Palomino shops, Sturges Road, Henderson, Auckland.
At light. About 2145 hrs. One macropterous female. Antennae broken off.
Majority of moths drawn to 5 UV lights or a LepiLED light (6 lights total) in various spots around the forest and shrubland margins. Also, quite a few caught in Shaun's Heath moth trap overnight. Two nights of mothing. The first was cloudy and mild with light rain. The second was mild with a clear sky. The rainy night was the better of the two nights easily!
shaded conifer rocky forest, in mineshaft
Fluorescent under 365nm ultraviolet.
Off track on rocky tumble near Windy Point.
I found several of these sitting on the surface of the snow on the mountain side.
Found in old mineshaft
With @Carey-Knox-Southern-Scales on an autumn moth survey of Hidden Valley. Night 1, mild but increasing rain showers made photography difficult, although the moths didn't seem to mind.
A jumping spider on Aciphylla. Apologies for my image.
This year I've noticed that some of the nuts from one of our three macadamia trees have had tiny holes in them. We cracked one open this morning and discovered this wee grub. Could it be Cryptophlebia ombrodelta? I'm hoping not but given that we've never seen this damage before...
(The squishy bit on the side of the larvae is where I think I stabbed it with a pin, while extricating it from the nut.)
Titirangi, Auckland.
On an epiphytic Astelia hastata, on the Park Rd margin of Atkinson Park.
No clue about these guys. I know they're spiderlings, which doesn't help 😅
In the bush loo ;)
A wolf spider in dry tussock country photographed at night on the shores of Lake Clearwater
John Child bryophyte and lichen workshop 2023.
Had made its home on an articulated series of dolphin vertebrae!
Was the most commonly spotted invertebrate during night hunts on this mountain.
Very dark red in colour, Is there anyone who can Identify this species of Tetragnatha?
Collected from a hotel, guests likely brought it in with luggage.
Looked like a jumpy spider, similar to the ones you see in the house, but blacker. It was out on an unpopulated and reasonably remote beach, but there’s a chance it came out of one of our packs
Found on a Laurel leaf infested with Ross' Black Scale. Length 2 mm.
On Makaka (Plagianthus divaricatus).
Associated with this observation:
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/197113856
Grafton Gully at Symonds St Cemetery, Grafton, Auckland. One dryinidised Batracomorphus nymph, on Hoheria populnea.
Dung beetle (?) found on a rock in the stream of Tima Burn.
3rd shot showing the female on her large loose unstructured web (starkly different from the tightly-knit "nursery webs" of D. minor)
TAK Kids Discovery Plantout with Glentunnel School ()including invertebrate hunt)
first time I've spotted P. taeniatifrons on ivy and in this part of Kaiapoi
ID confirmed by molecular and morphological work carried out by MPI, which has also confirmed the plant the specimens were found on as bay laurel (Laurus nobilis)
images taken at various points along the same hedge bordering the cemetery along Vickery St, from 5:46pm-6:09pm
they all come from the cemetery side of the hedge
same location as https://inaturalist.nz/observations/197749810
According to literature reviewed by MPI, the species 'is distributed in Europe (Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy, Romania, United Kingdom) and Africa (Tunisia) and is found on a range of host plants including: strawberry trees (Arbutus unedo); heath (Erica); myrtles (Myrtus); oleander (Nerium oleander); mock privet (Phillyrea); mastic trees (Pistacia lentiscus); oak (Quercus); Rhododendron; and butcher’s broom (Ruscus).'
https://www.britishbugs.org.uk/homoptera/Cicadellidae/Placotettix_taeniatifrons.html
ID confirmed by molecular and morphological work carried out by MPI
from cemetery side of hedge along Vickery St
for further information from MPI, see my notes on https://inaturalist.nz/observations/197961153
The bright green moss in amongst reddish-brown Rhacocarpus purpurascens (see this separate observation http://naturewatch.org.nz/observations/8925088).
Very large, conspicuous bright red (yellow when immature) capsules. I can see where the species name (grandiglobum) comes from!
ID by David Glenny.
Collected by the microplastics team during the ecology field trip. Please note the colouration is not natural, the team was using pink stain to differentiate organic and inorganic matter in estuarine mud. Identified with help from Gerry Closs (I really had no idea where to start looking, Gerry suggested minor phyla).
Mt. Karioi. Suction sample collected 50m into the forest.
Wingless wasp? Weird ant? Not sure how to place this.
Found on underside of a leaf in native bush
Otago Entomology Society Quarantine Island BioBlitz
Otago Entomology Society Quarantine Island BioBlitz. Mating or fighting?
Otago Entomology Society Quarantine Island BioBlitz