The Forest Gallery at Melbourne Museum is now one of the only two places that the threatened shrub Shiny Nematolepis- Nematolepis wilsonii may be found.  Until Black Saturday, the only known wild population of this plant, totalling about 500 plants, was found in the Yarra Ranges National Park near Marysville.  As reported in The Age newspaper last Saturday, the entire population was burnt out in the Black Saturday bushfires.  This event outlines the importance of having separated populations to safeguard the ongoing survival of threatened plant or animal species.

Shiny Nematolepis shrub in the Forest Gallery Photo: Andrew Kuhlmann Source: Museum Victoria

Five young individual plants, grown from cuttings in 2000 are growing on display in the Forest Gallery while seedlings propagated at both the Melbourne and Cranbourne Botanic Gardens were recently planted out nearWoori Yallock.   The burnt out Nematolepis near Marysville are yet to show signs of regeneration after the fire, but the plants growing in at least two locations now make complete extinction less likely.

How do you display a cricket that prefers to spend much of its time underground? A new display in Bugs Alive provides a window into the burrow of a White Kneed King Cricket and visitors can light up the chamber at the press of a button.  The red light is outside the visible range of these insects and so ensures that the cricket isn't disturbed by the many visitors pressing the button to get a clear view.    The  White-kneed King Cricket Penalva flavocalceata has an impressive set of antennae, strong spiked rear legs and a formidable set of chompers.  The long spike at the rear end is not a sting- it's an ovipositor.  Females use their ovipositors to lay their eggs deep into the soil.

New burrow 'peep' display Photo: Luke Simpkin Source: Museum Victoria

White-kneed King Cricket Penalva flavocalceata Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Museum Victoria

The start of winter sees snakes in hibernation, and although the Alpine Copperheads can operate at cooler temperatures than lowland snakes, even they need to hibernate in the winter.  So while the snakes are hibernating in the back of house lab, the empty display in the Forest Gallery has been refitted to show some of the exquisite orchids of the tall mountain forests, which flower throughout the winter.  They are in full bud at the moment and ready to put on a show inside the glass display case- which incidentally protects the orchids from the rampaging Satin Bower Birds.  When we first put potted orchids on display in 2007, the bower birds used their razor sharp beaks to destroy the plants.  This year the birds will just get frustrated.

Orchids in bud, Forest Gallery Photo: Luke Simpkin Source: Museum Victoria

Orange fungus emerging from a dead branch Photo: Luke Simpkin Source: Museum Victoria

Small toadstools emerging from leaf litter Photo: Luke Simpkin Source: Museum Victoria

Delicate and colourful fungi often sprout in the forest in May and June.  Today I took a few snaps of fungi emerging in the Forest Gallery.   Australia has an estimated 250,000 species of fungi, only 5% of which is formally identified, so you can appreciate that I don't know the names of these ones.  Some are extremely tiny and can only be spotted by people willing to get down on their hands and knees.  Fungi are the main recyclers of the forest ecosystem, returning nutrients from dead plant and animal material to the soil. 

Learn more about some of the more bizarre and unique fungi of the tall forests on the Forest Secrets website: http://museumvictoria.com.au/forest/plants/fungi.html

Many people are surprised to see the Myrtle Beech trees Nothofagus cunninghamii in the Forest Gallery shedding yellow leaves this autumn.  These trees are not considered fully deciduous however they do  shed older leaves in autumn which create a yellow leaf carpet more typical of northern hemisphere temperate forests.   A close relative Nothofagus gunii found only in Tasmania is the only native tree in Australia considered to be fully winter deciduous.  Australian trees in the genus Nothofagus are all relics of earlier wetter times.  These trees were once widespread across the supercontinent Gondwana and can still be found growing in parts of Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and South America despite being separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean.  Fossil leaves excavated from Antarctica along with preserved examples of foliage from South American, New Zealand and Tasmanian Nothofagus are displayed in Forest Gallery.

