Post AqJegNAhWMWsF97O2i by CarolynStirling@mastodon.nz
(DIR) More posts by CarolynStirling@mastodon.nz
(DIR) Post #AqIrle9euT9cbrW2wy by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-01-21T04:04:20Z
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The competition is heating up for this years NZ #BugoftheYear competition.@frankashwood is leading an excellent campaign for the charismatic if diminutive Giant Springtail. Some stylish free badges are celebrating this soon to be iconic NZ invertebrate.And, yet, what is this? Sabotage!?The bowl of giant springtail badges in our tea room are now mysteriously promoting the NZ praying mantis!Will this cunning act sway the voters or backfire?https://bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/#entomology #insects #nz
(DIR) Post #AqIsLTUi1SfhyJRic4 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-01-21T10:05:43Z
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@joncounts @frankashwood I would like to add my voice in support of Giant Springtail. This may come as a shock as there *is* an ant in this contest. But, how can I put this delicately? Unlike Borneo or Australia NZ is not a place of great ant diversity. The few native ants fill the typical ecological niches of ants, they are unique, but perhaps a little basic. The springtails of NZ are remarkable. And here is a giant one!Vote Giant Springtail!
(DIR) Post #AqIsbJewMALK6Pmktc by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-01-21T10:08:33Z
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@joncounts @frankashwood The southern ant is Monomorium antarcticum, Monomorium are a genus of tiny ants found all over the globe. Remarkable creatures but nothing screams NZ about this ant. In future contests perhaps they will select an ant of a more rare genus. It is a very pretty ant, but please behold the girth of the Giant Springtail and you will understand why it is the correct choice.
(DIR) Post #AqIshih8BkzBUArbvc by davep@infosec.exchange
2025-01-21T10:09:42Z
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@futurebird @joncounts @frankashwood Ok, who hacked futurebird's account?
(DIR) Post #AqIsmpV2JcfQ2SdvaS by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-01-21T10:10:38Z
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@davep @joncounts @frankashwood Turns out you can vote for more than one. And I stand by this. Have you seen the Giant Spring tail? Looooook at it! Look at the mass, like a rubens it is.
(DIR) Post #AqItIo5l5Ji8wJ4Ezo by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-01-21T10:16:20Z
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@PetraOleum @joncounts @frankashwood It may be that there are some very small ants in the leaf litter of the deep remote forests who are more interesting and possibly unknown... but the sheer low number of ants makes me wonder if there is something in the geology and climate history of the islands the eliminated all ants at some point in the past and not enough time since for the existing ants to diversify and grow strange?hmmm
(DIR) Post #AqItSmazVDtnC8QuTg by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-01-21T10:18:14Z
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@davep @joncounts @frankashwood Frank may have hacked my account. ;)But, I seriously think NZ springtails deserve to be celebrated more.
(DIR) Post #AqIuEoCUq3mU4XsOkS by zl2tod@mastodon.online
2025-01-21T10:26:53Z
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@futurebird I don't think I've ever seen a springtail so meh.Peripatus? Now we're talking.@joncounts @frankashwood
(DIR) Post #AqIuRLufK3nA6XW8y8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-01-21T10:29:11Z
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@zl2tod @joncounts @frankashwood Peripatus has silverfish energy. It's OK I guess.
(DIR) Post #AqJegNAhWMWsF97O2i by CarolynStirling@mastodon.nz
2025-01-21T19:07:16Z
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@PetraOleum @joncounts @frankashwood @futurebird I have some teeny tiny ants at my place. I also have Argentinian Ants.
(DIR) Post #AqJfGPtGtDaL6J9Wfg by llewelly@sauropods.win
2025-01-21T19:13:50Z
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@futurebird @joncounts @frankashwood I very nearly voted for the giant springtail, but then the Ngāokeoke | NZ Velvet Worm called to me.
(DIR) Post #AqJtXMCTGJMNw86ZuK by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-01-21T21:53:30Z
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@futurebird @PetraOleum @frankashwood I looked in Warwick Don's Ants of NZ book.NZ has 37 established ant species in 23 genera. 11 species are considered endemic (one doubtful). One genus, Huberia, is endemic, which "may represent a relic of an ancient myrmicine stock.""Brown considers ten endemics to be an almost ridiculously low number""in comparison with our nearest neighbour, Australia, the NZ ant fauna is indeed meagre" but we're more isolated and colder than Tasmania.#ants #nz
(DIR) Post #AqKJ9gFZf8YfykvYdk by etnom@mastodon.world
2025-01-22T01:56:54Z
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@joncounts @futurebird @PetraOleum @frankashwood Interesting to me that NZ has so many fewer ants than Hawaii, and such a negligible native ant fauna. I must go buy the New Zealand ant book just mentioned. Here in Hawaii we have approximately 70 ant species, all introduced. I'm (very slowly) working towards putting out a book or lengthy treatise on our ant fauna.As for springtails, they show up under my microscope regularly but I haven't the faintest idea how to learn to ID them. Any tips?
(DIR) Post #AqKLCc8Fd6utz41pr6 by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-01-22T03:02:30Z
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@etnom @futurebird @PetraOleum @frankashwood The big different between Hawaii and NZ for ants will be that the Hawaii archipelago spans 18–28º latitude, while the main islands of the NZ archipelago are 34–47º. NZ is *much* colder. For all their incredible talents, ants tend to be wusses when it comes to cold (unlike giant springtails and peripatus).
(DIR) Post #AqKLCd7Zx5yP3GioRk by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-01-22T03:03:45Z
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@joncounts @etnom @PetraOleum @frankashwood HEY you take that back. The girls just like to maximize their use of green solar energy. >:(
(DIR) Post #AqKLI9jg7TexeTB4JU by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-01-22T03:04:46Z
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@joncounts @etnom @PetraOleum @frankashwood >:( angry meAnd>:{ >:{ >:{angry ants
(DIR) Post #AqKLXhJ5aLBO7A9Rho by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-01-22T03:07:31Z
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@futurebird @etnom @PetraOleum @frankashwood 😂 Why does ant diversity plummet so strongly with latitude? I'm sure some folk have some clever ideas about that.Southern NZ has bucket loads of moths and flies but very few ants.
(DIR) Post #AqKLlM1fVJWKAPVze4 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-01-22T03:10:02Z
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@joncounts @etnom @PetraOleum @frankashwood There are lots of ants in NY. And it gets very cold. But maybe large landmasses can develop cold adapted ants over time, but it's harder for islands?
(DIR) Post #AqKMAkiepd9PzXjYB6 by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-01-22T03:14:35Z
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@futurebird @etnom @PetraOleum @frankashwood Excellent point. NZ is in the awkward situation of being in temperate latitudes and about 1,300 kilometers from the nearest big land mass (Australia). As we yo-yoed through the glacial-interglacial cycles of the Pleistocene, many species struggled to keep up and were lost. On bigger continents, ants could much more easily migrate towards the equator and back again.
(DIR) Post #AqKNs33ybb1lI3ukim by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-01-22T03:33:34Z
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@stuartyeates @joncounts @etnom @PetraOleum @frankashwood to be fair if someone dug into my house I'd bite 'em too.