While recently showing visitors one of our huntsman spiders I received the comment "that's not a huntsman". The fact was that it wasn't the same as the huntsman that the person was used to seeing around their home.

So what is a huntsman?

Huntsmen are spiders belonging to the family Heteropodidae, a very diverse group of which Australia has over 200 species. Most are large spiders with laterigrade legs (legs that allow them to move sideways). While many species are brown and grey, there are plenty of colourful huntsmen with green, orange, red, blue and yellow making up their patterns. They are wandering hunters, and don't use a web to snare their prey. They simply capture their prey with speed and agility, quickly latching onto it with their fangs. Although they are venomous, as a group they are considered relatively harmless as their venoms have very little effect on humans.

As for your local huntsman, depending on where you live you may have several and they may be quite different in appearance.

The Murray Banded Huntsman (Holconia murrayensis) from Hattah in north west Victoria. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Minibeast Wildlife

A Banded Huntsman from Brisbane (Holconia immanis). Photo: Alan Henderson Source Museum Victoria

A Badge Huntsman (Neosparassus diana) from Melbourne Photo: Alan Henderson Source Museum Victoria

A Giant Green Huntsman (Typostola barbata) from Bacchus Marsh. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Minibeast Wildlife

A Tiger Huntsman (Typostola sp.) from Cairns. A species we discovered in 2006 and is still awaiting scientific description. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Museum Victoria

It’s the end of an era in Live Exhibits, Luke Simpkin, Manager of the unit since its inception in 2000 has moved ‘upstairs’ to take on a new challenge as Manager of Exhibition Operations. Luke’s many achievements include the monumental development and success of the Forest Gallery and the ever popular Bugs Alive! Luke will be missed by the ‘Blue Crew’ for all his marvelous work… and also for his ‘seniors moments’ that kept us all fully entertained over the years! Good on you Luke.

As a farewell Live Exhibits presented Luke with a glass case filled with significant items linked to his time with the department. Included in the case was an original artwork – a beak crafted bower built by our resident male Satin Bowerbird ‘Jack’. Jack was a bit miffed when we pinched it for Luke, but had built himself a new one in less than 24 hours.

Luke's Live Exhibits memorabilia case, complete with Jack's bower. Photo: Deanna Henderson Source Museum Victoria

Luke showing the team how to catch a big spider in 2001. Photo: Deanna Henderson Source: Museum Victoria

Luke and the Blue Crew examining a load of new bugs from a QLD field trip. Photo: Jessie Sinclair Source: Museum Victoria

Our three new arrivals slipped safely into their new home at Melbourne Museum last night just before 8pm.  Their flight down from Sydney went without a hitch and all three Lungfish are healthy and settling in well. They will spend the next few weeks in their off-display home, undergoing quarantine while we monitor their progress. All going well they will then move into their display tank within the forthcoming '600 Million Years - Victoria Evolves' exhibition. These ancient fish have the ability to gulp air, and have remained relatively unchanged for millions of years. They offer us a window into the past when life first began to leave the water.

One of the new arrivals in its new tank this morning. The three fish are 16 years old and have spent their entire life at Macquarie University, where they were bred in 1994. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Museum Victoria

Recently the Live Exhibits Unit had one of our more unusual requests - to supply a research lab in Sydney with Alpine Copperhead (Austrelaps ramsayi) venom. Melbourne Museum is one of the few facilities that holds this species so we were happy to help out.

Alpine Copperheads produce extremely toxic venom, but only in relatively small quantities. Combine this with their small fang size and you have a fairly fiddly task. Milking this species required a small pipette tube to be put over each individual fang, and with some gentle massage the venom was expressed into the tube. The venom was then place into a tiny vial, freeze dried, and sent to Sydney for analysis.

Finding the fang with the tiny tube takes a little concentration! Photo: Jessie Sinclair Source: Museum Victoria

The precious golden venom is very visible within the tube. Photo: Jessie Sinclair Source: Museum Victoria

A newly established colony of Green Tree Ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) has been set-up within the Bugs Alive! exhibition. The ants were collected during our recent trip to north Queensland, and then air-freighted back to Melbourne.

Collecting a colony of these ants doesn't always go perfectly to plan. Although we have done it many times before, we still somehow managed to shower ourselves with hundreds of angry green insects. Amidst much slapping, cursing and dancing we got the leafy nest into a large bucket and frantically secured the lid before the thousand or so hostile workers erupted over the top. Their nests are constructed of leaves which are bound together with specialised silk produced by the larvae. The worker ants hold the larvae in their mandibles and use them as little silk-producing tools. Any disturbance to the nest is met by an eruption of defenders armed with powerful mandibles and the ability to spray acid.

Once back at Melbourne Museum, the leafy nest was transferred into the display enclosure, complete with suitable plants for them to construct new nests within. They have already set-up a number of nests and are doing very well in their new home.

