Black and white, with the pattern varying across its range. The back of its neck, upper tail and shoulders (on its wings) are white in males and grey in females, and (across most of Australia) the rest of its body is black. In south-eastern, central and south-western Australia, including Tasmania, its back and rump are entirely white. Its eye is red-brown. Young birds are usually grey rather than black and have dark eyes.
Distinctive feature
One toe faces backwards and three face forwards. It has a square-tipped tail.
Olive brown to black and has irregular pale bands on the body and tail. The head is often lighter in colour and can have orange flecks on the top and sides.
There are four subspecies with some variations:
- Eastern Bobtail (Tiliqua rugosa aspera) Similar to western bobtail but with a darker belly, larger body scales and a shorter fatter tail
- Western Bobtail (Tiliqua rugosa rugosa) Similar to eastern and northern but paler belly and longer tail, larger ear and pale irregular bands on the back
- Rottnest Island Bobtail (Tiliqua rugosa konowi) Yellow belly.
- Northern Bobtail (Tiliqua rugosa palarra) Similar to western bobtail with a smaller ear and usually no pale irregular bands on the back
Size
Total length 45cm.
The caterpillar (larva) is initially pale yellow with fine hairs, before turning green. It has narrow yellow lines on its body which are sometimes hard to see. The upper side of the butterfly (adult) is white with a black tip on its forewing (front wing) and a black patch on the front edge of its hindwing. A male has one black spot on its forewing, while a female has two black spots. Looking from underneath, the forewing is white with two black spots and the hindwing is yellow.
Size
Caterpillar about 3.5 cm; Butterfly up to 5 cm wingspan.
The Christmas Spider is known by several other names, most commonly Jewel Spider but also as Six Spined Spider or Spiny Spider.
Females have bright yellow and white patterns with a ring of black spines. Melanic females have the same shape but may be completely black. Males have smaller spines and have a yellow, brown, white and black pattern. Six spines protrude from the sides and bottom end of the abdomen.
Size
Females are larger at 7 mm, males are 4 mm.
Its genus name Leptospermum is from Greek leptos (thin) and sperma (seed), referring to its small seeds; and its species name laevigatum is from Latin laevigatus (smooth), probably referring to the appearance of the plant.
Also known as Australian Myrtle and Victorian Tea Tree.
A tall, bushy shrub or small tree, with bark that sheds in strips. Grows up to 6 m tall.
Leaves
Grey-green and obovate (egg-shaped and flat, with the narrow end attached to the stalk). They are 1.5 – 3 cm long and 5 – 8 mm wide.
Flowers
White and usually in groups of two. The flower heads are usually 1.5 – 2 cm in diameter, and made up of five petals that are 5 – 8 mm long, with many stamens protruding from the centre that are 2 mm long.
Tuberous, perennial herb which grows from underground stems. 5 - 30 cm high.
Leaves
It has a broad, hairy basal leaf up to 25 cm long.
Flowers
The 30 - 40 mm diameter flowers are often solitary but up to four flowers may be borne on a slender stem about 30 cm high. It is a very distinctive species because of its bright yellow flowers which often have crimson spots.
Field Guide
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Bright yellow and black bands across its abdomen, with a pair of black spots and a black triangle on each yellow band. It has yellow legs, black antennae and two pairs of transparent wings. Nests are commonly built underground with only their small entrance holes visible, which are about 2 - 3 cm across.
Size
1.2 – 1.5 cm long (worker); 2 cm long (queen)
Its genus name Stenocarpus means narrow fruit, referring to its seed pods; and its species name sinuatus means wavy, referring to the edges of the leaves.
Evergreen tree, up to 35 m high, but much smaller when grown in gardens where it reaches a height of only about 10 m with a width of 5 m.
Leaves
Dark glossy green and paler underneath, they can be oval-shaped, lobed or have wavy edges. They are usually 15 – 25 cm long (but can be up to 45 cm long) and 2 – 5 cm wide, and are generally smaller on exposed branches. There is one distinct vein running down the centre of each leaf.
Flowers
Bright red with a yellow tip, and 2.5 – 4 cm long. They cluster in a wheel-like arrangement at the end of a stalk. The cluster can be up to 10 cm in diameter and consists of 6 - 20 flowers.
The adult male has a bright-yellow underbody, olive-green back and wings, and a black head with a bright-yellow collar. Its throat is white, with a broad black band which separates it from the yellow breast. Its beak and legs are black. The adult female has grey upperparts with a pale olive tinge, and is pale grey below with a pale yellowish tinge. Its beak is dark brown and its legs are grey-brown. Both sexes have a red-brown eye. Juvenile birds are rufous above and below, and as they mature, gradually resemble a female, though they retain some rufous feathers in their wings.
Its head and upperparts are mostly dark grey, with a white eyebrow and throat, a narrow grey band across the upper breast and a creamy-buff belly. The feathers of its long tail have white edges and tips, and the tail is often fanned out.
Size
14 – 16 cm long
Giant tussock-like, rosette plant. Grows up to 2.5 m high with a flower stalk up to 5 m high!
Its genus name Doryanthes (meaning spear and flower), and its species name excelsa (meaning high), both refer to its tall flower stem.
Leaves
Long, sword-shaped and forming a clump. Each individual leaf is 1 – 2.5 m long and about 10 cm wide. Shorter leaves up to 30 cm long are found along the flower stem.
Flowers
Located at the top of a single flower stem which grows from the centre of the tussock of leaves. The stem is 2 – 5 m high upon which the flowers form a cluster up to 70 cm in diameter. The individual flowers are bright red (or rarely white), trumpet-shaped and 10 – 16 cm long.
Deciduous tree, up to 35 m high, but much smaller when grown in gardens and in cooler areas where it reaches a height of only about 10 m. It can take 5 – 8 years to flower if grown from a seed.
