Our final day at Lamington Plateau began with a morning full of field activities and invertebrate study. We learned how to gather arachnids such as the funnel web spider by digging into the ground with a trowel and removing the spider from its burrow. We learned how to sift leaf litter and soil to look at smaller organisms such as select species of pseudoscorpions. We also learned some general techniques for catching invertebrates in the field, such as pitfall traps for terrestrial invertebrates and flight interception traps for winged invertebrates.
After lunch, we walked to a nearby creek and spent some time looking for assassin bugs, a type of predatory insect that feeds on other invertebrates by using a rostrum to inject specialized venom into prey. We didn’t have any luck finding assassin bugs, but we did see various species of spiders and beetles and even one of the Lamington Spiny Crayfish—a freshwater crayfish capable of walking around damp forest floors. While most of the group went back to camp after searching for insects, a few members went to a nearby waterfall with a spectacular view of the land below Lamington.
Once back at camp, we endured the second thunderstorm of our stay at Lamington, except this one was nowhere near as harsh or windy as the first storm we made it through.
That night, we had the amazing opportunity to walk along one of the trails and see a local population of glow worms at the base of a creek bed. The light produced by these carnivorous organisms created a collage of small specks of light, beautifully and eerily similar to that of the sky on a cloudless night. We spent time simply admiring the mosaic of light and the images and constellations formed.