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feroxaustralis.bsky.social
Ferox australis
@feroxaustralis.bsky.social
50 followers 31 following 46 posts
Ferox australis, Latin for Wild of the South, is an Australian based not-for-profit organisation aimed at engaging citizens in science globally.🌿

Learn more:
https://linktr.ee/feroxaustralis

Check out the Great Southern BioBlitz!
linktr.ee/gsbioblitz
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feroxaustralis.bsky.social
💙💛We tend to focus on the life that abounds on land, but beneath the #waves a plethora of #treasures await your discovery! 💎🔍Like the tiny Painted Phyllidia (Phyllidia picta), one of many brightly coloured nudibranch #seaslug species that can be found in the #Coral and Philippine seas.
Cont. below👇
June 10, 2025 at 4:16 AM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
SA iNaturalists — May 2025 / Original format by Geoffrey Cox 🌅

🌿🇦🇺 With #Winter officially upon us, it’s time for #May’s #MonthlyRoundup for South #Australia’s iNaturalist records! This month, we have altered our calculations in order to make a fairer comparison between May #2025 and May 2024!
June 10, 2025 at 4:13 AM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
✨ 🌎 The #GreatSouthernBioBlitz is only one season away (Oct. 24-27th, Fri-Mon)! 🌸📸To participate, you’ll need to take photos of #wild #organisms—#plants, #animals, #fungi, 🍄 🦢 anything that is alive or was recently living—within the Southern Hemisphere during the GSB dates—

more below! 👇
June 10, 2025 at 4:09 AM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
🔗You can check out the full open-access paper here: www.researchgate.net/publication/...

🧑‍🔬🤝🌿 Are you a researcher on nature and/or citizen science and would like to be featured in our next highlight? Feel free to message us with the details! ✨
June 10, 2025 at 4:04 AM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
📖🤔Have you wondered just how useful #citizenscience actually is? 💫Today we’re showcasing a #fantastic #research paper written by Thomas Mesaglio and Corey T. Callaghan on just that! 🌸🪲This paper delves into the uses of #iNaturalist in #Australia, & its growth over the years!
More below👇
June 10, 2025 at 4:02 AM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
SA iNaturalists — Total as of January 2025 / Original format by Geoffrey Cox🌅

🌿🇦🇺And now time for the #TotalCheckIn for our beloved South #Australian iNaturalists! We last posted an update on our Insta back in April of ‘24, so the numbers have gone up a lot!📈
👇 Cont. below
February 7, 2025 at 12:49 PM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
SA iNaturalists — January 2025 / Original format by Geoffrey Cox 🌅
🌿🇦🇺 Here’s the first of our #MonthlyRoundup s on Bluesky for South #Australia! Last month on #iNaturalist, we saw an increase in total observations and IDs compared to Jan ‘24, but a decrease in other areas.
👇Cont. below
February 7, 2025 at 12:43 PM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
❤️🩶Are you part of the Gang-Gang gang? We sure are! The Gang-Gang #Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum) 🦜 is found around south-eastern #Australia, but sadly their populations are in decline due to habitat loss from logging and bushfires, and as such they are listed as endangered. 😢
👇Cont. below
February 7, 2025 at 12:32 PM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
💎🪲Showcasing another #hiddengem arthropod, we present the Golden Stag #Beetle (Lamprima aurata)! Despite the name, this species can be found in a range of colours, not just a bronzy-gold! 👑The males are more commonly gold or green while the females are more commonly blue or dark bronze.
👇Cont. below
February 7, 2025 at 12:24 PM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
🖤🤍❤️Now this one’s a real gem! In the warmer months, keep an eye out for the endemic Aussie Christmas Jewel Spider (Austracantha minax)! 💎🔬This harmless tiny arachnid is the only member of its genus, and in Autumn you might even see one expressing the rare melanistic form! 🍂🖤
February 7, 2025 at 12:18 PM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
#Australia is famous for its marsupials, just like the Red-Necked #Wallaby (Notamacropus rufogriseus)! 🦘🇦🇺But did you know that there is a stable albinistic population of the subspecies Bennett’s Wallaby (ssp. rufogriseus)? 🤍🏝️
Located on Bruny Island, Tas, there’s about 200 individuals!
An image of the Red-necked Wallaby with a joey poking its head out of her pouch. Sitting in a grassy clearing, the wallaby is brown with a more reddish-brown on its neck and rear, with darker brown ear tips and muzzle, and some white on its belly and between its forearms. An image of an albino Bennett’s Wallaby in a grassy clearing. Its forepaws are touching the ground, and its head is craned forth. It is white all over, with a pink nose and pinkish paws. Two images, the left image is iNaturalist seasonality data and the right image is a map of occurrence records on iNaturalist, both for the Red-necked Wallaby. It is seen at variable frequency across the year, with peaks in summer and troughs around May. It has been recorded in high numbers across the east of Australia including Tasmania and even southern Aotearoa/New Zealand, as seen as orange pixels forming a heatmap on the map. Two images, the right image is iNaturalist seasonality data and the left image is a map of occurrence records on iNaturalist, both for the Bennett’s Wallaby. It is seen at variable frequency across the year, with strong peaks in summer and a strong reduction from March to October. It has not been recorded on mainland Australia, being restricted to Tasmania and a small grouping in south Aotearoa/New Zealand, as seen as orange pixels forming a heatmap on the map.
January 8, 2025 at 2:40 AM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
Three maps of Australia on illustrated polaroids, showing the recorded ranges of three species on iNaturalist. The first is the Red-Rumped Parrot, with a broad range in the south east that extends inland but excludes Tasmania. The second is the Australian Ringneck, which has records concentrated around Perth and Adelaide, with scattered observations all around central Australia, but is seemingly absent from the eastern coasts and in Tasmania. The third is the Little Corella, which has a broad range of many records in the south east extending far inland, connecting to the north, and on the western coasts, including Tasmania.
January 2, 2025 at 11:34 PM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
🪻Did you know? #Australia has among the highest #parrot diversity, alongside South America! 🦜🗺️In 2023, these twelve species of parrot were spotted in #Adelaide during the #CityNatureChallenge!💐
This year the CNC runs from April 25-28th, will you be able to spot these species? 💫
A screenshot from iNaturalist showing the twelve observed species of parrot, each with a photo of the bird, the name of the species, and the number of records, listed in descending order of records. They are as follows: Rainbow Lorikeet: 33 Galah: 21 Musk Lorikeet: 16 Sulphur-crested Cockatoo: 14 Crimson Rosella: 9 Eastern Rosella: 8 Yellow-Tailed Black-Cockatoo: 5 Long-billed Corella: 4 Purple-crowned Lorkeet: 3 Red-Rumped Parrot: 2 Australian ringneck: 2 Little Corella: 1 Three maps of Australia on illustrated polaroids, showing the recorded ranges of three species on iNaturalist. The first is the Rainbow Lorikeet, its range covers most of the eastern coast and some degree inland, with a small population in Western Australia. The second is the Galah, which has a huge range that is densest closer to the south-eastern coasts and some in Tasmania but there are many scattered records throughout central Australia. The third is the Musk Lorikeet with concentrated records along the south-eastern coasts and Tasmania, with zero records in Western Australia. Three maps of Australia on illustrated polaroids, showing the recorded ranges of three species on iNaturalist. The first is the Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo which has a large volume of records on the country’s South-East including Tasmania, a small grouping in south Western Australia, and some records in the country’s north and in New Guinea and Indonesia. The second is the Crimson Rosella, with a range concentrated in the south-east excluding Tasmania and some in northern Queensland. The third is the Eastern Rosella with records in the south-east and somewhat further inland, Tasmania, and across the north of Aotearoa/New Zealand Three maps of Australia on illustrated polaroids, showing the recorded ranges of three species on iNaturalist. The first is the the Yellow-Tailed Black-Cockatoo, with a range that extends from Adelaide to Brisbane including Tasmania, and more inland Queensland. The second is the Long-Billed Corella which has a fragmented range across the eastern coast, and a concentrated larger range around Melbourne and extending to Adelaide. There is a small population in Western Australia, and in Tasmania. The third is the Purple-Crowned Lorikeet, with a range that covers most of the southern coast and somewhat inland, with a gap in the Great Australian Bight (likely due to a lack of observers).
January 2, 2025 at 11:30 PM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
