It also is a weed somewhere around the Queensland islands, according to some
friends who've recently returned from their honeymoon there. There's also
another bigger variety of Mimosa spreading throughout the Northern Territory
too. I used to have success with these plants some years ago, even getting
them to flower (but not seed). Recently though, the seedlings haven't been
too successful - the ones that actually germinated that is :-( Maybe it's
just one of those plants which sometimes thrive and sometimes don't. (More
likely it was a bad, el-cheapo brand of potting mix we had a few years back.
These days I only buy the types which has the Australian Standard "Premium"
grade label - it's not much more expensive than the "Regular" quality and
safer than unlabelled brands...)
>Of course, we also excell at tarantulas, scorpions, and Cnidoscolus!
>And the semi-mythical cone-nosed beetle...
I think my relatives have scorpions now too... On the positive side though,
the tree-frogs have moved in to the newly installed bathroom!
>>Could someone describe the appearance of a black widow?
>John, Black Widow spiders are distinctive, at least in the US. The have
>a large abdomen, and are shiney black overall their parts. Their legs are
>not hairy (at least from the distance I view them!), but I'm sure our
>entomologist colleague Gordon Snelling would correct me on this feature.
>The characteristic red marking on their abdomen is in the shape of an
>hourglass or bow-tie. As Michael noted, they hang upsidedown in their
>web all day unless you pester them. If you do this, they panic and race
>crazily to the nearest hidey hole. They are quite docile. I have read
>a few articles which suggest that the female's habit of always eating
>the mail after fertilization is greatly exaggerated.
Well, they're not Widows and they're not Red Backs. They still fall into the
same shiny black, pea-sized abdomen, nasty-looking spider category and that
puts them on the endangered list around here. Other spiders I can live with
even the big, hairy Huntsman spiders which often haunt the eaves at night
(sort of Aussie tarantulas) are OK - I've heard of people *putting them in
their mouths* (and normally getting a bite for their troubles... Good on the
spider!) Gross!
Anything new in Northern grown CPs?
| John Taylor [The Banshee] | Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology |