secretary Editor (The Victorian Naturalist) Sales Officer (Books) Editor (The Newsletter) Sales Officer (The Victorian Naturalist) Librarian Activities Co-ordinator Conservation Coordinator Publicity Officer membCrS are Ufged t0 ensure its fimn^hP k °W"S viability by 6 P nS Wit h ° Pers ns Wi,lin£ and abIc to contribute to vftie unoSr nT° , g rUl W°rk of lhc Club Arrange a nomination yourself ' for S^^SSor encourage some otherT appropriate member to be nominated Nominations should be in the hands of the Secretary before the Annual General Nomination Forms are available from the Secretary, Geol, Paterson, 5716436. Species-scape Q Whee ' er ^Z^^ ^' W' Annals of the Entomological major that ^^2S3T °/ aniniaI groups are de Picled at "^ eaCh gr°Up The of arthropods and ' *»"'««"* t e ™nde« /^ ? evident. bt vertebrates Many of the °[™?* ™r is clearly KeKmVertebrdtes shou| d T possibly be vertebrates smaller'') larger (or some of the Errata Volume 111 (6) 1994 Kate Weindorfer. The Forgotten Partner of the Cradle Mountain Legend Sally Schnackenberg. Due to a technical error the numbers referred to in the footnotes were left out of the text. The editors wish to apologise for this mistake and trust this sheet will help. Footnote Position in text Number Page Column Line Word 1 227 1 9 Park 2 227 1 43 Kate 3 227 1 44 Valley 4 227 2 10 Fingal 5 228 1 1 grant 6 228 1 5 Launceston 7 228 1 7 Launceston 8 228 1 13 1880's 9 228 1 16 Hobart 10 228 1 20 State 11 228 1 22 miner 12 228 1 26 Annie 13 228 1 28 talent 14 228 1 34 coast 15 228 2 2 Victoria 16 228 2 7 1902 17 228 2 10 Club 18 228 2 12 Naturalist 19 228 2 15 members 20 228 2 17 meetings 21 228 2 21 1905 22 228 2 23 Hardy 23 228 2 24 Kershaw 24 228 2 33 marry 25 228 2 47 time 26 228 2 52 married 27 228 2 52 later 28 229 1 5 Weindorfer 29 229 1 22 Lea logging 30 229 1 34 31 229 2 35 gone 32 229 2 46 x-rays 33 229 2 46 inconclusive death 34 231 1 35 death 35 231 1 39 Books Available from FNCV books on natural history The Club has, over the years, published a number of Sales Officer. It is currently topics which can be purchased from the Book distributing four of these as follows: 'What Fossil Plant is That?' (J.G.Douglas) $12.50 localities and fossil col lection A guide to the ancient flora of Victoria, with notes on 'Wildflowersofthe Stirling Ranges' (Fuhrer and Marchant) $7.95 144 magnificent illustrations of the spectacular flora of this region 'Down Under at the Prom' (M.OToole and M.Turner) $16.95 A guide to the marine sites and dives at Wilson's Promontory with maps and numerous colour illustrations 'AField Companion to Australian Fungi' (B. Fuhrer) $19.95 A reprint of the earlier book with additional photographs and changes of name incorporated. Alan Parkin Book Sales Officer 850 2617(H) 565 4974(B) 1995 Subscription Rates (Includes The Victorian Naturalist) Single member $35 Joint members $45 Concessional (student/pensioner/country) $25 Junior (under 18, no Victorian Naturalist) $5 Other FN Clubs $35 Institutional subscription $50 Overseas subscription AUD $60 Receipts will not be issued unless requested. Subscriptions are due on 1 January in each year Those still unfinancial by April will not receive the journal. \ The Victorian Naturalist Volume 112(1) 1995 February Editor: Robyn Watson Assistant Editors: Ed and Pat Grey Editorial Why Conserve Invertebrates? by Alan Yen and Tim New 4 Contributions Conservation Status of Terrestrial Invertebrates in Victoria, by R. Coy 6 Conservation of Freshwater Invertebrates, by R. Butcher and TJ. Doeg 15 Conservation Issues for Marine Invertebrates in Victorian Waters, by Mark D. Norman and Glenn J. Sant 20 Focussing on Species for Invertebrate Conservation, by T.R. New 29 Protection of Invertebrates in Victoria: the Flora and Fauna Guarantee 32 Act 1988, byPam Clunie and Julia Reed Is Invertebrate Collecting a Threatening Process? 36 by Alan L Yen and Timothy R. New 40 The Species: Elements of a Management Plan, by T.R. New 43 Conservation of Victorian Butterflies, by Ross P. Field Conservation Strategy for a Threatened 'Butterfly Community byAnnJelinek O'Hara 50 Marine Invertebrate Conservation at San Remo, by T. Vulnerable Ecosystems: Victoria's Alpine Regions, 54 by T.R. New and A.L. Yen by Paul A. Home.. 56 Threatened Ecosystems: Agricultural Environments, Houses? by Alan L Yen 58 Is There Life Beyond Butterfly Carolyn Meehan . 