Table Of ContentNaturalistNotes
Lifeinaweedylawn
Introduction
Until 28 December 2009, I had not realised how interesting a
patchofweedscouldbe.OnthatdayIwaswalkingalongafoot-
path nearthe north-west side ofthe intersection ofBlackburn
andNormanbyRoadsintheMelbournesuburbofNottingHill,
when I noticed a caterpillar on a Dandelion Taraxacum offici-
naleflower. Pausingfor a closerlook, I soon foundmanymore
caterpillars (see figure on p. 150) on Dandelion and Cats Ear
(Flatweed) Hypochoeris radicata flowers. Wonderingwhatthey
were the larvae of, I started looking forbutterflies and moths.
Overaperiodofabout 12weeksearlyin2010, 1foundnotonly Fig. 1. Plantainmoths
butterfliesandmoths,butnumerousothercreaturesaswell.
Plantsandfungi
Several years ago, this particular area was landscaped, and all
existingvegetationwasremoved.Turfwaslaidin2005,andwa-
tered regularly until established. On 28 January 2006, during
veryhumidweather, ahostoffruit-bodiesofthefungus Cono-
cybe lactea emerged from the turf. I have not seen this fungus
intheareasince.
Today, the grass is interspersed with avariety ofweeds, espe-
ciallyalong Blackburn Road. Mostobvious areDandelion, Cats
Ear and Hawkbit Leontodon taraxocoides all with bright yellow
,
flowers.Othersinclude:PurslanePortulacaoleracea Smallflower
,
MallowMalvaparviflora RedflowerMallowModiolacaroliniana
Common (ribbed) Plan,tain Plantago lanceolata Bucks Horn,
,
PlantainP. coronopus CapeweedArctothecacalendula Blackber-
, ,
ryNightshadeSolanum nigrum MuskyStorksbillErodium mos-
,
chatum White Clover Trifolium repens andjustafewCommon
, ,
SowthistleSonchusoleraceus,andSpear (Scotch)Thistle Cirsium
vulgare.Therearealsovariousinvasivegrassesandafewpatches
ofbareground.
CreaturesSeen
ThePlantainMothScopula rubraria (Geometridae) (Fig. 1) was
verycommon,stayingcloseto thegroundandflyingonlyshort Fig.3. MeadowArgus
distanceswhendisturbed. Thelarvaeofthis moth feedon both
Bucks Horn Plantain (Australian insects web site) and ribbed
plantain (Common 1990).
Butterflies seeninthe areawere: Common Grass BlueZizina
labradus (Fig. 2), Meadow Argus Junonia villida (Fig. 3), and
CabbageWhitePierisrapae(Fig.4),allobservedonDandelion,
Cats Ear or Hawkbit flowers; Australian Painted Lady Vanessa
kershawi (Fig. 5), seen on the ground; and Common Brown
Heteronympha merope (Fig. 6), an occasionalvisitormoreusu-
allyfoundamongtheeucalyptsonthesouth-westernsideofthe
intersection.SinceBraby(2005)mentionsthegenusArctotheca
,
which would include Capeweed, as a food plant of Austral-
ian Painted Ladylarvae, I hoped that more ofthese butterflies
wouldbepresent, butIsawonlyone. Otherinsectsseen onthe
Dandelion, Cats Ear and Hawkbitflowers included Honeybee Fig.4. CabbageWhite
Apis mellifera, native bees Homalictus punctatus (Fig. 7) and
Vol 127 (I) 2010 155
NaturalistNotes
Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) lanarium (Fig. 8), hover fly (Fig. 9),
blowfly, a variety oftiny flies, and bugs from the superfamily
Lygaedoidea (Fig. 10). During one of my visits, a sand wasp
Bembixsp. cameto a patchofbareground, alightingonlyvery
briefly. It was a beautiful insect, about the size ofa European
wasp,withyelloweyes andablueandblackstripedabdomen.
OnliftinguptheleavesofsomeoftheweedsIglimpsedhosts
ofother arthropods scurrying away to safety: tiny red mites;
elusive, well-camouflaged spiders; bugs and beetles (includ- Fig.5. AustralianPaintedLady
ing weevils) ofvarious shapes, sizes and colours; and numer-
ous smallbrown ants. Early in the morning, manyofthe bugs
andbeetlescouldbeseenonthefootpath (seefigureonp. 114).
Theyeitherproceededacrosstothenaturestripwheretherewas
similarhabitat,orreturnedwhencetheycame.Byabout9.30am
EDTmostofthemwerewellhiddeninthevegetation,andgen-
erallyremainedso duringdaylighthours. Theants,bycontrast,
couldbeseenallday. InMarch,afewwingedgrasshopperswere
present. I hadn’t noticed them before, so I don’t know ifthey Fig.6. CommonBrown
werethereallalongoriftheyarrivedaftertheywereabletofly.
I never found outwhat those caterpillars would have turned
into.AccordingtostaffatMuseumVictoria(pers.comm.),they
wereprobablylarvaeofmothsinthefamilyNoctuidae,afamily
with almost 2000 species (Zborowski and Storey 2003). They
musthavebeen unpalatable tobirds, because although easyto
see, they were not eaten by the Australian Magpies Cracticus
tibicen Common Starlings Sturnus vulgaris or Common My-
,
nasS. tristis thatforageinthe generalarea. An evenworsefate
awaited them, for on 6 January 2010 their brief lives ended
whentheyweremincedupbyalawnmower. Fig.7. Nativebee
VirgilHubregtse
6Sanikystreet
NottingHill,Victoria3168
Acknowledgements
ThankyoutotheDiscoveryCentrestaffatMuseumVictoria,especially
SimonHinkley,forinformationaboutseveraloftheinsectsseen.
References
AustralianInsectswebsite<http://australian-insects.com/lepidoptera/ster/rubrar.
html>(viewed24April2010)
M
Braby (2005) The completefield guide to butterflies ofAustralia (CSIRO:
Collingwood,Vic.)
Common, IFB (1990) Moths of Australia (Melbourne University Press: Fig.8. Nativebee
Melbourne)
ZborowskiPandStoreyR(2003)AfieldguidetoinsectsinAustralia.2nded.(Reed
NewHolland:Sydney)
Fig. 10.Bugsfrom
thesuperfamily
Lygaedoidea
Fig.9.Hoverfly
156 TheVictorianNaturalist
