A photo of a passionvine hopper that landed on the glasses of a man on our walk. We photographed it for the City Nature Challenge.

A photo of some of the people on the walk in 2024 checking out a Cook Strait kowhai growing on the roadside.

A photo of some of the overwintering monarch butterflies we found in Bradford Park.

A photo of a kererū (NZ wood pigeon) that we found perched in a tree in Hollis Park. Kererū are big green birds with a white breast and red beak and eye.

On Sunday 26 April, I'll be leading another nature walk in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, this time from the Sign of the Takahe to the Botanic Gardens. That's part of the four-day City Nature Challenge.

It's a terrific walk designed to take us through many of the city's […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

Original post on mastodon.nz

If you're in Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ, next Sunday, and are keen for a nature walk, well, you're in luck!

As part of the city's annual Walking Festival, me and Noah Fenwick, two local iNaturalist fanatics and ecologists, will be leading a walk/explore around Waikākāriki Horseshoe Lake. It […]

A photo of a small dark black fly with an orange head and black eyes.

There's a new fly in town.

While out for a run yesterday, in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ, I noticed this unusual orange-headed black fly. I uploaded my photos to #iNaturalist when I got home and learned that it's the Australian Soldier Fly, *Inopus rubriceps* […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

A photo of a small black cricket sitting on a wall. This is the Small Field Cricket, Bobilla bigelowi.

A photo of large leaves of a mistletoe growing out of a beech tree, which has small leaves. The mistletoe is Alepis flavida and it's susceptible to browsing by introduced brushtailed possums and so is declining in parts of NZ (and locally extinct from Banks Peninsula).

A photo of a large, dark snail shell being held in my hand. This is Wainuia edwardi.

A photo of a small tan-yellow fly with black tipped wings. This is Maorina gourlayi.

While helping out Heidi Allan with her field work earlier in the week, crossing NZ's South Island, I also (of course) counted nature along the way and took photos of notable species I found. I've uploaded some of them to #iNaturalist.

When it comes to little […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

A photo of a tan brown moth. It looks like someone's written an "x" in black on each of its wings, but these are its natural markings.

"x" marks the moth!

Usually moths have sweeping curves and circles in their markings. Not so *Eudonia asterisca*, an aptly named NZ-endemic moth. It has a distinctive "x" mark on each forewing.

I photographed this moth at a moth light in the North Canterbury […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

A close-up photo of the patterns on the wings of a NZ Green Carpet Owlet moth. They are swirling and looping patterns of greens and browns and creams. You can clearly see all the coloured scales that make the patterns.

Here's another NZ moth wing for you.

This one is from a particularly elegant colour morph of a NZ Green Carpet Owlet (*Ichneutica plena*). Usually they're greener than this.

(I'm continuing to have fun uploading my big backlog of moth photos to #iNaturalist […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

A photo of the claw of a NZ southern koura crayfish. The claw is covered in lots of pink blobs with tentacles. These are a kind of flatworm specialised at living on crayfish.

One of the highlights of my day was when William Harland, a talented ecology undergrad here at #LincolnUniversityNZ, stopped by my office to show me his photos of temnocephalid flatworms. These distinctive squat tentacled flatworms live in colonies on NZ's […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

A photo of a white moth with brown black irregular stripes, sitting on a white post with a white wall behind it. It's got big feathery antennae so it's a male.

Here's an excellent moth from my backlog that I just uploaded to #iNaturalist

It's the Purerehua, or South Island Lichen Moth, *Ipana egregia*. It's a large NZ endemic moth restricted to the South Island that blends in well with lichens on rocks.

This is the […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

Original post on mastodon.nz

Check out this outrageous NZ harvestman photographed by sebastiandoak earlier this month near Charleston on the west coast of the South Island.

It's called Algidia viridata ssp. bicolor (yes, another incredible endemic NZ invertebrate still lacking a catchy common name). I've never seen one […]

A photo of a black hairy caterpillar on a leaf. The caterpillar is covered in orange and blue spots.

A photo of a red-tentacled fungus emerging on a thick white stalk from the dead leaves on the forest floor. In the centre of the red tentacles is a pool of brown smelly goo that attracts in flies to disperse its spores.

A photo of an orange-red mushroom with a white stalk. The red cap is covered in white spots.

A photo of a large mostly green cicada with black and yellow markings on the green. You can also see the red ocelli (simple eyes) on the top of the head between the two compound eyes.

Here are four of the species I found today in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ.

Here's a caterpillar of mōkarakara, the NZ magpie moth, eating leaves of the European groundsel, Senecio vulgaris. https://inaturalist.nz/observations/339402946

Here's a Puapua-a-Autahi […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

A photo of a bright yellow moth with thin tan brown edges to its wings.

A photo of a dark purple moth with lime green streaks.

