Donald HobernI just spent three nights camping at #BirdLife Australia's #Gluepot Reserve in the #mallee of #SouthAustralia.
Tenperatures were reaching 37/38 C, and it's very dry there. The reserve has a small dam, but no other open water. The #MurrayRiver is about 40 km to the south.
But the #insects that appeared at night were primarily #freshwater species - lots of #CaddisFlies (#Trichoptera), #Chironomidae and #BackSwimmers (#Notonectidae).
This video shows the insects attracted to a #LepiLED UV light. If these mostly originated down at the river, the insect #biomass streaming up across this region (wind-blown?) is absolutely staggering.
There were also LOTS of #microbats everywhere, and the stars were incredible.