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We had a short visit recently to one of the waterways that runs through Styx Mill Reserve, in Christchurch. The ~60 ha site has an interesting mix of vegetation types (mainly wetland and riparian areas), and even some locally rare plants. But on this occasion we went to look for arthropods – both in and around the water.
Below are a few of our finds. Our thanks to the folks at NatureWatch for help with the identifications.
The forest shield bug (Oncacontias vittatus):
Another immature shield bug, probably a Rhopalimorpha sp.
The New Zealand pond-skater (Microvelia macgregori):
The larvae of a mosquito/midge (Family Dixidae)
A longjawed orb weaver spider (genus Tetragnatha):
And this is the same spider making itself as thin as possible, presumably for hiding:
There is a guide to many of the species in the reserve on the Landcare website here and the reserve is part of the Styx Project. There is also a comprehensive booklet about Christchurch Waterways available from Environment Canterbury here.
We were looking for tardigrades, but without success on this occasion. We collected moss and liverwort from our urban backyard, along with some soil, and added water.
Moss, liverwort and soil samples
However, we did find a large number of other small creatures, most of which we were unable to identify. So we posted some of the images on NatureWatchNZ, and several scientists kindly identified them for us.
There is also an extensive collection of web pages on New Zealand soil fauna that has been compiled by Massey University here. Their site includes images, information and identification keys.
Our photos and videos were taken using a stereo microscope at 40 x magnification, connected to a camera phone, as shown below.
Setup with stereo microscope and camera phone attached
The most common creatures we found were nematodes, which are shown in the video below. They are almost transparent and so would be quite difficult to spot, except that they draw attention to themselves by frequently knocking into soil particles.
The Massey site notes that: “Nematodes are the most numerous multicellular animals on Earth. In New Zealand pasture soil, for example, every square meter of soil has on average several million nematodes in the top ten cantimeters. In the deserts there are fewer nematodes in the soil, but they are still present. The only place without nematodes is the ice of Antarctica and mountain glaciers, where there is nothing to feed on.”
Nematodes are also one of the things that tardigrades like to eat (as well as moss).
The other animal we found a lot of are these 6-legged creatures with antennae which turned out to be springtails.
This one is probably a true bug, since it seems to have a sap sucking stylet (out of focus):
True bug
This one is a millipede, with two pairs of legs per segment.
Millipede
Millipede
This is a mite.
There were also lots of very small blobs, whizzing around, that might possibly have been paramecium? It is really impossible to see at this scale.
It would be nice to have a greater magnification available, but even the 40x reveals a much more populated space than it normally appears.
We made several trips to the Botanic Gardens this week, and to the new Visitors Centre.
The Visitors Centre
Part of a painting in the Visitors Centre
One of the displays inside
Diorama of a settlers garden
Diorama with vegetable garden
Diorama including a glasshouse and a cherry blossom tree
Diorama of a modern style garden
Microscope, which displays on a monitor
Examples of art inspired by gardens
Some penguins near the cafe, advertising the upcoming IceFest
Pitcher plants and sundews (carnivorous plants), in one of the glass houses
Details of a glasshouse roof
Looking along the glasshouses (blinds come down when it is sunny)
Propagation underway in one of the glass houses
Maples and Hellebores near the Archery Lawn
Daffodils near the Band Rotunda
The Cunningham House is open again – 1st opened in 1923 but had been closed awhile after the quakes.
Looking down the length of the Cunningham House, from upstairs
Bromeliads (upstairs in the Cunningham House)
Inside Foweraker House, which has alpine plants
Inside Foweraker House
Inside Foweraker House
Inside Foweraker House
The Fernery
Inside the Fernery
We found three moa’s lurking in the fern house.
Chaos - it's not just a theory... 