So far there is only one coneflower blooming in the garden. It has attracted hordes of 1) carpet beetles (which feed on pollen as adults); 2) thrips; and 3) minute pirate bugs and 4) whirligig mites, which both eat the thrips.
So far there is only one coneflower blooming in the garden. It has attracted hordes of 1) carpet beetles (which feed on pollen as adults); 2) thrips; and 3) minute pirate bugs and 4) whirligig mites, which both eat the thrips.
NZ's porous borders have allowed a little invader to take hold. The noble false widow spider is described as "one of the world’s most invasive".
“Although considered less dangerous than black widows, the venom of Steatoda nobilis contains similar toxins."
So far there have been confirmed sightings in Porirua, Christchurch, Nelson, Northland and Waikato.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360742048/invasive-spider-establishes-itself-nz
OK, sequel to my post almost exactly 1 year ago about milkweed pollinia…I discovered something amazing!
I was looking at some milkweed plants that had just started flowering and noticed a honeybee trying to get its leg unstuck from a flower. Because it's Peak Anystid, there were also many whirligig mites running around on the flowering umbels. These mites almost never stay still, yet one *was*. Could it also be stuck? YES! It was struggling to get out.
I looked carefully at more of the flowers and found a dead whirligig mite, also with its leg stuck in a flower.
I wonder how many other arthropods accidentally fall prey to the flowers?!
#NewSpecies!
New jumping spider from #india just jumped in:
Spartaeus karigiri
Treatment: https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D387C2-FFCA-F452-7BA9-D3CAFD528319
Publication: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2025.997.2925
#ejtaxonomy #SpartaeusKarigiri
#FAIRdata
#science #OA #openaccess #biology #taxonomy #ecology #biodiversity #nature #wildlife #conservation #animals #invertebrates #arachnology #arachnids #spider #jumpingspider #jumper
The sidewalk mites (_Balaustium_) that swarm over the ground this time of year primarily eat pollen, but they will also scavenge dead bugs (I do not think they are actually predatory). This horde has found an ant pupa, I think?
I am fascinated by this behaviour and try to catch it at least once every summer.
#NewSpecies
New scorpion from #thailand just stung us:
Scorpiops doiphukha
Treatment: https://treatment.plazi.org/id/CFE9A601-AE49-516A-83AC-2B30A63B5798
Publication: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1241.142549
#ZooKeys #ScorpiopsDoiphukha
#FAIRdata
#science #OA #openaccess #biology #taxonomy #ecology #biodiversity #nature #wildlife #conservation #animals #invertebrates #arachnology #arachnids #scorpion
#NewSpecies!
New fishing spider from #lareunion just caught us:
Dolomedes reuniascar
Treatment: https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03C687D4-C866-0F0E-FDE9-7FEA6324DB70
Publication: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2025.997.2927
#ejtaxonomy #DolomedesReuniascar
#FAIRdata
#science #OA #openaccess #biology #taxonomy #ecology #biodiversity #nature #wildlife #conservation #animals #invertebrates #arachnology #arachnids #spider #fishingspider #fishing
#NewSpecies!
New jumping spider from #china just jumped in:
Kelawakaju nezha
Treatment: https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B53913-4C1E-FF9A-A395-FF0079CD1085
Publication: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5636.3.7
#Zootaxa #KelawakajuNezha
#FAIRdata
#science #OA #openaccess #biology #taxonomy #ecology #biodiversity #nature #wildlife #conservation #animals #invertebrates #arachnology #arachnids #spider #jumpingspider #jumper
I was just poking around the garden today in a spare moment and had two unexpected arachnid discoveries!!
1. A hackled orbweaver (_Uloborus glomosus_), one of the very few venomless spiders, that also makes orb webs with a fuzzy, glueless silk not often used for aerial webs—I rarely come across them and never, I think, in my own garden.
2. A new kind of pseudoscorpion—not the tiny yellowish cthoniids I'm used to, but a HUGE beast with sturdy claws, like 3mm long! I think it's family Chernetidae.
For #MiteMonday: mites eating things.
1. Long-legged velvet mites (family Erythraeidae, probably _Balaustium_) eating a midge
2. A whirligig mite (family Anystidae) eating a globular springtail
3. A snout mite (family Bdellidae) eating a barklouse
#NewSpecies!
New pseudoscorpion from #china just pinched us:
Stenohya biverticis
Treatment: https://treatment.plazi.org/id/ED4EC161-FF88-FFBE-FE31-F90DBA6DD6F9
Publication: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2025.993.2909
#ejtaxonomy #StenohyaBiverticis
#FAIRdata
#science #OA #openaccess #biology #taxonomy #ecology #biodiversity #nature #wildlife #conservation #animals #invertebrates #arthropods #arachnology #arachnids #pseudoscorpions
#NewSpecies!
New spider from #ecuador just caught us:
Chrysometa chuchaqui
Treatment: https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BE8798-A147-206F-FF62-7C07FA79536E
Publication: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5636.3.6
#Zootaxa #ChrysometaChuchaqui
#FAIRdata
#science #OA #openaccess #biology #taxonomy #ecology #biodiversity #nature #wildlife #conservation #animals #invertebrates #arachnology #arachnids #spider
#NewSpecies!
New spider from #china just caught us:
Mimetus lanmeiae
Treatment: https://treatment.plazi.org/id/F4EEF566-5109-5890-AB72-A6B76A4BEA86
Publication: https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.101.146895
#ZoosystematicsAndEvolution #MimetusLanmeiae
#FAIRdata
#science #OA #openaccess #biology #taxonomy #ecology #biodiversity #nature #wildlife #conservation #animals #invertebrates #arachnology #arachnids #spider