Australia

/me looks out the window.

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Interesting Fauna: Giant wood moth

'Amazing' giant wood moth found at south-east Queensland school

A giant moth belonging to the heaviest species of its kind in the world has been discovered at a primary school in south-east Queensland.

Builders at Mount Cotton State School discovered the giant wood moth on the building site of new classrooms at the school.

The school's principal, Meagan Steward, said it was an "amazing find".

"Our new building is situated on the edge of a rainforest and during the build the moth was found," Ms Steward told ABC Radio Brisbane.

"Our staff and students weren't surprised by the find because we have a range of animals at Mount Cotton, but certainly this moth was not something we had seen before."
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Click the link and check out the pictures. It's one thing to assert that this thing is huge, but I think it will still surprise you.
 
lionking said:
What does it eat, Drop Bears? :)
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Nothing. They survive only for a few days. They are one of those species that gorges itself as a grub and then just don't feed when they've metamorphosed into their adult form.

Honorary fellow of the Australian National Insect Collection, Ted Edwards, said as caterpillars the creatures bore deep into gum trees and fed on the bark of the growing tissue of the tree.

"They stay like that for two or three years, with a central bore right in centre of tree and then just before they turn into a pupa, they cut out a circle of bark … and build a series of defences against ants and other insects," he said.

"That's when they turn into a pupa, and then when they come out, they are very rarely seen."

He said the moths had a total life span of about three or four years, and the adults could not feed or drink.
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Koalas removed from south-west forest after eating themselves out of house and home

A south-west Victorian koala population is being moved from its Cape Otway home for the eighth time in six years after eating its way through the local manna gum habitat.

The koala population in the Great Ocean Road town, three hours' west of Melbourne, boomed in the mid-2000s and quickly outgrew its food source, resulting in the secret culling of 700 koalas in 2015 due to "overpopulation issues".

The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) has conducted several relocation programs in the years since in an attempt to control koala population numbers and let the native manna gum habitat regenerate.

As a result, the Cape Otway population was brought from a peak of 13.9 koalas per hectare to a low of 1.8 koalas per hectare in March 2018.

However, that number has jumped again, back to 2.75 koalas per hectare, meaning approximately 330 koalas currently call the 120 hectares of manna gum at Cape Otway home.

DELWP said a sustainable koala density was approximately one koala per hectare for mixed eucalyptus forests.
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arthwollipot said:
Interesting Fauna: Giant wood moth

'Amazing' giant wood moth found at south-east Queensland school

Click the link and check out the pictures. It's one thing to assert that this thing is huge, but I think it will still surprise you.
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1) How poisonous is it?
2) Sounds like a Saturday night out in any UK town: “…. In most cases when they emerge, the females, they just crawl up a local tree or stump of a fence post and sit there and wait for males to find them …”
 
Darat said:
1) How poisonous is it?
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Indigenous people eat the grubs, so in that stage at least not at all. Nor is it venomous.

Darat said:
2) Sounds like a Saturday night out in any UK town: “…. In most cases when they emerge, the females, they just crawl up a local tree or stump of a fence post and sit there and wait for males to find them …”
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I'll have to take your word for that :D
 
The Otways are also subject to regular bushfires, which reduces the available habitat for koalas. So while they breed well in the region, they are also losing habitat. Which means the density of koalas goes up per hectare of AVAILABLE habitat.
 
Canberra revealed as most sustainable city in the world

Canberra has been named the most sustainable city in the world, leading with excellent public transport and air quality, according to a new study by Uswitch.

The study analysed green spaces throughout each city, along with public transport, air quality and energy sources, giving each an index score out of 600.

Canberra came out on top with an index score of 427, beating Madrid (403) and Brisbane (382) to claim the title of the most sustainable city in the world.
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This is nice to know, but I'm not sure the writer understood what was going on when they wrote this:

Canberra was also found to have low pollution levels, only scoring 13.89 on the pollution index, meaning out of every 100 particles of air 13.89 are polluted.
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