Janine Young – design and build consultant ja9young
Design & construction consulting on accessible residential & commercial buildings. Assessment & reporting on legislative compliance for buildings & public spaces.
Read more...Get Connected
Get Connected in Central Victoria!
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Read more...Central Spark
Solar Kyneton
Solar Power Systems in Kyneton
Imagine powering your home or business with clean, renewable energy from the sun. Our solar power systems are designed to maximise energy efficiency while minimising your carbon footprint. We offer a range of solar panel options that are not only efficient but also durable, ensuring long-term savings on your electricity bills.
central-spark.com
Read more...Ballaarook Wagyu
Ballaarook Wagyu is situated at Coleraine in Western Victoria and has been producing full-blood wagyu bulls since 2012.
Contact Russell Finch (principal).
Visit: Ballaarook Wagyu
Read more...Eltham Copper Butterflies
The endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly (Paralucia pyrodiscus lucida) is a fascinating story. This is a rare, good news story within the extinction crisis across Australia of how we can save species. With enough care and resources anything is possible.
This small and endangered butterfly is endemic to Victoria where it was once widely distributed in dry open forest from Melbourne to Western Victoria. Land clearing for urbanisation and farming has resulted in large areas of suitable habitat being removed. Eltham Copper Butterflies (ECB) now only occur in three disjunct regions (Eltham/Greensborough, Bendigo/Castlemaine, Wimmera). The largest ECB habitat area currently centres around Castlemaine and Bendigo, where new colonies have been found between 2007 and 2021 mostly within National Parks and reserves.
Eltham Copper Butterflies is a small attractive butterfly with bright copper colouring on the tops of its wings and can only be seen during summer months when it is an adult. The rest of the year it lives predominantly underground coming out only at night escorted by ants to feed exclusively on Sweet Bursaria leaves.
ECB are members of the Blue butterfly family (Lycaenidae), 79% of which have a relationship with ants. ECB have a weird, wonderful and totally dependent (obligate) three-way relationship with two Notoncus ant species and Sweet Bursaria plants (Bursaria spinosa). Not to mention dependency on an unknown array of environmental factors including food and other requirements of the Notoncus ants themselves, local predators and parasites, aspect, soil type, soil chemistry and other nectar sources for adult ECB to eat.
ECB larvae feed exclusively on Sweet Bursaria. The adult ECB lay their eggs on or at the base of Sweet Bursaria plants that host a Notoncus ant colony. Notoncus ants are nocturnal ants which live underground in nests, including at the base of Sweet Bursaria plants. Once hatched the larvae are guided by Notoncus ants into the ant nest where they are tended and guarded. This amazing service is achieved through a mixture of trickery and treats. Trickery in that the larvae of this family of Blue Butterflies are believed to give off chemicals and make sounds that can pacify ant aggression, mimic ant brood hormones, attract and alert ants if the ECB larvae is alarmed. Treats in that the ants feed from sugary secretions which are produced from ECB larvae in proportion to how many ants they need to guard them.
These nocturnal ants then lead the larvae out at night to browse on the Sweet Bursaria leaves and defend them from the many nocturnal predators and parasites that see them as a juicy snack. ECB larvae overwinter in the ant nest and are led out at night to graze. Larvae pupate in or near the ant nest, with adult butterflies emerging from October to March each year, peaking from November to January. The adults feed on nectar of flowers, especially Sweet Bursaria flowers, before they lay their eggs at the base of the plant, and on the cycle begins again.
Find out more about the Eltham Copper Butterfly here!
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Central Victoria Search
We can help you find local businesses, trades, services, and much more across central Victoria. This region includes Bendigo, Castlemaine, Ballarat, Maldon, Newstead, St Arnaud, Clunes, Creswick, Beaufort, Avoca, Maryborough, Inglewood and more to come…
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sites hosted by centralvic
Castlemaine: home page for everything about Castlemaine.
Bendigo: check out news and events in Bendigo.
Ballarat: all the latest and greatest from this cool regional city.
Newstead: the funkiest little town in the southern hemisphere.
St Arnaud: our latest town profile.
More towns and business listings coming on-line all the time! Keep checking us.