At Noosa & District Landcare we have staff all over the biosphere reserve killing weeds and planting trees. One of these people is a trainee undertaking a Certificate 3 in Horticulture. His name is Brad Smith. Brad is a fantastic employee, one who is dedicated and wants to learn all the time. One of the best ways to learn is to observe.

Opodiphthera helena, or Helena Gum Moth

Brad was working on a Eucalypt plot recently when he noticed something. On closer inspection, it was a pretty big something. Brad was intrigued and a photograph was taken by one of our other staff, Darren Bardon. [Darren is the self appointed wildlife photographer] The boys bought the photo in to the office and we were all intrigued.

We sent the photo to the Qld Museum's Inquiry Centre Centre. Within 24 hours [on a Saturday morning] we had an answer. The caterpillar in the photo is most likely Opodiphthera helena, or Helena Gum Moth. This caterpillar goes through a number of stages of development [instars] before it pupates. They generally feed on eucalypts, hence the name. This one was on a Eucalyptus cloeziana [Gympie messmate]. The caterpillar grows to about 8 centimetres, or 80 millimetres. It then pupates inside a hard cocoon. The period of pupation can vary from a few weeks to two years! The Adult moths then emerges with a wingspan of up to 17 cm! That's 7 inches to old fossils like me!

Your Biosphere is a 'learning laboratory'. It is an area of great beauty, and natural wonders. If you learn to observe the natural world the things you will learn will amaze you. This caterpillar was put back into the tree, and will hopefully complete its life cycle. It may become food for a bird; which in itself is nature at work. I am always pleased when our people notice things like this in their day to day routine. They care about our environment. They spend most of their lives repairing it. You can too. You are all part of our Biosphere.