A photo of a tan-yellow moth with chocolate brown underwings.

A photo of a fluffy steel-blue moth.

Moths? Moths! Here are four NZ moths to brighten up your day.

All are NZ endemic species that I photohgraphed at a moth light at the Boyle Village in the Canterbury Southern Alps.

The yellow moth is the Aristotelia Looper *Epiphryne xanthaspis* […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

A photo of me riding my bike to work. The photo shows my left hand and the handlebars as I bike down a suburban street. My iPhone and microphone on my handlebars, which I use to count nature as I bike, are in plastic bags.

A photo of a flooded area of the Sparks Road water retention wetland. It's supposed to do this in heavy rains. It soaks up the rain and holds it to reduce the amount of flooding downstream. There are two ducks on the large ephemeral lake (and heavy machinery in the background where a housing subdivision is being built.

A photo of a family of black swans (black adults and grey juveniles) by a planted native wetland.

It rained ,a lot, today in Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ. The ducks and black swans didn't seem to mind though. They were some of the species I counted on my wet bike to work.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/339008698 […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

A photo of a copper-orange coloured butterfly, with thin dark brown markings, sitting on a green leaf. It lacks the blue spots and thin parallel veins of a common (winter) copper and has much thinner markings and much more orange than the glade copper. Unlike those other two species, it will also have a chocolate brown coloured underwing, although that's not visible in the photo. Photo CC-BY-NC Will Frost.

For the third in my hat-trick of exciting NZ Lepidoptera news stories, here is an observation over Christmas of a Mokarakare · Rauparaha's Copper (Lycaena rauparaha). It's likely the first seen anywhere in or between Lincoln and Christchurch in over a century […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

A photo of an iridescent purple moth with one yellow spot on each wing. CC-BY-SA Christopher Stephens

*Bascantis sirenica* is back!!

Last week Wellington-based naturalist Christopher Stephens found and photographed this small, dark purple moth with two pale spots. Christopher found it in the Tararua Ranges.

The species has not been seen since 1944! NZ's […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

A photo of an elegant pale brown fluffy moth with marks of darker brown.

Introducing *Austramathes coelacantha*!

I uploaded this moth to iNaturalist from my moth lighting last month in the NZ mountains. It's now the first iNat record of this NZ endemic moth, which was first described as a species in 2017.

This adds to the five […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

A photo of a brown moth with blotchy brown patterns. This is called Gymnobathra tholodella.

A photo of a grey moth with stripes of darker and lighter greys and grey-browns. This is Eudonia rakaiaensis.

A photo of a grey and brown moth with some subtle orange marks on the back of its wings. This is the Little Orange-Spot Scoparia, Eudonia minualis.

A blurry photo of a brown moth with white blotches on the back of its wings. This is Eudonia dinodes (and all credit to moth expert Neville Hudson on iNaturalist NZ for being able to ID this from my photo).

I'm up to 12 new moth species for our garden this year, thanks to the NZ moth identifiers on iNaturalist and the handy Compare tool on iNat. The Compare tool shows me what species are different between this year and my past years' mothing in my garden. It's handy […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

Original post on mastodon.nz

Oh stop clowning about Doris!

This photo of a clown doris was taken by Gillian Houston in September on NZ's Tawhiti Rahi, Poor Knights Islands. Gillian uploaded to #iNaturalistNZ today. This is now the 654th NZ observation on #iNaturalist of this extravagant mollusc.

Just look at it! […]

Original post on mastodon.nz

Check out this excellent and *stylish* little fly seen today by Irene Apo near Cambridge in NZ.

Steve Kerr from Otago Museum has identified it as the NZ endemic species *Poecilohetaerella antennata*. Not a lot is known about the biology of these.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/325635644 […]

A photo of a korimako (NZ bellbird) feeding from flowers of harakeke (NZ flax). Harakeke makes a tall inflorescence with many upturned red flowers that are visited by flower-loving birds. Korimako are olive-green coloured birds. Full details of my observation are at https://inaturalist.nz/observations/324289269

A photo of a European starling feeding from flowers of harakeke (NZ flax). Harakeke makes a tall inflorescence with many upturned red flowers that are visited by flower-loving birds. Starlings are glossy iridescent black speckled birds. Full details of my observation are at https://inaturalist.nz/observations/324289259

And, here's two harakeke pollinators from today's survey, the natural one (korimako) and the new one (European starling).

