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Forsteropsalis Pureora
''Forsteropsalis pureora'' is a species of long-legged harvestman in the family Neopilionidae. This species is endemic to New Zealand, found in the North Island. They are found in native forest, often resting on vegetation or stream banks. Description This species is highly Sexual dimorphism, sexually dimorphic, with males and females differing in morphology. Males have enlarged chelicerae used to fight other males in competition. The pinching claw of the chelicera is used to grab and pin down the opponent. Males may be one of three morphs that differ in chelicerae size, chelicerae shape, and body size. Males and females also differ in color, known as sexual dichromatism.Powell, E. (2020). ''The evolution and ecology of weapon polymorphic New Zealand harvestmen (Arachnida, Opiliones, Neopilionidae)'' (Doctoral dissertation, ResearchSpace@ Auckland). Males are brown to black with an orange stripe running dorsally down the body. There is also an orange horseshoe-shaped marking ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neopilionidae
The Neopilionidae are a family of harvestmen. It has a clearly Gondwanan distribution, with species found in Australia, South Africa and South America, and probably represent relicts of that time. The family members range in size from the small ''Americovibone lancafrancoae'' (0.9 mm) to over 4 mm in the Enantiobuninae. (2007): Neopilionidae Lawrence, 1931. In: Pinto-da-Rocha ''et al.'' 2007: 121ff Some species of Enantiobuninae have blue pigmentation, which is rather unusual in harvestmen. Name The family name is a contraction of Ancient Greek ''neo'' "new" and Latin '' Opilio'', a genus of harvestman. Subdivisions According to the Catalogue of Life, Neopilionidae includes three subfamilies, which contain a total of 19 genera and 78 species. * Ballarrinae Hunt & Cokendolpher, 1991 ** '' Americovibone'' Hunt & Cokendolpher, 1991 ** '' Arrallaba'' Hunt & Cokendolpher, 1991 ** '' Ballarra'' Hunt & Cokendolpher, 1991 ** '' Plesioballarra'' Hunt & Cokendolpher, 1991 ** ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuatara
Tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') are reptiles endemic to New Zealand. Despite their close resemblance to lizards, they are part of a distinct lineage, the order Rhynchocephalia. The name ''tuatara'' is derived from the Māori language and means "peaks on the back". The single extant species of tuatara is the only surviving member of its order. Rhynchocephalians originated during the Triassic (~250 million years ago), reached worldwide distribution and peak diversity during the Jurassic and, with the exception of tuatara, were extinct by 60 million years ago. Their closest living relatives are squamates (lizards and snakes). For this reason, tuatara are of interest in the study of the evolution of lizards and snakes, and for the reconstruction of the appearance and habits of the earliest diapsids, a group of amniote tetrapods that also includes dinosaurs (including birds) and crocodilians. Tuatara are greenish brown and grey, and measure up to from head to tail-tip and wei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harvestmen
The Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) are an order of arachnids colloquially known as harvestmen, harvesters, harvest spiders, or daddy longlegs. , over 6,650 species of harvestmen have been discovered worldwide, although the total number of extant species may exceed 10,000. The order Opiliones includes five suborders: Cyphophthalmi, Eupnoi, Dyspnoi, Laniatores, and Tetrophthalmi, which were named in 2014. Representatives of each extant suborder can be found on all continents except Antarctica. Well-preserved fossils have been found in the 400-million-year-old Rhynie cherts of Scotland, and 305-million-year-old rocks in France. These fossils look surprisingly modern, indicating that their basic body shape developed very early on, and, at least in some taxa, has changed little since that time. Their phylogenetic position within the Arachnida is disputed; their closest relatives may be the mites (Acari) or the Novogenuata (the Scorpiones, Pseudoscorpiones, and Solifugae). Altho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arachnids Of New Zealand
Arachnida () is a Class (biology), class of joint-legged invertebrate animals (arthropods), in the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, opiliones, harvestmen, Solifugae, camel spiders, Amblypygi, whip spiders and Thelyphonida, vinegaroons. Almost all adult arachnids have eight Arthropod leg, legs, although the front pair of legs in some species has converted to a sensory function, while in other species, different appendages can grow large enough to take on the appearance of extra pairs of legs. The term is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek word (''aráchnē'', 'spider'), from the myth of the hubristic human weaver Arachne, who was turned into a spider. Almost all Extant taxon, extant arachnids are terrestrial animal, terrestrial, living mainly on land. However, some inhabit freshwater environments and, with the exception of the pelagic zone, marine environments as well. They comprise over 100,000 named ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cambridgea
''Cambridgea'' (common name New Zealand sheetweb spider, bush spider) is a spider genus in the family Desidae and some of the first endemic spiders described from New Zealand. They are known for constructing large horizontal sheet webs measuring up to a square metre in larger species. ''Cambridgea'' were originally assigned to the Agelenidae by Dalmas in 1917 but were reassigned to the Stiphidiidae in 1973. Most recently, both ''Cambridgea'' and sister genus ''Nanocambridgea'' were reassigned to the Desidae, subfamily Porteriinae on the basis of molecular evidence. Description ''Cambridgea'' are medium to large arboreal spiders, with body lengths ranging from approximately 6-10mm in the case of '' Cambridgea reinga'' to about 20mm in the case of '' Cambridgea foliata''. They have long legs and porrect chelicerae which are significantly longer in adult males compared to adult females. Male pedipalps are characterised by a cymbium that extends well beyond the bulb and species ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uliodon
