murray_dawson's Favorites

Hi,
Today I was lucky enough to be introduced to the Travis Corybas Orchids.
There's a green one and a purple one.
I and the lovely people that have nurtured these cool little plants for so long would like all info that you knowledgeable folks can supply.
Very neat Spider Orchids :)

There were countless dead Gannets on the cliff, most of them adults. I asked a ranger what might have killed these birds, and he said they had starved to death. Fishing grounds are further and further away with less and less fish, and so the Gannet population here is nearing collapse. He said by comparison to 2017, the colony for this time of the year is at 20%. He then told me he was deeply concerned about Cyclone Gabrielle's impact. At this point I hadn't yet realized what was coming other than a few days of rain and stiff winds, and so I heeded his advise, and did what everybody else was doing: Stock up with emergency supplies, and get prepared.

Locality: NEW ZEALAND AK, suburb of Mount Wellington/Otahuhu, Mount Richmond Domain.

Habitat: Ficus rubiginosa. Common on underside of leaves.

Identification: Pleistodontes imperialis Saunders, 1882. Females.

Maybe - or the other self-establishing canopy changer that will be a weed disaster in native remnant forests… more commonly found on Phoenix palms in the central suburbs
Three closeups added feb 2022. Leaf blade 70 to 110 mm long (part shade) and petiole 30 to 40mm ;

In terms of moth uploads, I am currently 16 days (and A LOT of moths!) behind real-time. Only my 3rd day at home this December. So... we are still on my way up to Kahurangi National Park. Here is an interesting batch from a night at Lake Rotoroa (Nelson Lakes) in the beech forest and adjoining shrubland.

Severe infestation - one of the worst I have ever seen on this host species. Two planted tree's growing on margin of spring; these 5-6 tall. All young growth and especially floral primordia and maturing inflorescences covered in urediniospores.

Bees (Apis mellifera) noted harvesting spores - see https://inaturalist.nz/observations/68580488.

These tree's I have been watching monthly since September 2017. I last checked them on 1 January 2021 (not Austropuccinia was evident then). This infestation was reported to me by Wendy John who noted it on 23 January 2021 - see https://inaturalist.nz/observations/68482642