Friday 9th Sept 2016 – Australian Ants in roadside and remnants

Posted on 4 September, 2016 by Connecting Country

The guest speaker for the next Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club on Friday 9th September is Ballarat-based entomologist Peter Muller. Peter’s presentation will be about the great variety of interesting ants that occur in the local area and beyond. Peter has provided the following text about himself and the talk:

Early life; lived, trained/educated/qualified in agriculture. Changed direction and pursued a career in natural land management. Worked for various environmental organisation, Parks Victoria and Conservation and land management, and the various forms that it has morphed into over the years. Have gained substantial land management experience in a variety disciplines and responsibilities. Over 30 years have worked in conservation in most areas in Victoria.

Nest mound of Rhytidoponera spp. Photo by Peter Muller.

For the last 15 years, until recently retired, I have worked in environmental education with Ballarat/Federation University, a challenging but rewarding profession. Now with a bit of time on my hands, I am devoting some of it researching ants and, hopefully, to answering some question about ants that I have had for many years. I hope, along the way, I can add a little bit to our environmental knowledge, and add value to natural areas particularly, roadside and remnants.

I live at Enfield south of Ballarat, and have three daughters in various parts of the world.

Peter will also lead the club’s excursion on the following day, which will be a search for nests of sugar ants and other ants. The following link provides some further information to assist with ant nest identification during the excursion (CLICK HERE).

Peter’s presentation will commence from 7.30pm in the Fellowship Room behind the Castlemaine Uniting Church (on Lyttleton St, next door to the Art Gallery and Museum) on Friday 9 September. The excursion will depart from the Octopus building car-park on Duke St (opposite the Castle Motel) at 1.30pm sharp on Saturday 10 September. Members and visitors are welcome to attend both, and there is no cost for attendance.