Greta and Tash transfer the ants (and nest) into the exhibit. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Museum Victoria

Tash watches the first ant explorers as they check out their new home - right in front of the magnifying viewer! Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Museum Victoria

Worker Green Tree Ants escorting their queen. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Museum Victoria

2009's December invertebrate collection trip to north Queensland has been another extremely successful one. For the last 5 years we have headed into the rainforests of northern Australia for a full week of intensive bugging during early December. Most of the work is undertaken at night and during the early hours of the morning when the majority of the invertebrate species we are seeking are active.

Although we were more targeted this year, and quite focused on finding specimens to supplement a number of our existing captive breeding programs, we still collected a number of species that we didn't already have. We even found and collected several species of invertebrates that we had never seen before - it just goes show how diverse and numerous the invertebrates are when after 5 years of visiting the same sites we are still finding new things!

This year we collected 328 specimens, comprising 73 species. Most are being housed and studied within the specialised rooms and enclosures behind the scenes at Melbourne Museum, while some have already made their way onto display within Bugs Alive.  The biggest challenge is developing techniques to keep and breed species which have not been kept before. We record everything we do, and we are always learning.

The 'aqua-gold' katydid. A species we had not seen before, and one that has yet to be formerly classified. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Minibeast Wildlife

A red coloured predatory raspy cricket with white knees - another species we encountered for the first time. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Minibeast Wildlife

A tenebrioniid beetle; yet another species we encountered for the first time. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Minibeast Wildlife

A Green Diving Beetle resting upon the aquatic plants. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Minibeast Wildlife

The stars of the Bugs Alive aquatic display Diving Beetles (Onychohydrus scutellaris) have returned to prominence after two years of scarcity. Although these beetles can live up to two years, Museum staff have not been able to collect new specimens for some time, and breeding them has proved problematic. Gradually the numbers in the display have diminished despite being given the best of care.

The drought throughout Victoria has caused many of the water bodies which support this species to dry up. The adults fly off to find other sources of water, whilst the pupae wait out the dry spells in the banks of the dams and lakes for the water to return.

Recently staff were tipped off to areas where the beetles were present in great numbers and undertook a field trip to collect a number of specimens to supplement the display.

These amazing beetles are active scavengers and add a great degree of movement and colour to the display. During their foraging they constantly return to the surface of the water to replenish their air supply which they hold under their elytra (wing covers).

The recent storm activity seems to have stimulated some amphibian action within the Forest Gallery’s frog enclosures. Spawning has occurred in both enclosures, and egg-masses from two different species will be transported into our back-of-house facilities. This is to ensure that we safely manage the young tadpoles when they emerge.

One egg-mass belongs to Pobblebonk frogs (Limnodynastes dumerilii). They create a distinctive foamy mass which floats on the water with the eggs protected within it. The tadpoles wriggle down into the water when they emerge. The other spawning occurred in the enclosure housing Rocky River Tree Frogs (Litoria lesueuri), and Blue Mountains Tree Frogs (Litoria citropa). Since none of our staff observed the spawning, and the eggs and tadpoles of both species look very similar, we won’t be able to determine which species they are until the froglets emerge.

The distinctive floating egg-mass of the Pobblebonk. The black eggs are suspended within the protective foam. Photo: Alan Henderson, Source: Museum Victoria

It’s census time for Live Exhibits which means going through our entire animal collection and counting the numbers we have, and in most cases a breakdown of the sexes of each species. This information is a valuable part of our collection management, aiding us to plan our breeding requirements, acquisitions and disposals for the year ahead. The figures are also submitted to the zoological organisation ARAZPA, to be included in their Regional Census and Plan alongside data from zoos and other professional animal keeping facilities throughout Australasia. This enables cooperative breeding and animal exchange to take place between member institutions.

Quick stats for Live Exhibits (2008/9)

Total number of animal species held: 193

Total number of individual animals: 2738

Reptile species: 19

Amphibian species: 6

Invertebrate species: 148

Fish species: 15

Bird species: 5

Some animals aren’t counted during the census, and are happily put into the too hard basket! Ants for example are counted as 1 colony, not as individuals. We currently maintain 8 colonies of ants, comprising 7 different species.

These grasshoppers represent 1 species, 68 individuals (4 males 2 females and 62 juveniles) Photo Alan Henderson, Source Museum Victoria

After 2 years of living ‘behind the scenes’ at the Melbourne Museum, our impressive Rainforest Centipede (Ethmostigmus rubripes) has made its new home in Bugs Alive! With its many legs, elongated body and rapid movement it already impresses our visitors as much as it does us.

It is a massive 10 cm long and is one of the largest species in Australia. In the wild they come out at night, wandering the forest floor in search of other invertebrates, they have even been recorded to feed on small vertebrates including frogs and reptiles. It has only tiny eyes and instead uses its antennae to sense its way through the environment. Once prey is detected the centipede will quickly grab the prey with its many legs and inject venom into its victim.

If you are lucky you may get to see our centipede feeding on crickets or cockroaches. When hungry it can catch up multiple insects at a time and holds them along the length of its body – so it may have entrée, mains and dessert all at once!

Our Rainforest Centipede resting upon a log. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Minibeast Wildlife