ACCURACY UNSURPASSED QUALITY AND Company Pty Ltd le\� m.au Web: http://w Up Front 23 MAR 1998 as a spider. But not any more. By spending time in their com­ pany I have managed to over­ hy do so come my fear. d ? I ' many people fear spt ers. can t I hope that all those people re member ever having a conversa­ who have been coming to the tion with someone who said they Australian Museum's great spi­ like them and I often end up talking der exhibition have also start­ to people about spiders when they ed to see spiders in a new light find out I work at the Australian and will not be so quick with Museum. the heel of their boots or the Jn fact, my office is right next insect spray next time they door to the spider department and meet one. eve1y now and then I find it relaxing So, if you want to get to know to take a break from my work and spiders better, turn to page 40 wonder in there to see what their and take a peak at their some­ res ident arachnids are up to. I've times extreme mating behav­ been lucky enough to see the iour. Funnel-webs having their mites But don't worry, if you can't removed, the tarantula shedding its manage to bring yourself to skin and a big, beautiful golden orb­ feel feel warm and friendly weaver spinning her egg sac. And towards a spider just yet, this � 3: lets not forget dinner time-the issue contains plenty of alter- � most exciting time of all. natives. Try one of the cutest � Spiders really are fascinating creatures and when you stop little mammals in Australia-the Feathertail Glider, or how being afraid of them and take the time to learn a bit about about a very interesting group of Western Australian frogs, or them, then their behaviour is not as unpredictable and fright­ Australia's native miner birds. Then there's seahorses, ening. I say this from experience because for many years I pigeons, butterflies, bilbies and grasshoppers. It's a great suffered from arachnaphobia. I couldn't be in the same room issue-enjoy. -Jennifer Saunders Please send me a complimentary copy of your brochure. Shanng Freycinet 1s an expenence you'll You will need more than JUst one night to immerse yourself 1n Name ___________ ne the beauty ofTasmania's most stunning coastal wilderness area. ver forgetS�uated inside Freycinet Natio naJ Park. Address ___________ Just a walk ;may fromf amous More cime to share our range of highly acclaimed natural Winegla ss Bay. reF yonet Lodge activr!Jes.More cime to share the Lodge's quiet comforts 1s a relaxng, _______ Ph _____ rnult,.award agent knows w1nn1ng haven �in an area . at the end of a fulfilling day. Your travel of 5Pectacular F reyc In e t Lodg e . us today. Send this coupon to: Freycinei Lodge natural scene� all about Freyonet Lodge. Ask about fluvc1N[1 NATIONAL f>ARK •coLLs a"" PO Box 225 Kings Meadows 7249 TASMANIA. A Phone (03) 6257 0/01 Fox (03) 6257 0278 ''r'-, 4349 WORL D OF NATU RAL ACTIVITIE S NAT URE AUST RALIA AUTUMN 1998 Articles Na'lUfe98 VOLUME 25 NUMBER 12 AUTUMN 19 Published by The Australian Museum Trust 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. Phone: (02) 9320 6000 Fax: (02) 9320 6073 Internet:[email protected] Web: http:/ /www.austrnus.gov.au Trust President: Malcolm Long Museum Director: Desmond Griffin WHAT MAKES TICKING FROGS TICK? MANAGING EDITOR Ticking Frogs live in a swampy Jennifer Saunders, B.Sc. pocket of south-western SCIENTIFIC EDITOR Australia and their survival Georgina Hickey, B.Sc. FEATHERTAIL GLIDERS depends on our understanding PHOTO & EDITORIAL RESEARCHER They're tree leapers, sap tickers of the dynamic evolutionary Kate Lowe and hollow log sleepers, and processes that are going on in they're very, very cute. that remote area. DESIGN AND PRODUCTION BY SIMON WARD BY DON DRISCOLL Watch This! Design 24 48 PR! TING Excel Printing ADVERTISI G AND MARKETING Phone: (02) 9320 6178 SUBSCRIPTIONS Phone: (02) 9320 6119 Toll-free (1800) 028 558 Fax: (02) 9320 6073 Annual subscription (4 issues) Within Australia $A33 Other countries $A45 Two-year subscription (8 issues) Within Australia $A63 Other countries $A83 Three-year subscription (12 issues) Within Australia $A89 Other countries $All6 New subscriptions can be made by credit card on the NATUREAUSTRALIA toll-freehotline (1800) 028 558 or A MINER CHALLENGE use tl1e form in tl1is magazine. lf it has been removed, Whenis a Black-eared Miner send cheque, money order or credit card authorisation not a Black-eared Miner? to the address above, made payable to the 'Australian When it starts turning into a Museum' in Australian currency. Yellow-throated Miner! All material appearingin