Korimako on a harakeke in a garden along Hackthorne Road: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/324289269

Starling on a harakeke in […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

A photo of a kererū (NZ woodpigeon) perched up in a tree. It's a big bird with a white breast and blue-green back and head. The head is tiny compared with the big body. Details and my bigger photo are at https://inaturalist.nz/observations/324289256

A photo of a tiny grey bird perched on a branch in a tree. This is a riroriro - NZ grey warbler, one of NZ's two smallest birds. Details and my bigger photo are at https://inaturalist.nz/observations/324289262

A photo of a brown duck on water. The water is a colourful smear of reflections. Details and my bigger photo are at https://inaturalist.nz/observations/324287847

A photo of a California quail perched on a pile of dead branches. This quail is a grey speckled bird with a small black dongle sticking out from the top of its head. Details and my bigger photo are at https://inaturalist.nz/observations/324289258

Here are some birds from my run survey today through southwestern Ōtautahi-Chirstchurch, NZ.

A kererū perched in a tree up Dyers Pass Road: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/324289256

A juvenile riroriro (NZ grey warbler) in a patch of planted native trees at […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

A photo (taken through a hand-held magnifying glass) of some green flower buds, of a NZ native herb Senecio glomeratus, and a cluster of all-black aphids feeding on it. These are the American ragwort aphid, Senecio lugentis. More details of this observation and a higher resolution photo are at https://inaturalist.nz/observations/322653324

The American ragwort aphid is now up in the Christchurch Port Hills where it's feeding on native senecio plants. 😔

The species arrived in the city in autumn of 2019 and has been spreading since then. I found it last week on the top of Sugarloaf, which is the […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

A banner for the upcoming iNat NZ ID Meet-Up, 25 October 2–4:30 PM at the City Nature Lab in Ōtautahi (Christchurch). The banner is yellow and contains stylised drawings of moths and a beetle.

If you're in Ōtautahi-Christchurch and use #iNaturalist, we've got a free workshop happening in two weeks on how to make identifications on iNat.

Every observation on iNat needs to be identified, and often annotated, and this is all done by volunteer identifiers […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

Original post on mastodon.nz

To my surprise I found a hairy-legs groundsel in the centre of Ōtautahi-Christchurch city today. It's the first time I've seen the species in the centre city.

Hairy-legs groundsel is a new species to the South Island. It was first spotted near some shipping containers in Hillsborough in 2021 by […]

My hand is holding a tiny pine cone, showcasing its textured scales. The background features a patch of grass and a paved path.

Can anyone identify this tiny soft pinecone found on the ground in Lower Hutt? Never seen one before.

Original post on mastodon.nz

On Monday evening we're going to try our first public online meet-up for #iNaturalistNZ.

I'll give a short presentation on some of the many highlights from iNat NZ over the past year. We'll then open the floor and hopefully get folk meeting each other and talking about how we can work together […]

A photo of two male ring-necked pheasants having a dance duel in a pasture. They're big ground-based birds with green and red heads and a white band around the neck.

A photo of a baby black rabbit on the roadside.

Spring is springing in the farmland outside of Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ. Males are fighting and babies are hopping.

See on my bike ride home from work this evening.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/313069490 […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

Original post on mastodon.nz

Here’s an exciting local plant discovery. Young botanist William Reinders this month stumbled across this diminutive plant growing in a damp seep in a volcanic rock. Turns out it's the first time this species, the New Zealand Mousetail, Myosurus minimus novae-zelandiae, has been seen on Banks […]

A photo of a dark hairy fly sitting on a leaf in the sun.

I see your Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and raise you a Mallochomacquartia vexata.

Seen yesterday in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, New Zealand. It's an endemic New Zealand tachinid fly that's an insect parasitoid and pollinator.

(Like many common NZ native […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

A photo of a mass of German Ivy smothering the vegetation. The vine is covered in yellow flowers, from which it makes wind-dispersed seeds. I took this photo in Cracroft Reserve behind Princess Margaret Hospital. For details see https://inaturalist.nz/observations/3585878

A photo of a young German ivy plant growing up some branches of a currently leafless tree. I found this in the front of a garden along Halswell Road, and it's the first record of this weed on iNaturalist from this suburb. For more details see https://inaturalist.nz/observations/306208256

A photo of a green-leaved vine growing up the side of a macrocarpa shelterbelt by a small farm shelter. This is a Chilean glorycreeper. It's likely escaped from a nearby farm house garden. For more details, see https://inaturalist.nz/observations/306208250

A close up of the distinctive orange tubular flowers of Chilean glorycreeper. Watch out for it as it's flowering at the moment. For more details on my photo here, see https://inaturalist.nz/observations/29597454

Here are a couple of vine weeds to watch out for at the moment that are still uncommon but actively spreading around Ōtautahi-Christchurch, New Zealand.

What's commonly known as German Ivy (Delairea odorata) is a fast growing vine from, well, not anywhere close […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

Original post on mastodon.nz

An undergraduate student here at #LincolnUniversityNZ, Shuizetinglan, as interested in exploring tide pools so we suggested he visit Inainatu/Pile Bay in Lyttelton Harbour. It was an extensive rocky platform that's exposed at low tide where various intertidal creatures can be found […]