This site has an abundance of Helichrysum lanceolutum on the road bank and steep hillside. No doubt the persistence of these shrubs has enabled the survival of what seems to be good populations of Nola parvitis and Helastia triphragma. To find the N. parvitis I simply poked 3 x Helichrysum bushes (at night) with my net and 3 x N. parvitis flew out. I had a UV light set up close to the bushes and N. parvitis did not come to light, but lots of H. triphragma did.
Finishing off 2023 in Dansey's Pass, which has a great variety of habitats for Lepidoptera. All moths drawn to UV light except N parvitis.
washed in on the tide, dead
A few plants on edge of eroding sea cliff
Female scale on a Totara (Podocarpus totara) stem.
Scattered plants on eroded sand from consolidated sand dunes outcrops in gumlands. Most flowers in early bud. Buds often nipped off by pests. Lovely to see this flowering!
A good number of flowering plants observed, although most were finished.
Observed during a unitec trip, with @ pjd1.
On schist outcrop
Locally common on seasonally flooded ground on lake margin. Growing in peaty sand with Apodasmia similis, Ophioglossum coriaceum and various mosses and liverworts.
A problematic population. Some plants corresponding to Ophioglossum coriaceum and others intermediate between that species and O. petiolatum. I am (for now) placing the larger plants into O. petiolatum (I have seen similar plants accepted as this from Raoul Island, and Te Paki by New Zealand Pteridologists). I suspect, that for many populations ascribed to O. petiolatum in reality we are dealing with hybrid swarms between something like O. petiolatum and O. coriaceum - we have some evidence to support this from cytological studies which found that of 8 New Zealand populations attributed to O. petiolatum, only one was functional, all the others produced sterile spores. Notably most grew close to O. coriaceum - as at this site.
Placement in O. petiolatum (for now) for most of the plants seen here is based on the size of the fertile spike which ranged between 14 and 20 sporangia pairs. However, the sterile blade is more typical of O. coriaceum. See also https://inaturalist.nz/observations/199256092 for an observation of the same population made on 14 February 2024.
Voucher: P.J. de Lange CH4548, UNITEC 14417
Originally seen alive at same location on 05/08/2024. Recovered dead on 09/08/2024. Appropriate authorities have been contacted
Can anyone help me solve this wee puzzle? Unusual warm spell across the lower South Island. First moth seen at home in a long time due to the cold, frosty winter nights.
house made of liverworts I think
Leaf-miner in Dracophyllum latifolium. Sampled by Robert Hoare.
Awesome night at Borland, despite clear skies and a bright full moon.
Very confident on this one , just as I was packing up!
first 9 photos of the best unequivocal find, then some additional mine photos. Photos 16-19 have another miner but shots not as good.
Coastal. Resisting the Phalacrocorax sulcirostris which was trying so hard to swallow it for a few minutes!
Seen on the Northern Plains. Difficult to photograph as they keep ducking into the vegetation and are always on the move.
Adult photographed in the frog bank on Stephens Island while doing Hamilton's Frog fieldwork at night.
This cage still has fruiting plants in it, I'm impressed.
Finally recorded a lovely grandiosa at Falls Dam after three unsuccessful attempts a few late autumns ago. Only the fourth one I've seen (2 at Saint Bathans, 1 in Kawarau Gorge).
I was to late in the day to see it open so I picked it and put it in my greenhouse and every flower on the inflorescence opened this was the last one.
Quite taken with these. One of those moths where if you change your angle of view slightly you get totally different colours and scale reflections from the moth. Crisp evening on the beach
Starting to gets lots washing in with the southerly. Hasn't been any for quite a while until the last couple weeks.
Assisting @Carey-Knox-Southern-Scales on moth surveys. 20ha Matai dominated rich forest remnant surrounded by pasture/tussock/sparse shrublands. Various light/sheet combinations set up on forest edge.
Following the discovery of a Streblus Fruit Moth on the previous night we explored the forest more thoroughly the following day and discovered several groves of Streblus. We set a number of lights/sheets specifically targeting these trees and this moth. With success, probably 7 individuals came to light. 4 further individuals of this very variable moth are recorded.
It was quite a surprise to suddenly come across one of these! Like last time, it was sitting out in the open, during the day, in some low kiokio.
I have posted observations of this 'family' of B tuberculatum on two previous occasions (most recently on 7 March 2024: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/201559736) and have been returning, hoping to see it flowering.
On this occasion I observed 3 flower stems among one cluster, but only budding at this stage. There were no other signs of buds or flowers on any of the other 20 plus clusters of pseudobulbs.
Unfortunately, I will not be able to visit the site again until 8 June '24, by which time I expect any flowering to be over.