Leaves
Smooth, oval-shaped and can have three or five lobes (and sometimes more). Each leaf is 10 – 30 cm long. The tree loses some or all of its leaves at the end of winter, before flowering, and the leaves turn yellow just before falling.
Flowers
Bright coral-red and bell-shaped, they occur in clusters at the end of branches. They are 1 – 2 cm long and have a waxy surface. They appear after the tree has lost all or some of its leaves.
Deciduous tree, not native to Australia. Grows up to 15 m high and wide.
Leaves
Bright green, feathery and fern-like. Individual leaves are narrow and elliptic, 3 – 12 mm long and arranged either side of a 5 – 10 cm long stem. They turn yellow in autumn before falling from the tree.
Flowers
Blue-purple and trumpet-shaped, forming clusters that are 20 – 30 cm in diameter. Each individual flower is 2 – 3 cm long and about 1 cm wide. They are lightly fragranced and remain on the tree for about 2 months.
There are four stamens inside the flower which produce pollen, and also a staminode which doesn’t produce any pollen.
Predominantly pale tawny-orange with a heavy black border that encloses large white spots in the forewing. The inner leading edge of the forewing is deep red-brown. The underside is similar to the upper side but paler with narrower black margins. Males have a distinct patch of dark grey sex-scales on the upper side of the hindwing.
The caterpillars have three pairs of tentacles and yellow, white and black rings.
Size
7 - 8 cm wingspan.
Deciduous tree, growing to 15 – 30 m high and 15 – 20 m wide. Some of its grey-brown bark peels off to reveal a creamy white inner bark, giving the trunk a mottled appearance.
Leaves
Mid-to-dark green with 3 – 5 lobes and slightly serrated edges. They are 10 – 25 cm across and turn yellow-brown in autumn. The leaf lobes are about as wide as they are long.
Flowers
Red or yellow, in small rounded clusters. The red (female) flowers grow from the newer shoots and the yellow (male) flowers grow from older branches further back toward the trunk.
A black and white bird, the pattern varies slightly between sexes. The male has a white eyebrow above a black horizontal eye-stripe, a black face and throat, while the female has a white face and throat, with a broad vertical stripe through the eye, and no white eyebrow. Both sexes have a thin white bill and black legs and feet. Juvenile Magpie-larks have a black forehead, white eyebrow and a white throat.
Corymbia comes from Latin (corymbium) a "corymb" refers to floral clusters where all flowers branch from the stem at different levels but ultimately terminate at about the same level and calophylla comes from Greek (calo) beautiful, and (phyllon) a leaf.
Large tree with tessellated bark, up to 40 – 60 m high.
Leaves
Lance to oval shape. Veins are distinct.
Flowers
White to pink.
The moaning frog is a burrowing frog native to south-western Western Australia. This frog is quite rotund, with a large head and bulbous eyes.
Brown or slate back with irregular yellow patches. Males have large limbs but show no distinguishing sexual features.
Tadpoles
Densely mottled with black and gold. Have a red or gold vertebral stripe and curved lateral line.
The motorbike frog is a ground-dwelling tree frog found in Southwest Australia. It gets its name from the male frog's mating call, which sounds like a motorbike riding past and changing gears. Other common names are Moore's frog, the western bell frog, western green and golden bell frog, and western green tree frog.
Back is green with gold mottling (after basking in sunlight). Can be almost dark brown in colder conditions. The underside usually ranges from very pale green to light brown.
Tadpoles
Large translucent yellow with darker areas. As they develop they become darker with deep fins and a pointed tail tip.
Erect spreading dark green shrub. 0.2 – 1 m high.
Leaves
Long, narrow, oblong, blunt, dark green above with very recurved margins.
Flowers
Stalked, yellow flowers with 5 distinct petals. The stamens are all found on one side of the centre of the flower and look like a tiny hand of bananas.
The genus name Hardenbergia is named after Franziska Countess von Hardenberg and the species name comptoniana after Mary, 1st Marchioness of Northampton whose husband was Charles Compton.
Twining shrub or climber. Its size varies depending on supporting plants or structures it is growing on.
Leaves
Usually crowded, 3 and sometimes rarely 5 foliate. Leaflets are 4 – 6 cm long., and do not spread very widely. Size approximately 2–4 mm long and 1 mm wide, thick, concavo-convex (concave on both sides) and pointed at ends.
Flowers
Blue to purple and in some cases white. Typical pea shape consisting of 5 petals: the "standard", the "keel" (2 fused petals) and two "wings". Flowers are in an often drooping, elongate cluster.
Black and white, with the pattern varying across its range. The back of its neck, upper tail and shoulders (on its wings) are white in males and grey in females, and (across most of Australia) the rest of its body is black. In south-eastern, central and south-western Australia, including Tasmania, its back and rump are entirely white. Its eye is red-brown. Young birds are usually grey rather than black and have dark eyes.
Distinctive feature
One toe faces backwards and three face forwards. It has a square-tipped tail.
A colourful bird, the upper part of its back is bright green, merging to light blue on the lower part to its rump. Its tail is black, tinged with blue, and has two long central feathers (called streamers) that extend beyond the tip of the tail. Its forehead is blue-green and the top of its head is golden. A bold black eye-stripe runs from the base of its beak and is bordered below by a narrow blue line. Its chin is yellow, changing to chestnut on its throat, below which is a broad black band. It has a green breast, becoming paler on the belly and changing to light blue from the lower belly to the vent. It has a long, slim, curved black beak and its legs and feet are grey-black.
Young birds are generally duller and greener. They lack the black band across the lower throat and the long tail streamers.
Distinctive feature
The sexes differ in the length of their tail streamers: the male has longer, more slender streamers.
