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Attracting Insects and Birds to Gardens
by Murdoch de Baar Presentation to Wildlife Preservation Society of Qld. Bayside Branch, Capalaba, 25 May 2001. Murdoch's presentation is on attracting insects, birds, lizards and other fauna to the garden, for the southeast Queensland area, including discussion on a few consequential issues.
Plants can be examined by their capacity to provide a nectar source, foliage for food, and / or a fruit source, apart from other issues such as flower beauty, windbreaks etc. Trees are also nesting / resting / hiding places. Examine if your garden is providing fruit and flowers over much of the year. Perhaps your plants cover periods where there is a shortfall in your surrounding area. This will help to keep wildlife about for longer periods. Some trees stand out for features such as extensive flowering periods, as in Callistemon pollandii. Nobody wants a tree that flowers while you're at the supermarket. Your locality may provide restrictions also, such as clay soil structures, tea tree swamps, stony land. You might have a large stone for a backyard, as do some residents of Stanthorpe? Safety should also be a consideration, so choosing giant strangling figs or large gum trees to be placed beside your house, can be a bad decision. Plants that leave prickles to stand on, or grow uncontrollably over your garden, may not be what you want. Many a gardener has regretted the Mango tree leaning over the roof, resulting in the bombing of the roof, squealing flying foxes, fermenting clogged gutters, and those unmentionable dark splats on the walls.
Some vines to consider :
White cedar Melia azedarach is pretty, but can be heavily attacked by White cedar moth Leptocneria reducta. The larvae are covered in irritating hairs. Bunya pine Araucaria bidwillii looks good, attracts cockatoos, but has foliage that is unkind to bare feet, and drops seed pods from unbelievable heights to the delight of your panelbeater. Processionary caterpillars (Tent caterpillars) Ochrogaster lunifer are one of the worst for severe rash-causing hairs, and rest in basal tents on Acacia trunks around the Brisbane area, but are found in branch tents on eucalypts around the Toowoomba region. One way to help eliminate the problem, is by crushing their white fluffy egg masses on trunk bases during Nov. to Jan. Larval hairs can be stirred up during lawn mowing. The irritating properties of hairs can last well after larval death. Papernest wasps never engender a warm feeling of joy, as their stings are painful, but they restore a balance in caterpillar numbers, and they keep you fit.
Humus heaps and branch heaps are good for attracting Flower chafer beetles and Elephant beetles Xylotrupes gideon (for larval development) and Bearded dragons (egg-laying sites) and Blue tongue lizards (snail-feeding sites). Note snail bait can be bad for Blue tongue lizards. The above heaps can also attract termites too. The large Rhinoceros beetle Haploscapanes australicus with an unforked horn on its head, is seldom seen in Brisbane, and breeds in the mulch cores of older trees (see 'Conservation aspects'). Besser blocks / bricks layed first before branches are stacked, can provide a refuge for pet-hassled dragons and skinks, and provide egg-laying sites. Leaf and branch stacks can help legless lizards, geckos and snakes. It has been said that 'bushy environments are snake havens', but then are you 'safe' on a manicured lawn? Carpet pythons do a good job, and are spectular to observe. Some branch stacking can provide larval sites for the brilliant green stag beetle Lamprima latreillei. Rock stacks are good places for orchids, and also refuges for skinks, geckos etc. Bird baths hung in lower branches are a must, particularly in dry weather. A small container of water in under hedges for wandering birds etc. and placement of nesting boxes.
Many people have trouble living with chewed leaves and ragged-looking trees (get over it !). Caterpillars turn to moths and butterflies, and these bring birds and lizards etc. Even stick insects (Leaf eaters) are amazing creatures. Pittosporum etc. can have branches pruned by longicorn beetle larvae, but this can attract Black cockatoos. Mistletoes are often shunned even by conservationists. There are 85 species of native mistletoes in Australia, and many totally dependent insects which feed on them, and I have a display of mistletoe insects to illustrate this group. Some people would argue that mistletoes stress trees, and therefore they should be controlled, but then we should control koalas also. A small patch of unattended grass (including tall grass) does look untidy but will support various skipper butterflies and Evening brown butterflies. Together with the branch heaps and shaggy trees, you'll be the talk of the neighbourhood.
Biodiversity is the species-richness factor. The price you pay for a species-rich area is chewed leaves, pocked-marked stems, mistletoe clumps, etc. giving you an untidy looking yard perhaps. Brisbane has a rich skink fauna and an impressive array of insects. In my Corinda suburban garden, 87 species of butterflies, over 250 species in the order Hymenoptera (includes wasps, parasitic wasps, bees ants) and this includes 34 species of ants and 50 species of native bees (such as the large black and yellow carpenter bee), and some 70 odd species of birds have been recorded. It must be noted here that some 160 butterflies and 370 birds have been recorded for Brisbane and it's environs. Some plant combinations provide their own rich biodiversity such as a Callistemon supporting Dendrophthoe, Notothixos, Viscum mistletoes which attracts birds such as honeyeaters, mickys (or Noisy miners), silvereyes, parrots, mistletoe birds and possums, jezabel butterflies (Delias spp.), azure butterflies (Ogyris spp.), the Mistletoe moth (Comocrus behri) the large mistletoe Emperor moth (Opodiphthera loranthi) and so on. Acacia can attract a diverse fauna and apart from previous listings, includes a number of lycaenid butterflies which eat the flower buds, 3 Hairstreaks (Jalmenus spp.) that eat leaves, the large stick insect Eurycnema goliath, and a number of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae),alas some stem boring wood moths (Endoxyla spp.), and so on. The Eucalyptus also attract a large range of fauna including flying foxes, gliders, koalas, birds, reptiles, and many insects. Jewel beetles, flower chafers, butterflies, moths readily come to the flowers, and an array of leaf eaters like the hugh stick insect Acrophylla titan. The shiny gold christmas beetle Anoplognathus viridiaeneus is one of our gems. The world's bulkiest moth with wingspans of up to 260 mm, the Giant wood moth Endoxyla cinereus larvae bores in the trunks of some eucalypts. Tunnels are generally shorter than might be expected, and a couple of attacks can usually be tolerated by a tree. The eucalypts can be very large trees with branch dropping habits, but there are some nice exceptions such as Plunkett mallee E. curtisii.
Exotic plants are a serious burden on our environment. Also nursery-distributed plants should be more stringently controlled. Priority should be given to native species, but there are some very good exotic plants which don't invade, and do provide nectar and leaves to our wildlife as a supplement. To assist local native plants and their survival, it can help to target and cultivate these local species. Your garden and your neighbours can assist to strengthen corridors.
Perhaps there is a localised endangered species of insect or lizard which could benefit by the addition of a plant, or the non modification of acreage. The Australian fritillary butterfly Argyreus hyperbius is very dependant on permanent patches of native violets Viola betonicifolia. Perhaps your property is suitable for Bursaria trees and the Copper butterflies Paralucia spp. which are dependant on them. Two other nymphalid butterflies which may need a little help around Brisbane are the Chocolate argus Junonia hedonia (which feeds on Hygrophila and the introduced Hemigraphus) and the Boarded rustic Cupha prosope (which feeds on Flacourtia and Scolopia). Brisbane has some rarities such as Xmas beetles (Mesystoechus ciliatus, Schizognathus apricagger) and are dependant on their environments remaining in tact. Swordgrass Gahnia spp. have been badly treated in Brisbane and the southeast corner, and as a consequence Swordgrass brown butterflies Tisiphone abeona morrisi have suffered also. Water features are worth protecting and looking after. The Eastern water dragon is making a resurgence in the Brisbane area, but they do need constant water features, as do frogs. Hardware House at Oxley, Brisbane includes a nursery and their sprinkler system seems to be sufficient to keep water dragons happy. On acreage, a gnarled tree with a mulch core, can be a safety hazard, but is also important for tree core-dwelling fauna including the huge carab beetle Hyperion schroetteri (the predator of the Rhinoceros beetle Haploscapanes mentioned earlier) and flower chafer beetles such as the large Trichaulax marginipennis. These trees also provide nesting sites for gliders, possums, parrots and other fauna. Property owners should protect scrub pockets on their lot, particularly along creeks, or consider areas with struggling native remnants. It has been shown that fenced / managed plots, have produced a rich assortment of natives, particularly where grazing animals are present. These areas are also protected from constant mowing / slashing and other activities. The modification of environments can sometimes be non negotiable for some species (ie. a lizard dwelling in rocky outcrops) so that reassembling this disturbed environment may not be a solution. Some flightless carab beetles as an example, are not always able to reestablish. The balance of ant species may be changed, and we know that ants can play a major role in environments. There are some 50 species of lizards and 36 species of frogs in the Brisbane area to look after.