🍂When the days grow shorter, many insect species seem to “disappear” until their eggs hatch in spring🌺, including this little Aussie #moth! So keep an eye out for the tiny Olbonoma triptycha across South-Eastern Australia! It may be small, but its distinctive 💛🤎markings make for great pics!
Two photos of the moth on digitally illustrated polaroids. The first photo, on the left, shows the little yellow-and-brown moth resting on some netting, with an out-of-focus finger just behind it for a sense of scale. The finger is wider than the moth is long. The second image is a closer photo of the moth resting on some sandstone. The image is well-lit, so much so that a slight iridescence is shown on the moth’s wing scales. Seasonality data from iNaturalist, showing total records of the species across each month. There is a strong peak in February, which sharply declines to nearly zero observations by April. There is a rise again in observations beginning in August. A map of Australia from iNaturalist, with orange pixels showing a heatmap of observations. There is a single orange pixel in central Australia, and scattered observations across the South-Eastern region with a strong concentration around Melbourne (likely due to significant observer density bias).
January 2, 2025 at 11:07 AM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
A pale beige moth resting on some eucalyptus leaves. It has some light bands going horizontally across its wings, and two tiny symmetrical darker dots on the hind wings. The photo is credited to @larissabrazsousa on iNaturalist. The species is Scopula optivata. An image of a small insect larvae on a white cloth. Its abdomen is round and tapers to a point, and it possesses a sizeable pair of mandibles. It has six prominent legs, and is capable of walking. It is beige in colour. The image is credited to @rwl on iNaturalist. The family is Chrysopidae.
January 2, 2025 at 10:51 AM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
An image of a pale brown duck swimming across the surface, facing the camera but with its head turned to look to the left. The image is credited to @bioshots_jm on iNaturalist. The species is Anas gracilis. An image of a light green orb weaver spider tucking its legs in as it resides on a leaf. The spider has a bright band of yellow, surrounded with thin stripes of reddish orange, horizontally across its abdomen, and the space of its abdomen beyond this stripe is a slightly brighter green. The image is credited to @bioshots_jm. The species is Araneus circulissparsus. A close-up image of the seeds on a bushy plant, nestled between the seeds is a little cockroach, its rear facing the camera. It is black all over, with even rows of white and two little bright orange spots on the tip of its abdomen. The photo is credited to @alicewoodward on iNaturalist. The genus is Ellipsidion. An image of a spider walking on the smooth bark of a tree, however it looks remarkably like an ant. The spider has a dark black prosoma with some purple iridescence, the legs are a dark red, and the abdomen is a dark green-ish colour. Remarkably, the spider is holding up its first pair of legs to mimic antennae. The photo is credited to @jamie_a on iNaturalist. The genus is Myrmarachne.
January 2, 2025 at 10:47 AM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
One of our highlights of 2024 were our two workshops on how to run a #BioBlitz! ✨🧑‍🏫These workshops are part of our grant from ACSA, and we’ll be returning in March to continue them! 🥳
In the meantime, check out some of our favourite records from our first workshop; more below!👇
Three images laid out neatly, they are photos from the workshop showing many engaged individuals listening as a presenter speaks, and engaging among themselves. The background is simplistic drawings of leaves, and the images are bordered with thin white and dark orange. The Ferox Australis logo is in the top left The top half is the same as the first image, with the Ferox logo and an image of participants from the workshop. The bottom half shows various pie chart statistics from the organisms observed from the workshop’s mock-BioBlitz. The first chart is as follows: 140 total observations. Approx one quarter are “Research Grade”, three quarters are “Needs ID”. The second chart is as follows: 71 total species. Approx half are Insects, approx one fifth are Plants, a smaller portion are Birds, an even smaller portion are Arachnids, yet fewer are Fungi, and the tiniest section are Reptiles. The third chart is as follows: 217 total identifications. Just under half are “Leading”, approx a third are “Improving”, and the remainder are “Supporting”. An image of small white flowers with the stem being held by a bare hand, credited to @orchidrose on iNaturalist. Species is Duma florulenta. An image of a large shield bug on a leaf which is being supported by a bare hand. The bug is a dark brown, with a striking orange “X” shape on its abdomen, and bright orange antennae tips. The image is credited to @possumpete on iNaturalist. The species is Mictis profana.
January 2, 2025 at 10:36 AM
feroxaustralis.bsky.social
🖤🤍❤️Now this one’s a real gem! In the warmer months, keep an eye out for the tiny Christmas Jewel #Spider (Austracantha minax)!💎🔬
This harmless tiny #arachnid is the only member of its genus, and is endemic to #Australia! 🇦🇺🕸️In #autumn you might even see one expressing the rare #melanistic form! 🍂
Two photos of the Christmas Jewel Spider on illustrated polaroids. The first photo on the left shows the spider’s underside as the stem its sitting on is being held by two fingers. It is a tiny orbweaver, much smaller than the visible fingernail, and is mostly black with mottled red and yellow. Its abdomen has symmetrical spines. The second photo shows it from the front, its prosoma is all black, its legs are red, and its abdomen is black with symmetrical white markings. The abdomen’s spines are fully black. A photo of a melanistic Christmas Jewel Spider on an illustrated polaroid. The spider is jet black all over, but otherwise has the exact same appearance (ie size and shape) as the non-melanistic variant. This photo is dorsal, showing the spider from above. Two screenshots from the iNaturalist website on illustrated polaroids. The first, on the left, shows the seasonality data of the Christmas Jewel Spider. It has a sharp peak in abundance from November through to January, where it steadily declines until it is nearly absent from June to September. The second image is a map of Australia, with orange pixels representing a heatmap of abundance records on iNaturalist. It is found all around Australia’s coastal communities and somewhat inland, with a handful of observations in central Australia. There are few records in the country’s north, and a high concentration of records in South-Western Australia, and around the South-Eastern region. There are some records in East Tasmania.
January 2, 2025 at 10:06 AM