New Bugs – JK.Leahy Photography
These tiny mysterious bugs were all over the hibiscus bush a few weeks ago. They are round and flat roughly the size of a pencil top. Interestingly, they lay white bobby pin-head size eggs, soft and translucent like the turtle eggs. They visit the eggs in pairs and leave in pairs which I thought was strange. I have not been able to find more information, but I hope to soon. By all means, if you do know these bugs, tell us.
The fragrant beauty of the frangipani always makes me homesick for Papua New Guinea. It also takes me across the ocean and the Pacific Islands. I am slowly building up my collection of frangipani in my garden in Brisbane and hope one day I could be surrounded by a variety of fragrances all year around. These are only three types out of the 12 different species I have.
The name frangipani came from an Italian perfume made to scent gloves in the 16th Century; the maker was called Marquis Frangipani. The scientific name for these beauties is Plumeria (as known in America). The genus name, Plumeria, commemorates Charles Plumier, a seventeenth century French botanist. The flower is native to Central America, Venezuela and Mexico. And, it grows across the Pacific Islands, Asia and other tropical countries.
Tiny Tree Frog
This tiny tree frog was on our house steps tonight. My son spotted the amphibian (and I’m not sure how he did that in the dark at 8pm). Chris called out to me and I ran for my camera. Because the green tree frog pictures were popular in my post this week, I thought you may enjoy another kind of tree frog, this brown one. It is so tiny that it is even smaller than an adult thumb (see picture above). The frog is also called Litoria ewingi or Southern Brown Tree Frog.
Here are some close-ups which the frog did not enjoy, especially when I used a camera flash. He jumped all over the place and disappeared into the garden after a few shots. I must have terrified it. More frogs around the gardens mean less snakes at our place. If you want to read more about the brown tree frogs and other frogs we have in this country, visit Frogs of Australia.
You can also read and see pictures of the green tree frog on this week’s posts.
My star of Christmas is this beautiful bromeliad flower. It opened on Christmas day and already there is a feast on its delicate nectar. Bromeliads come from the pineapple family and can be grown all-year around. They originally came from the Americas. Read more on Gardening Australia.
Our night visitor never left. The long-horned beetle entered our house on Sunday night and was flying around crashing into everything and everyone. My son took it outside, but yesterday I found it alive and under a floor mat.
The brown/reddish native beetle from the Cerambycidae family (according to Queensland Museum) was supposed to live in open forests and woodlands throughout Australia. It has been accidentally introduced to many overseas countries where it is a serious pest in eucalypt plantations. The white, legless larvae of this beetle bore under the bark of recently dead or sick eucalypts lives for several months.
The beetle is 15–30 mm long. This one in our house was at least 45 mm long. This species has a dark-brown, elongated body with a pale band and spots at tips of wing-covers. The reddish antennae is much longer than the body. When I photographed the beetle yesterday, it was very aggressive. I returned it to the woods.
I found another exotic mysterious plant in my pond – yes, in the pond and we have been here four years. I realised that since the water has almost dried out this spring, it has given the Jacobean or Aztec lily a chance to grow and flower.
Searching on the internet and asking friends about the beautiful red flower, I found this website with the information – mystery solved. Below is what they said:
As there is no need to say much about this beautiful lily apart from the fact that we have found them extremely easy to grow. Jacobean lilies grow very well in full sun.
In Queensland, they tend to flower at all times of the year (in fact, there is very rarely a month without some flowering somewhere in the garden).
Jacobean lilies do less well under trees but do survive and multiply and lastly they prefer to be in soil that drains freely.
The Aztec lily is an absolute joy to have in the garden or in pots and are very companionable with other plants.
After the flowering, I have transferred the Jacobean lily to a nice dry sunny spot, hoping for more gorgeous flowers in the future.
I enjoy this time of the year in Queensland because the bush is full of interesting creatures, both live dead and ones. The garden transforms into a photography playground for me. Not everyone likes insects, I know. Here are some interesting shapes, colours and types of things I found through the lens. My son Chris took the grasshopper shot.
This mysterious and gorgeous flower appeared in one of my pots. I did not plant it, and do not claim any ownership for its cultivation. I guess I own it now, since it is in a pot that I have paid for. And, this pot sits in my garden. Perhaps the birds brought me the seed.
I was surprised to see its glorious bloom a few days ago. I am taking a guess that it is a Peruvian lily, but I could be wrong. I am happy for anyone that knows this flower to identify it.
Here are some close-ups.
The other day I found this tiny ‘gangster’ running around in my garden. It was all over every plant as I chased and tried to shoot it with my macro lens, but ‘he’ was too fast.
His colours reflected the light and I fell in-love with him. Twice, when I got closer, he jumped onto the lens. I tried to not squash him by accident. I spotted something on his back when he jumped off the lens. It was a pattern that looked very close to a skull. Look at the picture below, can you spot it too?
I thought “gangster” was a good name for him. He quickly spun a web in the cherry tree and made it, his home while he waited for his next prey.
The next day, I checked, and the gangster was gone. I just hope the gangster had not become someone’s meal.
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