This is a highly contentious area where care is needed to ensure that exotic escapes do not further stress our environments. There are a number of non-invasive species which are very attractive to wildlife.
Dutchmans pipe Aristolochia elegans not only poisons larvae of birdwing butterflies, but also competes by scrambling over our native plants. Large areas of our rainforest / wet sclerophyll forest around Oakview, Kandanga and Amamoor southwards are suppressed by this vine. Cat's claw Macfadyena unguis-cati, also grows in the above areas, and on very steep slopes, where mechanical removal is impossible. Attempted removal of these vines will be an expensive environmental issue. Lambs tail (Madeira vine) Anredera cordifolia. These vines and many other weeds seem to serve no useful purpose. The Peppercorn tree from South America Schinus terebinthifolia, growing to 5 or 6 m height, attracts birds, but unfortunately seriously displaces our flora by growing in thickets. Some of our creek edges in Brisbane have been heavily stressed by it. We have an endless array of escaped weeds in our environments, and an exercise to do, next time you go 'bush' is to check how many are really weeds.
A number of insects require a combination of foodplants or factors in order to survive. As mentioned above, the Elephant beetle requires humus / branch heaps for the larval development, and tree sap for the adults to imbibe. Many 'blues', 'jewels', 'azures', etc. require the presence of a certain ant species, as well as a suitable foodplant, to exist. An example of this is the Zosine azure butterfly requires a suitable mistletoe, sugar ants Camponotus claripes, and nesting and hiding sites. The Blue jewel butterfly larvae and it's Crematogaster ants need Acacia branches with borer holes, to hide in during the day. Ghost moths Aenetus spp. are spectular, seldom seen, green and red coloured moths. Otherwise known as Rifleborers, owing to the larval stem tunnel , and circular webbed pad, these moths use Callicoma, Syzygium, Dodonaea, Casuarina and others. The damage these moths do is not necessarily serious in amongst tree clumps, and exit holes can be callused over by the tree. Remember that Australian plant species may still be exotic to your locality. If you plant palms, be prepared for defoliation and ragged fronds caused by Orange palmdarts and Yellow palmdarts (skipper butterflies). Don't forget a couple of bells for your pet cat and keep them indoors at night. During the day, cats note where birds are nesting , and at night, they climb the tree.
Dendrocnide spp. includes a number of stinger trees which if grown along fence lines, will ensure a lasting relationship with your neighbour and his dog 'Odd Job', and provide a foodplant for Jezabel nymphs. I don't know if anyone is willing to supply potted stock though. Capparis spp. along the fence line will also retain a loving relationship with your neighbour, his roving donkeys, straying parked cars, and so on.
There are a number of books and leaflets on 'attracting wildlife to the garden', not always very useful, or they are specific to a region, or they are too broad in their species range; but references can sometimes be obtained from special outlets such as the Queensland Museum, some bookshops, Government Department outlets, etc. The reference lists in the back of such publications can be useful to scan. Review the foodplant lists towards the rear of 'Moths of Australia' 1990, by I.F.B.Common or 'Butterflies of Australia' 2000, by M.F.Braby. Contact specialist groups for information and useful publications, such as 'Butterflies and other Invertebrates Club', represented by one of their foodplant experts Rob MacSloy 38244348; and the Double Helix Club, CSIRO Long Pocket, 32142860, which has also been promoting information on the Richmond birdwing butterfly. THECA (The Hut Environmental and Community Association) can be contacted (33742656) on suitable plants for the Richmond birdwing and how to access them. The out-of-circulation book 'Australian Butterflies' 1971 by Charles McCubbin has some good butterfly food plant illustrations. There are specialist native plant outlets available, with a little dedicated searching (yellow pages), and examples are the Fairhill Nursery at Yandina, and the Greening Australia Nursery at The Gap, Brisbane. Barb's Trees are at McDowall, Ph. 33538182. Reading weed books will help you recognise problem species, and be forewarned. Problem weeds still turn up at plant outlets as hybrids or cultivars and such. Are hybrids safe - a wolf in sheep's clothing perhaps?
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