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Don | all galleries >> # more Australian landscapes # >> # south-east Queensland # >> # Ben Bennett Bushland Park # > scribbles
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14-Feb-2014

scribbles

Every mature Scribbly Gum (Eucalyptus racemosa) I’ve ever seen has these scribbles on the bark, and the scribbles are characteristic of this and one other eucalypt species (E. haemostoma).

“These zigzag tracks are tunnels made by the larvae of the Scribbly Gum Moth (Ogmograptis scribula) and follow the insect's life cycle. Eggs are laid between layers of old and new bark. The larvae burrow into the new bark and, as the old bark falls away, the trails are revealed. The diameters of the tunnels increase as the larvae grow, and the ends of the tracks are where the larvae stopped to pupate.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus_haemastoma)

And:

“When the cork cambium starts to produce cork to shed the outer bark it produces scar tissue in response to the feeding of the caterpillar, filling the doubled up part of the larval tunnel with highly nutritious, thin-walled cells.
These replacement cells are ideal food for the caterpillar which moults into its final life stage with legs, turns around and eats its way back along the way it has come. It now grows rapidly to maturity and leaves the tree to spin a cocoon at its base, where it pupates.”
http://www.csiro.au/Outcomes/Environment/Biodiversity/Scribbly-gums-interpreting-their-scribbles/Scribbly-gum-moth-research.aspx)

(web-sites downloaded 2 March 2014)


other sizes: small medium original auto
Yvonne30-Jun-2015 11:09
A fine example... I don't think we have them in SA? v
joseantonio30-Jun-2015 03:58
Very nice presentation and great information.V.
larose forest photos29-Jun-2015 23:11
An abstract art work - these are similar to tunnels made by many beetles here. V
Jim Coffman29-Jun-2015 22:52
This is a very interesting bit of information,Don!
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