#tumbarumba

Synonyms have included Leontosphex and Murrayella.

Sphecid wasps that line and block their nests, in plant cavities, with dry grass or hay. The wasps stock the nest with paraylsed katydids and other Orthoptera first.

Isodontia has over 30 described species, found in most parts of the globe, but I don't know which species are found in Australia.

Tumbarumba Creek flowing past the town is idyllic - green grass picturesque bridges, monuments and artworks, a skatepark, and fitness walking trails - just a wonderful place for picnics and dog walking. It wasn't always like this though.

Ninety-nine years of Gold Mining in the Tumbarumba region.

In 1885 Gold was discovered in Tumbarumba Creek, four years before the Townsite was surveyed. Mining continued until 1954, although commercial mining ceased in the early 1930s. During that time 3,380 kg of gold was delivered to the Government Mint from the local mines. The current value of this amount of gold in one kg gold bars is over two billion dollars.

REFERENCE: Willis J.L. 1969. Mining History of the Tumbarumba Gold Field. Geological Survey of New South Wales - Bulletin 23

The Creek runs downstream under the bridge on Albury Street. Across the road, the Creek is restored from the ravages of more than fifty years of GOLD MINING.

One thing, I noticed about this restoration was the removal of the old large weeping willow trees common here fifty years ago. Willows are among Australia's worst weeds because of their invasive tendencies, the potential for spread, and economic and environmental impacts.

During floods, this creek rises quickly, sometimes causing evacuations from the Caravan Park, and blocking the bridge crossing.

Dawn light accentuates the beauty of the area.

During mining, however, the creek bank was lowered by many metres as a huge water cannon blasted out the sediments to be separated from the alluvial gold in sluice boxes and trenches.

This image gives some idea of the water power, even when the water level is low.

The Creek divides and then rejoins.

I started this post with some dog walkers and I would like to finish the same way. When this lady saw me approaching on the other side of the Creek, she stood till and the five dogs immediately sat still but at attention while we chatted and I took their "portrait". The dogs are three generations from one family ranging from an old male grandparent to a three-month-old pup. She reported that she has five different walks which the group does daily. Amazing dog training!

On Saturday 12/2/23 starting at dawn, I walked along Tumbarumba Creek from where it joins Pound Creek to near the Booth Street Council Depot. I took photographs on my Nikon D500 camera for 90 minutes, using a 35mm f1.8 lens and a tripod. Most images were taken in the reconstructed area of the old regions mined, at the bottom of the Hill, where Tumbarumba Hospital overlooks the town.

Tumbarumba NSW, 2020 website / instagram / blog

'Rough Wrinkled Ant'.

Found on a eucalypt sapling, farming honeydew from Gum Planthoppers I've yet to identify.

D. scabridus is common in the SE of the Australian mainland, living from mallee woodlands and spinifex communities, through dry schlerophyll, all the way to wet schlerophyll. They nest in rotting wood, under bark, and under rocks.

A fair-sized genus of Chloropids found worldwide. The genus is not well studied - most species are known from single specimens. One paper says there's at least 80 valid species worldwide, and 22 in Australia.

Many Frit Fly larvae feed on grasses, edges, or bulrushes, and some are cereal pests, but others are found in rotting wood, dead plants, fungi, or preying on spider eggs, mantis ootheca, the nests of locusts, or root grubs. Two genera, Liohippelates in the Americas and Siphunculina in parts of Asia, are particularly annoying for the way the adults swarm eyes and nostrils, not least because they're known vehicles for some very serious infections. In Australia one genus, Batrachomyia, is an endoparasite of frogs.

A small Lycaenid butterfly common in the South and SE of Australia, but also found in South Asia, Oahu, and parts of New Zealand. The caterpillars feed on various legumes.

This one is a nymph - the adults are less colourful.

Amorbus rubiginosus has been recorded in all mainland Australian states, but seems to be most common in the SE. The rest of this genus of Leaf-footed Bugs are all endemic to Australia, and are closely associated with Eucalypts.