Random Pics from the past few months herping (Pic Heavy)

[Ishah]

Oh and aside from that, there is a fair bit of tin and wood and stuff around from building random things and leftover stuff from jobs dad has done etc all good for herps to hide in and under and sunbake etc, not to mention we have a two abandoned caravans and sheds down the bottom and stuff LOL

 

[Ishah]

Here is a couple of pics of a Lacie I stopped for in the middle of the driveway on my way to work! (I was running semi-late, but photographing a reptile is well-worth being that little bit later for ) Theres always enough time to stop and take a few quick pics :lol:

Sorry its so far away, I was scared that if I had of moved closer, that would scare him and he'd run off before I could take even one! As it was, I just hung my camera out the window and took shots as I slowly creeped closer in the car LOL! I only got 4 shots in before he scurried away into the bush!

I liked the patterning on his tail the best.

Enjoy

 

[sarah_m]

Aawww! So jealous. Can i come and live with you? please, please, PLEASE!!!!!
The only wildlife at my place are sparrows. I have seen 2 skinks and a frog in almost 4 years.
So sad!

 

[Bax155]

Great thread Ishah, love tha asper so cute!! It would be awesome to herp in ya own backyard!!

 

[Ishah]

Here's the latest visitors I've had... Not that exciting, just some frogs...But different from the usual 5-10 GTF's that reside in just our bathroom alone... Feel free to I.D. them, frogs aren't my strong point and I don't have my uni books with me atm...

^ That was all the same, smaller one....They were both the same species though... I'm pretty sure, and both invaded the bathroom on the same night and at around the same time...This one was absolutely HYPER! It was like it was on speed! :shock: :lol:

^ This is the other bigger frog, it actually arrived first, and was a lot less active and hyper than the smaller one...

By the way the smaller one was bouncing all over the place, my uneducated guess is a type of rocket frog or something, but its been a while since I've had access to all my uni books, and my mind is pretty fuzzy!

 

[Nephrurus]

L. nasuta.

 

[Ishah]

Today's Finds

Cheers for that Neph

Ok, so I was bored today as I've been off work for a while now, so I decided I'd go exploring for a little bit to see if I could find anything, as it was a nice day and hadn't been raining for a couple days... I found mostly bugs, a couple of frogs, and a fair few cane toads - which i didn't bother photographing.

See if you can ID my frogs and bugs... The caterpillar is one I'm very interested in finding out, as I want to know what it's going to turn into, as its such a stand out from the usual. It's under surveillance until it does... It was found on the lemon tree and happily eats lemon tree leaves... If that helps... Does lots of leaf-ball poos too! :lol: Also, if you squeeze gently near its head, as I accidently found out, two hot pink things protrude from the slit in the middle above its eyes, and they look like snails eyes and retract in a similar fashion... This might be a key distinguishing factor? I didnt get pics of this, as I didnt want to molest and harrass it too much, and at the risk of squooshing its brains/head completely, I left it alone.

I also came across another carpet tonight, at around 6.30-6.45pm, it was a beautiful coloured and patterned one, who my brother reckons/swears was 2.5m long...which makes me think that the one I found myself in the first page, was more like 3m or more... as this one was no where near as big as the first one... But then again, his perception could be skewed too :lol:

Anyways, enjoy, and feel free to ID any of them!

Firstly, the Caterpillar:

* Note the little slit above its eyes, this is where the hot pink snail eye things come out...:shock: In between its "horns" or spikes lol - whichever you want to call them

Here's a couple of the spiney-backed spiders near our mandarine tree:

* The last one is a picture of the underneath side of them.

Here is a dead or empty exoskeleton (shed?) of a huntsman type spider, I thought it looked cool swinging in the breeze between the rocks off a bit of web...

Next is a variety of many different skinks... They are all most likely the same species, just there is like 4-5 individual skinks that I shot. My guess is C. schmeltzi... Although, I don't have much experience in IDing small skinks and I haven't had a proper look in my field guide yet. Feel free to correct me.