Nothofagus cunninghamii autumn colours Photo: Luke Simpkin Source: Museum Victoria

Yellow foliage in canopy Photo: Luke Simpkin Source: Museum Victoria

Yellow leaves decorate the forest floor and pond Photo: Luke Simpkin Source: Museum Victoria

The month of May is well into Wombat season in the Kulin seasonal calendar of Victoria's Upper Yarra Valley- a time when lyrebirds are performing their courtship dances and wombats sometimes emerge during the daytime.  It's a cool time when mist cloaks the mountain valleys particularly in the mornings.  In the Forest Gallery our fogging system is now operating on days when the top temperature is below 18 degrees- at 11-12am and 2-3pm daily.  The fog promotes the growth of moisture-dependant ferns and suppresses pest activity by cooling the atmosphere in the gallery. The system pumps a small amount of water at high pressure through tiny nozzles to produce real fog. The fun part is the effect of swirling mist and the magical effect it produces amongst the cool temperate rainforest plants of the gallery.  The fog adds to the visitor experience as they wade through the mist or encounter it swirling into the underground tunnel from beneath the waterfall.  Make sure you visit before the weather starts warming up.

A visitor encounters fog as they enter the Forest Gallery. Photo: Luke Simpkin Source: Museum Victoria

As the days get shorter coming into winter, the Forest Gallery birds take themselves off to their cosy night perches earlier each afternoon.  This means they are roosting before the usual closing time of 5pm.  Birds roosting can be easily alarmed and fly blindly into the glass walls if visitors come close to them, so for the birds' safety the Forest Gallery will close at 4:30pm until July 12th.  The early dusk is an opportunity for visitiors to see the nocturnal Tawny Frogmouths perching near the doorway from which keepers emerge with their evening mouse meal.  There are two Tawnies- Oscar (a female) and Albert (a male) which are hard to see whilst perched asleep high in the trees during the day.  They do have a preference for Silver Wattles as perching trees- a useful hint for Tawny spotters. 

Oscar comes down low to wait for his dinner. Photo: Luke Simpkin Source: Museum Victoria

A mass of baby Giant Water Bugs (Lethocerus insulanus) have recently hatched in our behind-the-scenes facility. These insects are largest true bugs in Australia; adults may measure up to 70mm long. This is the second time we have bred this species in captivity, and as a result we are learning a great deal about them. The female lays her eggs on a stick above the water-line, and the eggs only take ten days to hatch. When the young (nymphs) hatch, they simply drop into the water and begin life as fierce underwater predators just like their parents.

Baby Giant Water Bugs hatching from eggs just above the water. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Museum Victoria

A hatchling perched upon the thermometer under the water. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Museum Victoria

An adult and hatchling showing the size difference. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Museum Victoria

The Black Saturday bushfires cut a swathe through the Mountain Ash forests around Toolangi including in those areas where the Museum's Forest Gallery seedlings have been planted out over the last nine years.  Yesterday horticulture staff Serene and Andrew delivered the latest batch of 1200 seedlings for planting out, however due to the danger of fire-affected trees falling still being a problem, it was considered unsafe to involve school students in the planting this year. The seedlings will be planted out this autumn by Toolangi DSE staff in an effort to reestablish forest in areas where regeneration is unlikely to be effective.

A lone Grass Tree sprouts new foliage amid the burnt out forest in Toolangi Photo: Serene O'Halloran Source: Museum Victoria

Leon, the male Veiled Chameleon within the Discovery Centre's display. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Museum Victoria

After her triumphant return to display, Leela has had some problems with utilising the branches in the Discovery Centre enclosure. It appears that she is beginning to show her age, and what was once an easy climb is now quite a task. Her issue appears to be with the width of the branches. Although she has little difficulty negotiating thinner branches which she can wrap her feet around, she now finds the wider branches hard going. We will now seek out some large 'Leela friendly' branches which hopefully will allow her to return to the Discovery Centre enclosure.

In the meantime Leon, the male Veiled Chameleon, is making his debut on display in the new Discovery Centre exhibit. He has acclimatised very well, and like his counterpart Leela, has visitors totally captivated.