the pace of nature


The cabbage tree looper, Epiphryne verriculata is well camouflaged (when correctly oriented) on the old leaves of its Cordyline host plant. Hamilton, NZ

In my annual reflection on the previous year I almost always seem to comment on just how busy I was. 2014 was the same, and as a result this is my first post pertaining to that year gone by! I enjoyed a challenging and rewarding year studying pollination with the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research, and in my free time I put in many hours working on manuscripts for publication and finishing some contracts from my freelance entomology days. All this meant that I was more likely to relax with some music or a novel than with computer screens and blog-writing, but I haven't set down the camera and I miss regular insect outreach!

I hope that 2014 has treated you well, and that you will enjoy a few of my favorite shots from last year!

A Tetragonula stingless bee collects pollen from Macadamia flowers. Northern NSW, Australia

Cruising Salvin's albatross. Kaikoura NZ

Good for your eyes? A tabanid fly visiting carrot flowers is covered with grains of pollen. Canterbury, NZ

Head first. The endemic New Zealand mantis Orthodera novaezealandiae devours a crane fly. Hamilton, NZ

A raphidophorid weta ovipositing. Pukemokemoke, NZ

The slender owlet moth Rhapsa scotosialis is a common forest moth in NZ. The males and females are somewhat dissimilar in appearance. Pukemokemoke, NZ

Tree frog. Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia

The weevil Rhadinosomus acuminatus whose Latin name more or less translates to "fragile-bodied long, tapered." At first I was annoyed that this one had a broken antenna but now I think it's rather fitting. Waihi Beach, NZ