Derrick Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 An Australian entomologist friend who first introduced me to ant-plants in Australia, told me years ago about a population of plants he had discovered north of Weipa on the the Gulf of Carpentaria on the west side of Cape York Peninsula, Australia. It was a population of myrmecodias with WHITE FRUITS. Back then, it was not well known that M.beccarii was first typified and described from "a very rare specimen" found somewhere on the gulf coast back in the 1880's. Thus initially there seemed to be a possibility that it might be a species new to science. However, now that we know M.beccarii is found as far north as the Iron Range region (which is only slightly to the south of Weipa but on the other side of the peninsula) and that M.beccarii had existed on the gulf coast, it seemed most probable that it might be that species. Thus in 2015 I spent a few days in the region hoping to find a population that had been reported as common specimens. Sadly, although numerous sites were found that seemed ideal habitat, not a single Myrmecodia was found, even in locations where Dischidia nummularia a very common cohabitant was very frequent. The Melaleuca forests (prime M.beccarii habitat) showed signs of intense bush fires and the nearby Rio Tinto strip mining areas were off limits so these are possible reasons why no specimens were found. I have attempted to advise the Australia Botanical authorities of the probable presence of a unique population (very possibly genetically distinct) but I have been ignored. The following link is for the actual herbarium specimens collected from the gulf coast habitat by my friend but they have been incorrectly labelled as the very widepread species M. platytyrea subsp antoinii. which they most certainly are not (it has orange fruits). http://biocache.ala.org.au/occurrences/151fcb20-a39b-4cba-b8a8-ccf03066bf33 The Australian botanical community seem very determined not to accept their error, possibly because of the enormous power of the Rio Tinto mining empire that is completely denuding vast areas of pristine forest by removing meters of topsoil and ALL of its lifeforms so that they may then remove many meters of the underlying bauxite (aluminium ore). Now I have indisputable proof from Rio Tinto's own site analysis that Myrmecodia beccarii does (or now DID?) exist in these lands. http://www.riotinto.com/documents/SoE_Vol3_EPBC_assessment_report_part_1.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikerdoc Posted February 15, 2018 Report Share Posted February 15, 2018 Thank you, Derrick. Fascinating read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Pulvirenti Posted October 21, 2018 Report Share Posted October 21, 2018 Derrick, the Australian Botanists that are knowledgeable about Ant plants are aware of these populations and are also not happy with what is happening, unfortunately they can only make recommendations to the government about protecting key areas of the environment. It is up to the government to act on these recommendations and put more restrictions on Rio Tinto, so it is unfair to put the blame on Australian Botanists. At this very moment Cape York Myrmecodia beccarii are being studied and grown at Cairns University, in time they will be legally introduces into the hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrick Posted October 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2018 https://biocache.ala.org.au/occurrences/151fcb20-a39b-4cba-b8a8-ccf03066bf33 This site requests feedback yet it has completely ignored my numerous efforts to HELP them quickly and very easily correct a glaring error. Something here is not right. Is it fear of Rio Tinto? Is it academic arrogance? Is it bureaucratic incompetence? Such a mistake IS certainly an insult to the Australian botanical community but their responsible bureaucrats do nothing. Their arguments are that there is insufficient funds and the work load is too immense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philpatrick Posted August 8, 2019 Report Share Posted August 8, 2019 The link above is not working: Error: unknown No record found with id: 151fcb20-a39b-4cba-b8a8-ccf03066bf33 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philpatrick Posted August 8, 2019 Report Share Posted August 8, 2019 Occurrence records for Myrmecodia beccarii: https://biocache.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?taxa=Myrmecodia+beccarii&q=&fq=&wkt=&lat=&lon=&radius=&offset=20&max=20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrick Posted August 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2019 So they have removed the evidence of their error rather than fixing it. Typical bureaucrats. Myrmecodia beccarii was recorded on Rio Tinto's land by their own surveyors; so without doubt very rare populations are being destroyed. That is if any are now left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philpatrick Posted August 12, 2019 Report Share Posted August 12, 2019 The hole is more honorable than the patch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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