jupal04 的最愛

young trees and seedlings in foreground

This tiny remnant of puriri forest was named "The Cathedral" in, I think, the 1930s or 40s, and described in detail, with a plea for its protection from urban development, by Lucy Cranwell, Curator of Botany for 15 years at Auckland Museum.

It is the remains of a wetland, and holds some rare plants.
Most of the area Lucy Cranwell described was destroyed for sports fields and motorways, but this little bit remains, with ongoing weed and animal pest control.

Before the boardwalk was built sometime around 2000, the entire area was bare, compacted clay except for the large trees and a very sparse understorey.

Length ~6 mm.

Pitfall trap set for six nights (4 – 10 May) in suburban courtyard. Substrate: river stones over weedmat with minimal leaf litter from cultivated Veronica sp., which also provide dense canopy.
10+ mm rain fell between 8 and 10 May; otherwise weather was cool/mild and dry.

I have keyed this out with the NIWA freshwater isopod quick key but it is hard to do without a microscope. As this species hasn’t been observed on iNat, I may see if I can go back and get better photos and a more certain ID. I thought it would be A. benhami because the uropods appear to have a straight distal margin. There were many in this stream, and they appeared to be fully aquatic with this specimen on the underside of a rock