THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



273 



In a Brisbane Garden, 



By G. H. Hard v. 



ONCE upon a time our garden was 

 properly and elegantly cared 

 for and there are many ruins 

 about to indicate the pride taken in it 

 by some former owner. Now, lujrti- 

 culturally, it is all but a desolate waste, 

 and it has therefore reached the height 

 of its entomological glory. One long 

 A\ooden fence is falling with decay, and 

 is barely sturdy enough to support its 

 burden, a tangled creeper beloved by 

 the butterflies. Under shelter of this 

 and overhanging trees, a border of 

 thick ferns is almost buried by newly 

 fallen and long-decayed leaves . On the 

 lawn, that looks as if it had never felt a 

 mower, two well grown mango trees 

 with dense foliage will be found to 

 shelter quite a colony of miscellaneous 

 insects if you care to hunt for them. 

 The verandah, abandoned to the rav- 

 ages of a wisteria, is also an insect 

 sanctuary. 



At the foot of the garden is the Milton 

 Reach of the Brisbane River with its 

 almost straight run of three miles 

 to the city's only bridge. A steep slope 

 of over thirty feet descends here, 

 and the whole area on this hill side is 

 waste land given over to one banana 

 stool, one peach tree, Iavo or three 

 gum saplings, numerous weeds, grasses, 

 and a creeping convolvulus. 



From the road the house stands 

 almost hidden by abundant foliage, 

 and is surrounded by many trees in its 

 oM'n and neighbouiing gardens. This 

 gives such an air of sohtude to the 

 house that a more isolated spot could 

 not be found within the whole of 

 Brisbane's suburbs. 



The animated stock includes many 

 handsome insects, spiders of all sorts 

 and sizes, lizards, frogs, harmless 

 snakes, bats, opossums, native bears, 

 numerous birds, including the kooka- 

 burra, another kingfisher, the frog- 

 mouth, owls, doves, and smaller kinds. 

 About a mile away is the Mt. Coot-tha 

 reserve, and most creatures found there 



will be found somewhere and at some 

 time ill our garden. The eagle visits 

 the retreat at times and the curlew 

 cries across the reach. Owing to the 

 wild aspect of the river front, stray 

 tortoises, seeking a safe and neglected 

 spot wherein to lay their eggs, are 

 induced to visit our grounds. 



Frogs, wasps that build mud -nests, 

 spiders, and (unfortunately) moscjuitoes 

 are constant inhabitants of our hf)use. 

 Moths, white -ants and other insects 

 dance nightly attendance on our il- 

 luminations, which Hying visits are 

 fully appreciated by the entomokjgist. 

 Here if anywhere is a vast amount of 

 life to be observed and recorded. 



THE LANTERN FLY. 



One night, whilst we were sitting at 

 dinner, a will o" the wisp visited the 

 darkness of the adjoining room, and, 

 with his lantern, showed a light only to 

 be extinguished the next moment. 

 This being repeated several times 

 induced me to desert my wife and my 

 meal, only to be bogged later in specu- 

 lating on this problem of nature. 

 Doubtless you have guessed that my 

 Avill o" the wisp is the lantern-fly 

 (Liiciola), a beetle whose self-illumi- 

 nation one would expect to be more 

 destructive than beneficial. Scientists 

 generally admit that the light which 

 exists near the apex of the abdomen 

 on the underside, is not phos])hores- 

 cenee, and they describe it as lumin- 

 escence. Some consider that it is 

 caused by a slow combustion within the 

 luminous organ, because, in respiration, 

 the increasing and diminishing of the 

 air supply would account for the inter- 

 mittent light. 



The luminescence is amply sufficient 

 to tell the time by if the insect is rested 

 upon a watch in the dark. Placed in 

 an entomological glass-bottomed box, 

 it gave off sufficient light to illuminate 

 the whole of the interior, which, being 