There were quite a few of these on sheltered, sunny patches of lichen in deep cracks in rock on the Forty-Fours, the only species of moth I saw out there
Bird landed on boat and stayed until Seaview Marina, then hopped off and flew away over Wellington Harbour waters. Photo and sighting posted here on behalf of the observer, Jonathan Delich of Cook Strait Charters.
Tuatapere BioBlitz. Great fun with a good turnout. First time I've seen these lovely green weta
My berries, not yours! (location blurred)
These alpine jumping spiders never disappoint with their camouflage. In the Southern Alps, they are grey (see https://inaturalist.nz/observations/20903295), these ones in the Red Hills suit the red rocks perfectly. If you take your eye off them for a second to get the camera out, they are impossible to find again!
Chick, taken with trail camera.
Avatar Moth that featured on Forest & Birds 100 year anniversary Stamps last year: Hamish and I discovered it here high on Denniston Plateau during a BioBlitz and Robert and I described subsequently: saw about ten flying low of cushion wetlands here on sunny day
Recently named species. 2nd individual, probably many more.
Tahuna Torea Nature Reserve, Glendowie, Auckland 1071. Several live moths observed in a saltmarsh (mainly Samolus repens). Photo 1 shows one individual, photos 2-5 show another individual.
Alpine.
John Child bryophyte and lichen workshop 2023.
Large reddish brown terrestrial leech. Found in peat in a penguin rookery on Snares main island. 7-9cm long extended, 2-3cm wide (possibly just fed). Round sucker on under surface. Papillae, red-brown with yellow colouration. Coolest thing I have ever seen.
One of several flying actively in the early afternoon sun. Very little known species, possibly endemic to this area.
Managed to see 2/3 snipe so pretty pleased (and Snares Snipe would be a bit of an unreasonable hope). In the case of the Campbell Island Snipe I got two chances, and here's the first one.
As you might expect I have an absurd number of photos from this trip. Complicated by taking all the photos in lossless NEF but Nikon's own software crashes when batch editing or exporting, lol
Managed to see 2/3 snipe so pretty pleased (and Snares Snipe would be a bit of an unreasonable hope). In the case of the Campbell Island Snipe I got two chances, and here's the second one.
As you might expect I have an absurd number of photos from this trip. Complicated by taking all the photos in lossless NEF but Nikon's own software crashes when batch editing or exporting, lol
Managed to see 2/3 snipe so pretty pleased (and Snares Snipe would be a bit of an unreasonable hope).
As you might expect I have an absurd number of photos from this trip. Complicated by taking all the photos in lossless NEF but Nikon's own software crashes when batch editing or exporting, lol
Myosotis cheesemanii, tight cushion with flowers growing on loose gravelly debris on the upper edge of a snowbank. Petries original collection of this species was from "Mt Pisa Range(6000 ft) on steep faces of shingle above snowdrifts" which pretty much describes the site where these photos were taken.
I couldn't resist posting this one today before I head off again for a bit. My first encounter with Streaked Alpine Owlet (Nivetica nervosa). A stunning noctuid moth endemic to Te Waipounamu / South Island, Aotearoa. Found in wetland habitats in the subalpine and alpine zone of the South Island. This one (and two others) recorded early on the evening of the 29th November in the Southern Hawkdun Range, Oteake Conservation Park at about 800 metres a.s.l. Cloudy, mild, low wind. Great conditions
In terms of moth uploads, I am currently 16 days (and A LOT of moths!) behind real-time. Only my 3rd day at home this December. So... we are still on my way up to Kahurangi National Park. Here is an interesting batch from a night at Lake Rotoroa (Nelson Lakes) in the beech forest and adjoining shrubland.
Wye Creek walking track overlooking forest and shrubland. Great to see seven of this species come to light. First time I have seen them! Their host plant is native brooms (Carmichaelia)
species Comparative
ex private property
Comparative showing Caladenia 'red stem, Caladenia 'Bacon Creek, Caladenia lyallii small form and large aff alpina form.
Given interest in comparative shots are of popular interest I have appended a further shot which hopefully may help those studying the Caladenia spp.
Aotearoa's most recently described skink. Mataura skink (Oligosoma aureocola). Species name means 'dweller in gold' refering to the species strong use of Golden Spaniard or spear grass (Aciphylla aurea). Can someone chonk out the Wikipedia /iNat page? Knox, C.D., Patterson, G.B., Chapple, D.G. (2023): Oligosoma aureocola sp. nov. (Reptilia: Scincidae) from the northern Southland high country of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Zootaxa. 22 pp.
Well, well, I have never seen a three headed monster like this one before, two yes but three...really...Not 100% sure about what this specimen actually is as far as species but the suggestion seems to fit best...=0
gottem :D
At the type location, probably the exact same seepage as https://inaturalist.nz/observations/7129121
Slightly pink form. Sparse cilia.
An amazing opportunity to observe such a cool species. No public access