''Uliodon'' is a genus of spiders endemic to New Zealand and possibly Australia. They are commonly referred to as vagrant spiders. Vagrant spiders vary in colour from dark brown to almost black, they typically have a body length of 20mm and a 50mm leg span. When alive, the interior of the male's pedipalp are brightly coloured (usually orange). They are nocturnal hunters, feeding on ground-dwelling invertebrates. During the day they are found under logs and rocks. They can be found in a variety of habitats: native forest and plantations, or more open habitat, but also scree slopes and occasionally in houses. Reproduction After mating, the female prepares a chamber lined with silk beneath a log or stone on the forest floor, or inside a rotten log, where they construct a rather large and round egg sac that they guard until the young hatch and disperse. The genus is apparently widespread throughout the country. Taxonomy , three or possibly four species of ''Uliodon'' are accep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, both in ancient and in recent times. The rate of cannibalism increases in nutritionally poor environments as individuals turn to members of their own species as an additional food source.Elgar, M.A. & Crespi, B.J. (1992) ''Cannibalism: ecology and evolution among diverse taxa'', Oxford University Press, Oxford ngland New York. Cannibalism regulates population numbers, whereby resources such as food, shelter and territory become more readily available with the decrease of potential competition. Although it may benefit the individual, it has been shown that the presence of cannibalism decreases the expected survival rate of the whole population and increases the risk of consuming a relative. Other negative effects may include the increased r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Climbing Galaxias
The climbing galaxias or kōaro (''Galaxias brevipinnis'') is a fish of the family Galaxiidae found in Australia, New Zealand, and nearby islands. The name climbing galaxias is used in Australia, and koaro or kōaro in New Zealand. Further vernacular names include short-finned galaxias, broad-finned galaxias, Cox's mountain galaxias, and Pieman galaxias. Appearance The climbing galaxias is unlikely to be confused with the other diadromous whitebait species because of its shape. It is elongated and slender, shaped almost like a tube. The sides and back are covered in a variable pattern of golden blotches and bands that gleam and glitter in the sun, making the climbing galaxias an attractive fish. Their maximum size is around 29 cm, but they commonly reach 16–18 cm. Lifestyle These fish live a basically benthic lifestyle and in most respects behave like the common galaxias, a closely related galaxiid. They inhabit mainly clear streams, often deeply shaded and relati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphipoda
Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far described. They are mostly marine animals, but are found in almost all aquatic environments. Some 1,900 species live in fresh water, and the order also includes the terrestrial sandhoppers such as ''Talitrus saltator''. Etymology and names The name ''Amphipoda'' comes, via New Latin ', from the Greek roots 'on both/all sides' and 'foot'. This contrasts with the related Isopoda, which have a single kind of thoracic leg. Particularly among anglers, amphipods are known as ''freshwater shrimp'', ''scuds'', or ''sideswimmers''. Description Anatomy The body of an amphipod is divided into 13 segments, which can be grouped into a head, a thorax and an abdomen. The head is fused to the thorax, and bears two pairs of antennae and one pair of s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area, covering . New Zealand is about east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland. The islands of New Zealand were the last large habitable land to be settled by humans. Between about 1280 and 1350, Polynesians began to settle in the islands and then developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wētā
Wētā (also spelt weta) is the common name for a group of about 100 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae endemic to New Zealand. They are giant flightless crickets, and some are among the heaviest insects in the world. Generally nocturnal, most small species are carnivores and scavengers while the larger species are herbivorous. Wētā are preyed on by introduced mammals, and some species are now critically endangered. Name Wētā is a loanword, from the Māori-language word ''wētā'', which refers to this whole group of large insects; some types of wētā have a specific Māori name. In New Zealand English, it is spelled either "weta" or "wētā", although the form with macrons is increasingly common in formal writing, as the Māori word ''weta'' (without macrons) instead means "filth or excrement". General characteristics Many wētā are large by insect standards and some species are among the largest and heaviest in the world. Their p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forsteropsalis Pureora Juvenile
''Forsteropsalis'' is a genus of harvestmen ( Opiliones) endemic to New Zealand. Males of this genus have exaggerated chelicerae weapons used in male-male competition. ''Forsteropsalis'' are opportunistic omnivores that both capture live prey and scavenge dead animal matter. The diet includes various insects, arachnids, spiders, millipedes, amphipods, and annelid worms. Species * ''Forsteropsalis bona'' Taylor & Probert, 2014 * ''Forsteropsalis chiltoni'' (Hogg, 1910) * ''Forsteropsalis distincta'' (Forster, 1964) * ''Forsteropsalis fabulosa'' (Phillipps & Grimmett, 1932) * ''Forsteropsalis grayi'' (Hogg, 1920) * ''Forsteropsalis grimmetti'' (Forster, 1944) * ''Forsteropsalis inconstans'' (Forster, 1944) * ''Forsteropsalis marplesi'' (Forster, 1944) * ''Forsteropsalis nigra'' (Forster, 1944) * ''Forsteropsalis photophaga'' Taylor & Probert, 2014 * ''Forsteropsalis pureora'' Taylor, 2013 * ''Forsteropsalis tumida'' (Forster, 1944) * ''Forsteropsalis wattsi ''Forsteropsali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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