Now to the frogs... 1st one was found in the doorsill thingy of one of our cars - which is renown for having all sorts of frogs seeking refuge in the doorsills... I've found different types of brown frogs and green tree frogs hiding when I open the door...Guessing this is some sort of Brown frog...:lol:

This one was found on the shipping container door, when I went to find some saddle cloths... My guess is a type of rocket frog? It and its friends were super fast when they hit the big puddles...

I will post the carpet up next in a post of its own, as there is already heaps of pics in this one... and I fear I may give my computer a headache and lose the whole lot and have to start again...:shock:

 

[Ishah]

Today's finds cont. (28.5.09)

Here is the beautiful, magnificent healthy coastal carpet I found... It was a lot lighter and/or differently coloured to the ones we usually see here...More Caramelly?! And it was relatively calm when I went to move it off our driveway out of harm's way after I finished taking photo's, until it tried to climb up me and had a sniff of my leg instead, and smelt our dogs on my jeans, and decided it was dinner time :lol: (I can post a couple of pics of the puncture holes it left when I got back home if anyone is interested... It's probably started to bruise by now...) All in good fun though

This photo was taken shortly before my leg was almost dinner :lol: :

Cheers and Enjoy

 

[Ishah]

OK, so the ID of the caterpillar has really been bugging the crap out of me (excuse the pun), so I've been googling and researching my little heart away.

Firstly, I had an epiphany, that it was the same caterpillar as Caterpie out of pokemon LOL! As it has the same pink forked thingo's and basic colour scheme and non-hairyness... But stuffs me what the hell kind of caterpillar that is! (Yes I was a hardcore Pokemon fan when I was 8-14yrs old - knew all 150 original pokemon + 50% or more of the new lot - embarrassment lol) And Butterfree looks nothing like a Ulysses... Go figure! Damn cartoons! :evil:

So I was still lost... But then I found a site and came to the conclusion that it must be a Papilio ulysses joesa Caterpillar, and hence the North East QLD form/sub-species of a Ulysses butterfly, as it doesnt look exactly the same as the other caterpillar pictures, but is very similar and I've found nothing else even remotely close... But I've not seen or found any pictures of this joesa form/sub-species of caterpillar to compare it to... The site also said that when agitated or threatened they protrude the pink forked thing, and they also happily accept eating orange and lemon tree leaves... So this also backs up my assumption and leads me to believe this is what it is. The butterflies also feed on Lantana nectar and stuff, and there is heaps scattered around our property, and I have seen a few Ulysses butterflies around, funnily enough, feeding on the hybiscuses... Not abundant here, but I've seen a few on occasion.

If it does turn out to be a Ulysses Butterfly, I will be absolutely stoked! I will take zillions of pictures and then let it go reproduce, as they are a definate favourite of mine. If there are any bug nerds out there that can confirm this it would be great!

Cheers

 

[herpkeeper]

well done Ishah, love the asper & the thick tail gecko

 

[funcouple]

Well done awsome photos great photography. Nice to see reptiles in their own enviroment. Cant wait for the next lot you take Ishah.

 

[eipper]

Your skink is Carlia pectoralis or vivax..need a better pic of the scales on the back.

Your first frog is litoria rubella and the second litoria inermis

Cheers,
Scott

 

[Pike01]

Ishah,the caterpillar could be an orchard butterfly,we use to get heaps on our citrus trees.

 

[TedBundy]

wow amazing pictures ishah! nice job.

 

[snocodile]

love the carpet

 

[gecko-mad]

Amazing finds! awesome! wish i lived there!

 

[ravan]

Here's some for the invert experts... feel free to ID them for me (hint hint Hornet lol).













And some froggies for the frog fans...

awww this guys so damn cute!
as well as the one on your laptop hehe

 

[Kris]

Love the Chinese Safety Boots. No herper should leave home without 'em.

 

[Pike01]

How did the caterpillar turn out?

 

[Poggle]

just want to say... FANTASTIC photography on your behalf...