It has dark brown to black fur with a bright white-stripe at the junction of the body and wings. Some individuals also have an area of white-fur on the chest.

One of the largest insectivorous (microbats) in Australia, it is in the ‘free tail’ family (Molossidae) which have a strong, stiff tail projecting beyond the tail membrane.

The species was formerly classified as Tadarida australis.

Size

85 - 100 mm head and body length; free tail extends 40 to 55 mm from the body. Adult average weight 37 g.

Grey soft fur, with a white belly and a black stripe that runs from its nose, over its head and along its back. It has a long bushy tail, the last quarter of which is black, often with a white tip. Its ears are large and hairless, and its large eyes are black.

Size

About 28 cm long (from nose to tip of tail).

Arboreal (tree-dwelling) marsupial with large furry ears, a prominent black nose and a vestigial tail. Its fur is thick and ash grey or grey-brown on the dorsal side with an off-white/pale yellow underside.

Size

Koalas from Australia’s southern regions are larger than that of their northern counterparts, with head-body length ranging from 72-78cm.

Dark grey to brown body, with lighter grey fur on its head and golden-orange fur encircling its neck. Its wings are black.

Distinctive feature

Fur on its legs that extends to its ankles.

Size

23 cm to 29 cm head and body length); wingspan over 1 m.

Almost completely black with a rusty-red or chocolate-brown patch at the back of its head and on its neck. Its fur can be tipped with grey, particularly on its belly. It has no fur on its lower legs.

Size

23 – 28 cm head and body length, wingspan over 1 m.

Also known as the sandy wallaby, Kimberley wallaby, jungle wallaby, grass wallaby and river wallaby.. A medium-sized, light yellowish-brown with a prominent white face stripe leading back from upper lid to under eye and a white thigh stripe.

Droppings are pear-shaped and slightly pointed at broader end (25 mm long by 15 mm at broadest end).

Size

Body length 80 cm; tail length 77 cm; weight 15 kg.

The caterpillar (larva) is initially green, white and brown and resembles bird droppings. A mature caterpillar has a dark brown head, a green body with some pale yellow and brown markings, and spines along its back.

The male butterfly (adult) is black with an arc of creamy-white spots near the tip of each forewing. Each hindwing has a creamy-white patch and a single red spot, and there are many red crescents on its underside.

The female butterfly is brown to black, and the outer half of its forewing is whitish-grey. Its hindwing has a creamy-white patch, as well as a series of blue and red crescent-shaped markings.

Size

Caterpillar up to 6 cm long; Butterflies 10 – 12 cm wingspan.

The caterpillar (larva) is green with a hump on its upper back and small white dots over its body. The butterfly (adult) has brown or black outer wings with some white markings plus two green blotches, and green inner wings (closest to its body). The underside of each wing has the same patterning but the green parts tend to be darker. It has “tails” at the tip of each hindwing.

There are two recognised subspecies Graphium macleayanus macleayanus from Queensland and NSW, and Graphium macleayanus moggana from Tasmania, Victoria and parts of subalpine NSW.

Size

Caterpillar 4 cm long; Butterfly wingspan 5 – 6 cm (can reach up to 8 cm).

Predominantly pale tawny-orange with a heavy black border that encloses large white spots in the forewing. The inner leading edge of the forewing is deep red-brown. The underside is similar to the upper side but paler with narrower black margins. Males have a distinct patch of dark grey sex-scales on the upper side of the hindwing.

The caterpillars have three pairs of tentacles and yellow, white and black rings.

Size

7 - 8 cm wingspan.

Leaf Beetles are also known as Pittosporum Beetles or Bursaria Beetles, after their host species.

The beetles have a bright red head and pronotum with an entirely blue or green body. The larvae have a brown head with six distinct black eye spots on each side. Pale underside, dark upperside with dark spines.

They are aposemtatic, meaning they are posionous to visual predators. Be very careful if handling them.

Size

0.6 - 1.4 cm long; body narrow and flat. Length to width ratio ranges from 2:1 to 2.5:1. Length to height ratio is 3.5:1.