60 by . Education: Improving the Image of Invertebrates, can Contribute to Invertebrate How the Community and Naturalists Conservation, by Pat Vaughan Rainforests and their Invertebrate Book Review 'Hidden Rainforests. Subtropical reviewer T.R. New «> Biodiversity' by G. Williams, How to be a 57 Endersby Field Naturalist Entomology, by Ian ISSN 0042-5184 of Australian fauna Illustration by Graham Cover: The cover is a 'species-scape' explanat.on). Millar. (Museum of Victoria), (see facing page for Editorial Editorial: Why Conserve Invertebrates? Until very recently, much of the world's ity, is an important practical facet of a limited conservation expertise has fo- holistic conservation need, but poses sev- cused largely on the needs of vertebrate eral practical problems. As examples, animals and, to a lesser extent, vascular public images of invertebrates create prej- plants, collectively the most obvious and udice against them; their massive publicly appealing components of biolog- diversity means that enumerating taxa to ical communities even though they are provide inventories for a site or habitat is numerically minor constituents. One extraordinarily difficult; many (most) are practical exception to this has been butter- undescribed and unrecognised, and 'lack flies which, because of their unusually of names' is commonly equated to Mack high popular appeal amongst inverte- of interest or importance' ; many are short- brates, have been accepted readily as taxa lived, their biology is unknown, and worthy of conservation. Yet the predom- association of immature stages with inant animals by far in all biological adults is difficult; and little is known of communities are other invertebrates, the factors which influence their abun- many of them small, inconspicuous, un- dance and distributions. Another complex described and unnoticed by most people. problem is logistics - the lack of sufficient Wilson's ( 1 987) categorisation of these as resources, including trained personnel 'the little things that run the world' awak- and adequate finance, to undertake the ened widespread realisation that sustain- work needed to document invertebrate ing Earth's natural ecosystems may de- species and assemblages. pend not simply on the well being of a few Nevertheless, it is clear that many inver- vertebrate species but, rather, on conserv- tebrates are ecological specialists and are ing those myriad less conspicuous vulnerable to a wide range of threats. organisms whose number, biomass and The most important is habitat (biotope) controlling influences in ecological pro- destruction on all scales - many inverte- cesses are of paramount importance. brates are highly localised, so that the More pragmatically, many invertebrates entire range of some species may be only have massive economic relevance to a few hundred square metres, but others human welfare, be they marine molluscs include influence of exotic species, pollu- or crustaceans used as foods, aquatic tion and over-exploitation. insects providing early warning of envi- Yet, despite the vast importance of in- ronmental degradation, insects used in vertebrates in natural ecosystems, their crop pollination, or nematode worms act- public image, and that of people who ing as natural enemies of forestry pests. study them, has not been good. In the In short, their importance in conserva- Parliamentary debate on the National tion has two major aspects: ( ) as targets, 1 Parks Bill in Victoria in 1956, opposition whereby notable species are the focus of was voiced on the formation of a national major conservation management efforts park on the Bogong High Plains with the of the kind familiar in vertebrate conser- comment '... but where would the State vation, and (2) as tools, whereby change Electricity Commission be if suddenly its in the incidence or diversity of given taxa works were invaded by 'bug-hunters'? may be used to monitor the health of The lerps causing short circuits on the natural communities and indicate the telephone lines would be nothing com- effects of human intrusions. Many inver- pared to the damage that would be caused tebrates are far more sensitive than other to high-tension lines by Crosbie organisms to such changes.