The Otway Fly Tree Top Walk - Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia

Otway Black Snail: Endemic to the Otways where it lives in high rainfall forests, the snail is one of several carnivorous species. The others are small, but this is long-bodied, black with grey sides, with a glossy, jet black shell up to 25mm in diameter. It hunts worms and similar invertebrates on the forest floor. These are speared with long, curved teeth and drawn live into the snail’s relatively large mouth.

Progradungula spider: This spider was discovered in the 1990s, and in 1997 formally named Progradungula otwayensis. Its origins can be traced back to a period long before the Cretaceous era.

Hairy Cicada: Most male cicadas use noise to attract females. Hairy Cicadas are different. The males are silent. No one knows how they tell future partners where they are hiding. But they do, and after mating the female lays her eggs in clusters of several hundreds on the branches of eucalypts. The tiny larvae drop to the ground, burrow in and begin their long life - several years - underground. Late in summer the fully grown larvae emerge. They crawl to the trunk of a tree and grip on to the bark. The hard larval skin splits down the back, allowing the pale green adult to climb free.

Ghost Shrimp, or Phreatoicopsis: There are many crustaceans in the Otway rainforest, including burrowing yabbies and freshwater crayfish that live in streams. The Ghost Shrimp is a terrestrial creature. This particular species (P.terricola) is found only in the Otway Ranges and Grampians.

Velvet Worm: This quaint creature gains its name from the minute bumps that cover its body, giving it a velvety appearance. Velvet worms grow to about 4cm long, and inhabit wet, decaying wood. Their prey is other invertebrates that they catch with a sticky fluid secreted from the mouth. Once the prey is captured, the velvet worm sucks out the victim’s body fluids.

Otway Stonefly: The first Otway Stonefly was discovered in 1932 near Beech Forest, but none were seen for nearly 60 years and the species was presumed extinct. Then in 1991 another was found, and a serious search discovered that it was fairly common. They are fierce predators, using a pair of sickle-shaped jaws to grasp their prey.

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