Preserving the Pisauridae

Preserving the what?

Pisauridae is the family name for the various species of water spider which, while not exactly on the endangered list as yet, are nevertheless heading down the road towards rarity, as urban sprawl and excessive rural land clearing threaten the ponds and streams which are their natural habitat.

And that is a real shame because these spiders are as beautiful as they are unique.  The only truly aquatic spiders, they are completely harmless to humans (although adults have large fangs and  can give a painful bite if handled) these graceful arachnids live their entire lives around water.  In Australia, water spiders inhabit the coastal areas right around the country.

Excellent swimmers, water spiders can skim at incredible speed across the water surface when startled, but will also happily dive beneath the water and swim just as swiftly to a safer spot if threatened by a predator.  And did I say these guys are fast? Good, because they so are!

Water spiders are nocturnal, coming out in the evening to take up a position at the water’s edge where they anchor themselves via their back legs to the bank, an overhanging rock or piece of log or foliage, while spreading their other legs out across the water surface. And there they wait until dinner arrives. Their main diet is insects, but they also like the occasional small fish or small frog and the odd tadpole. They will eat a lot of mozzies (mosquitoes) which is ideal and on the whole, will live harmoniously with the other denizens of the pond or stream.

Ranging in colour from black through dark grey, brown, occasionally speckled and golden yellow, most have a distinctive while stripe down each side of their body. Males grow up to 10mm long and females to 30mm. Their leg span can be up to 180mm (18cm) so if you have a pond in your garden, your paddock or a gentle creek meandering through your property and you decide to nick out with a torch to see if you have any resident water spiders, you’ll be unlikely to  miss ’em, and those body stripes are borderline reflective in torchlight. One of the larger species in Australia is Megadolomedes australianus, also known as the Giant Fishing Spider. You definitely won’t miss one of those if it has downed stakes in your pond. And lucky you if it has!

The thing is, these spiders must have a body of water to survive. They can make do with wet, mossy ground but given the choice, they will opt for water every time. Which is where you can come in. Do you have a spot where you could put in a pond? It doesn’t need to be huge and plant nurseries often carry a range of ready-to-put-in ponds that would be ideal. Place some rocks around it, plant some leafy foliage and then leave it to become it’s own mini ecosystem. The frogs will come, the insects will come and if you are really lucky, so will one of the beautiful water spiders. Keep the water level up and the water free from becoming stagnant and the local aquatic life will thank you. Almost all gardens will benefit from a water feature anyway, and they can be made really attractive, but mainly you will have created a safe haven, as well as a point of interest when you suss out what has moved in.

Certainly, you will want to ensure your pond child safe, if you have little ones, but there are various ways you can do this which will still allow everyone to enjoy the pond, but will prevent the littlies from falling in.

Perhaps this could be your next home project. You could probably do this over a weekend or two and the whole family could be involved in the planning and the actual doing, and have something really attractive to show for it at the end.

And while we all still have a degree of lockdown time on our hands…

Go for it.

 

 

 

And Now for Something Different!

With all the doom and gloom surrounding us at the moment, it’s nice to come across something positive for a change. Something that reminds us that it’s not all bad at the moment, that good things are still happening, yes?

Like the fate of our iconic grass trees. All up, there are 28 species of grass tree, which range in size from one metre to six metres tall, and they are native only to Australia. Grass trees, which in truth are neither grass nor tree, began diversifying somewhere around 24 to 35 million years ago. They are a very slow-growing perennial, very-long-lived and at present are in danger of being pushed to extinction. Okay, so this is not the  good thing I was talking about…

Also called as the Yacca, and formally known as Blackboys, the genus Xanthorrhoea are monocots, meaning they only have one cotyledon (which is the leaf attached to the embryo within the seed). They are unique, have an amazing ability to survive a bushfire and an added bonus is, they also flower! The trees send up an impressive spear-like spike which can be up to four metres long, adorned with nectar-rich flowers which attract a wide variety of insects, birds and mammals. They are a starkly beautiful, sculptural tree, essential to the bush ecology, that can live for up to 600 years and they are among the oldest living plants on the planet, which makes it all the more concerning that urban developers see them as nothing more than an obstacle to be razed to the ground as more land is cleared to make way for new suburbs and building projects. Okay, so this definitely isn’t the good thing either.

Here is the good thing, however;  Western Australian company, Margaret River Grass Trees, has come out on the side of the iconic Xanthorrhoea and are doing a remarkable job of rescuing them, literally from the path of the bulldozers, and then propagating them in nurseries all around Australia, thus ensuring their future survival and raising their profile with gardeners and landscape designers around the country. Being such an ancient plant, that has endured and thrived all over the country for millennia, the grass tree makes an excellent choice as a specimen tree for the home gardener, for schools, public parks and the commercial sector, as it has adapted perfectly to all the various conditions that make up our Australian landscape.

Like almost all Australian natives, grass trees can be traumatised by a removal from the ground and the entire operation needs to be handled with extreme care. Fortunately, the team at Margaret River Grass Trees know their stuff and have been successfully removing the trees and relocating them to their nurseries, where the trees are carefully tended for around 18 months, to ensure their health and survival following the move.  This is vitally important, as the company wants to ensure the trees will do well when sold on to their customers. But their survival is tantamount anyway.

And why not? It would be devastating if these remarkable trees met with extinction.

Grass trees can flourish in poor, sandy soils, are drought and fire resistant and once established, are a low maintenance, inexpensive plant to look after. They love sun, there is no need to use fertiliser and climate wise, they will live happily under almost any seasonal conditions. So it is so nice to know that someone appreciates their unique beauty and is doing something concrete to ensure the grass tree does not vanish from our landscape, because that would be tragic. You can visit www.margaretrivergrasstrees.com (who operate Australia wide) to find out more about their operation, view their impressive gallery, discover more about these amazing trees and maybe even find the perfect specimen for your garden.

See? I said this was about something nice.