This is a bit late in coming but I thought, since over the last 2 and half months I visited 16 of the highest peaks in Australia, I should write something about it. Especially since I have a few hours to kill while I sit in my (luxurious) room in Thredbo waiting for grasshoppers to wake up (more about that later). Way back in mid-January, I started my collections for the summer with trips to Mt Franklin and Mt Ginini. It wasn’t planned that way, but it seemed like every other mountain in Victoria and NSW was on alight. An area near Mt Ginini had been burnt only a few days earlier, but the fire was out and I was keen to get up into the mountains so, with some trepidation, I decided to make an initial “scouting” trip out to Mt Franklin. My Dad came along as a guide and field assistant. We drove from Canberra up to the Mt Franklin carpark, which is about a 5 minute walk from where the old chalet once stood and about half an hour from the summit. Having never looked for grasshoppers in Namadgi, I had no idea what I would find. No records existed Kosciuscola (the genus I’m studying) at Mt Franklin. It was a hot day with lots (LOTS) of March flies but, lo and behold, when we arrived at the chalet area there were dozens of grasshoppers bouncing around. I resisted the urge to stop and collect them and we continued up the hill to the summit where we found…nothing. Despite a thorough search, we didn’t find a single grasshopper. So, back down the hill we went (a much-appreciated cool change had arrived and blown away the flies) to catch some hoppers from around the chalet. Most were juveniles (notoriously difficult to identify) and, being rusty after 8 months away from the field, it was quite a challenge to work out which species we were actually finding!
Two days later, after getting hold of a key for the gate at the Mt Franklin carpark, I headed up to Mt Ginini accompanied by my friend, Kathryn. It was my first time at Ginini and I was surprised that there were no grasshoppers to be found on the summit. It was another hot day and there were millions of flies about. So many that I’m not really sure whether we couldn’t find grasshoppers because they weren’t there or whether we just couldn’t see them because the flies were so thick. We caught a few, but called it quits early because it was just so difficult to see what we were doing. A re-visit to Ginini is on the cards, but I’m yet to make it out there. I have a suspicion that grasshoppers are actually plentiful there, but were obscured by the march fly haze.
Two days later, after getting hold of a key for the gate at the Mt Franklin carpark, I headed up to Mt Ginini accompanied by my friend, Kathryn. It was my first time at Ginini and I was surprised that there were no grasshoppers to be found on the summit. It was another hot day and there were millions of flies about. So many that I’m not really sure whether we couldn’t find grasshoppers because they weren’t there or whether we just couldn’t see them because the flies were so thick. We caught a few, but called it quits early because it was just so difficult to see what we were doing. A re-visit to Ginini is on the cards, but I’m yet to make it out there. I have a suspicion that grasshoppers are actually plentiful there, but were obscured by the march fly haze.