A Caravanning Trip in the Rain Despite the weather forecast promising us a very rainy weekend, nothing was going to deter us from heading out. Mum and Dad’s caravan was stocked with the essentials, mine and Tom’s cameras were packed, we all had our raincoats and gumboots, so off we set up the windy Parapara…
Author: Zoomology
Emma & Tom are Freelance Ecologists working & living half the year in NZ and the other half in the UK. They write & photograph for their blog, Zoomology.
New Zealand’s Largest & Heaviest Native Moth
Click to zoom in There are many names for the largest native moth in New Zealand, and much can be gleaned from a name… The Pūriri Moth (Aenetus virescens) One of the grub’s main host trees is the pūriri tree (Vitex lucens) hence a common name being the pūriri moth. The Ghost Moth Ngāti Kahungunu (the Māori iwi…
A New Zealand Summer Migrant: The Elusive Shining Cuckoo
A Familiar Noise Most, if not all of those that have spent time outdoors in New Zealand’s summer, will recognise this noise: Weep weep weep weep weep woooooop (click to listen). Few of these people, however, will have actually seen the creature that belts out this long, repetitive whistling tune. The reason for this is perhaps down…
A New Zealand Category I Threatened Species: The Flightless Spiny Longhorn Beetle
A Night at Bushy Park Sanctuary Tom and I joined our friend and natural history curator of the Whanganui Regional Museum, Mike Dickison, and fellow naturalist, Lisa, for a night out at Bushy Park light-trapping for insects. Whilst waiting for the trap to draw in the local residents, we took a stroll along one of…
A New Zealand Tūī Feeding on Flax Nectar
Click to zoom in New Zealand’s Endemic Tūī Tūī (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) are an endemic New Zealand bird found across almost all of New Zealand. They range from the subtropical Kermadec Islands to the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands. Tūī are noticeably absent from the Canterbury region although they were found there historically. With native planting, predator control,…
Nice to Bee back in New Zealand: Hive Audits
Beeing Employed Click to zoom in Within a week of being back in the country, we had somehow landed a short-term contract working with honey bees. Emma and I had put on bee suits before and photographed a friends bees but that was the extent of our experience. For this work, we essentially drove around…
Nighttime in the Jungle: Bioluminescent Mushrooms
Nighttime in the Jungle Assisting a researcher based at Danau Girang Field Centre along the lower Kinabatangan River (Sabah, Borneo), we set out on a nighttime frog survey. We came across many amazing frog species, a few of which you can check out in our blog post here. Whilst walking along the track, we noticed…
Another Ant… or is it? Mimicry in the Bornean Jungle
Trekking Through the Jungle As you are tramping through the jungle, you see all sorts of amazing creatures. Every now and then, though, you see something that really takes you by surprise. This little ‘insect’ was definitely the surprise on this occasion. Click to zoom in The Ant on the Leaf As I was brushing…
Amongst the World’s Smallest Squirrels: The Bornean Least Pygmy Squirrel (Exilisciurus exilis)
A Squirrel No Larger Than a Mouse Zipping about high in the trees of the lower Kinabatangan rainforest lives a tiny squirrel. No larger than a mouse, it is less than 8cm in body length and weighs less than 20g. Click to zoom in Up the Canopy Platform A platform has been attached to a…
A Golden-spotted Tiger Beetle in Borneo (Cicindela aurulenta)
Down at the Jetty Zipping about in the patches of sunlight down by the jetty at Danau Girang Field Centre were many jewel-like tiger beetles. Click to zoom in Capturing Tiger Beetles on Camera Capturing them on camera was the real challenge because as soon as they noticed your movement, they were off like a…
Zoomology Turns One Today
A year ago today, Tom and I wrote our first blog post on Zoomology. It has been a very rewarding journey. We have learnt so much with each post we have written, not only about the species and places we have covered, but also about our own ‘voice’. Here are all of our blog posts…
A Bornean Tarantula with Iridescent Teal ‘Toes’
TARANTULA ONE The Tarantula’s Tree In Borneo, between the Danau Girang Field Centre and the jetty stands a tree. To look at it you wouldn’t think of it as being any more worthy of attention than any of the other thousands of trees in the rainforest. However, this tree is the home of a rather…