NATURE AUSTRALIA is copyright. Reproduction in part or whole is not permitted BY LES CHRJSTIDIS without written authorisation from the Editor. & TESS HOLDERNESS NATURE AUSTRALIA welcomes articles on the natural and cultural heritage of tl1e Australian Region. Opinions 32 expressed by the autl10rs are their own and do not necessarily represent the policies or views of the Australian Museum. NATURE AUSTRALIA is printed on archival quality paper suitable for library collections. Published 1998 ISSN-1324-2598 _ . NATURE AUSTRALIA (as ANH) is proud winner of the 1987 '88 '89 ® '90 , '91, '92 & '93 Whitley Awa,:ds f�r Best Periodical, and the 1988 & '90 Australian Heritage Awards. Front Cover MAYBE SIZE DOES A Feathertail Glider COUNT at a banksia Female orb-weaving spiders SEAHORSES UNDER inflorescence. The will oftentry to eat rather than SIEGE greet their suitors. Can this Whether seahorses have two rows of stiff hairs magical powers or not, in some projecting sideways extraordinary behaviour countries they're going to need from the tail give it explainthe sometimes huge a miracle to survive. Could a feather-like difference in size between the aquaculture be that miracle? appearance. sexes? Photo by Wesley BY MARK A. ELGAR BY AMANDA VINCENT Tolhurst. 40 56 2 NATURE AUSTRALIA AUTUMN 1998 res NATURE STRIPS Regular Featu Cannibalism Before Sex; RALIST Beaked Whales Suck; Hot ACKYARD NATU THE B Lotus; WhoSaid Earless Frogs LTURE'S VULTURES Can't Hear?; Wingless CU them, race eons: you can eat Scorpion-fly; GenitalEyes; New Pig feed them, em, breed the�n or Zealand Rats; Lemming th d of them! bttlju st try getting ri Latrines; Silk Gift Wrapping; YCK BY STEVE VAN D Blue Balls; Newtritios Eggs?; Blue Blood; Sand-swimming 18 Moles; Quick Quiz. 6 P H O T O A R T THE LAST WORD FLUTTER-BYS TRIUMPH OF THE Various Nature Focus EASTER BILBY photographers present a moth The chocolate Rabbit is out and among butterflies. the Easter bilby is in ... yum! BY NATURE FOCUS BY TIM FLANNERY PHOTO LIBRARY 80 64 REVIEWS A Fossicker's Guide to Columns Gemstones in Australia; Snakes in Question; The Graham RARE & ENDANGERED LETTERS Pizzey & Frank Knight Field Eyewitness Accounts; The Guide to the Birds of Australia; LEICHHARDT'S Sightless Tiger; WhyDo Native Australian Flora; Listen... Our GRASSHOPPER Stingless Bees Fight?; Wombats, Land is Crying; Australian Inappropriate fire regimes Genetics and Politics; Bird Sounds Audio Tapes; mean that Kakadu's Pandanus Dieback Explained. Frogs and Reptiles of the spectacular grasshoppers are Sydney Region. struggling to stay one jump 4 ahead of extinction. 72 BY PENELOPE SOCIETY PAGE GREENSIADE & LYN LOWE Interested in nature but not 20 sure what to do or where to go ? ature Australia's Society Page is a great place to start. 75 THE GUIDE Nature Australia's market place. 76 Q&A Cocoon of Danger; Mixed Signals; Big Happy Cats; Pie Teaser. 78 WIL D T HIGSN VIEWSFROM THEFOUR DIMENSIONTH MADE IN AUSTRALIA FRIED AND FOOTLESS ,i Far Ironi bezng b an evolutionary FOSSIL FANGERS ack water, Australia could II be Snakes: big ones, little ones, ie orig·zn 01,r many a d of the plant fat ones, skinny ones. n an zmal species around world the Australia's had a taste of -including hat"c1 world · the them all, and they've had a 's bir d species taste of us! BYTJM LOW 22 BY MICHAEL ARCHER 70 3 NATUREA USTALR AUTUIA MN 1998 It:::, - as hard as you push the DELETE key the word 'but' LETTERS will remain in discussions of the Thylacine; I think for The forum for readers to much longer than Michael air their views about their Archer can hold his breath. concerns, past articles and -Tony Dwyer Tasmania interesting personal events. The Sightless Tiger I've never seen a Thylacine That Tacit Tassie 'Devil' ' And folk who might rep�rt Eyewitness a report of a Thylacine would search in 1983 after one of a sight their most expe1ienced wildlife Accounts not be believed because they Aren't strictly on the level. r officers reported a clear In Michael Acher's are presumed not to be there. Their appetite for sheep r sighting at close quarters in scoldings of those who dare I also wonder if Acher applied at night think the Thylacine might his scepticism to pre-1936 an area with a history of reports. Since then any Brought them into bad odour exist (Nature Aust. Autumn eyewitness reports of Thyla­ Then bounty-hunt spelt ' 1997) I fear the value of cines. They could be just as budget has been in the low hundreds of dollars per year, exeunt, eyewitness accounts was unreliable as present-day Thus to promote their coda. confused with the likelihood ones.