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Announcements

7 Jul 2022

For Biodiversity Month (September) this year, Wingecarribee Shire Council is wanting to showcase some of the awesome photos taken by citizen scientists using the Southern Highlands Nature Map. Selected photos would be placed in council’s Civic Centre’s atrium. Photos would remain in pla...

Minor updates23 Nov 2022

Updated and fully refreshed ALA data set21 Nov 2022

App update available! V4.1.130 Aug 2022

App issue reported19 Aug 2022

Please Collect Gang-gang feathers for genetic research5 Aug 2022

Latest discussion

Harrisi wrote:

2 Dec 2022

Excellent work and great news Aaron! Went into the jewel beetle (genus Castiarina) section of ALA and could clearly see the addition of many records recent updated. Bravo !

Updated and fully refreshed ALA data set

MatthewFrawley wrote:

24 Nov 2022

That's fantastic Aaron, many thanks for all your efforts.

Minor updates

DerekC wrote:

22 Nov 2022

I believe I need to revisit this as though it has the general features of T. simulata it also does not quite look correct and I think this is actually a named natural hybrid called Thelymitra x truncata. While I previously correctly identified the absence of glands on the post-anther lobe being the reason it was neither T. ixioides or T. juncifolia, I did then overlook how large the yellow collar was. Where in T. simulata this is narrower with a larger opening, t. x truncata the yellow band is larger and more complete closing down to a smaller opening. T. simulata (like T. ixioides & T. juncifolia) also only has spots on the petals and dorsal sepal, where if you look there are pale spots on the labellum a feature I have only observed on some T. x truncata. It appears t. x truncata is used for stable hybrids formed from a cross from either T. ixioides or T. juncifolia and a member of the T. pauciflora complex (possibly T. brevifolia, T. pauciflora and T. peniculata). These hybrids occur sporadically where the parents grow in close proximity. I think the T. x truncata may include different hybrids forms depending on which combination of parents are responsible and just adding even more variability to a genus already represented by many/mostly stable hybrid forms recognised as separate species. The current c. 100 recognised species are all related back in varying complicated combinations to just 16 true (pure) parent species, and from that hybridized background even newer hybrid forms result.

Thelymitra X truncata

Curiosity wrote:

21 Nov 2022

Thanks very much for identifying the bee. I'll look at some of my older photos to see if there are any facial differences on the bees visiting the same flowers.

Leioproctus sp. (genus)

michael.batley wrote:

21 Nov 2022

While I would expect to find Leioproctus (Cladocerapis) on Persoonia, the bee in the pictures does not seem to have the flat face of species in that subgenus. Persoonias are visited by a range of bees, so it is quite possible that this is a Leioproctus species lile L. spatulatus.

Leioproctus sp. (genus)