Zoom eyes

How closely have you looked at critters in the leaf litter? One guy who does look closely, Andy Murray, was on Rakiura for the last two months collecting information and images on these small critters - he gave a fascinating public talk last Thursday and showed stunning photos, including a couple of new species that he's found on the island - visit his Flickr pages here.

Andy Murray with a photo of a Stewart Island Collembola or springtail

His talk and enthusiasm has inspired me to look closer than ever at what's around me - my rat trap check took over 2 hours yesterday but look what I found...

Collembola (?Lobellinae) - about 2mm long, on tree trunk

This is another Collembola showing relative size to my thumb

Native snail - about 5mm in diameter

Reverse side of the above native snail

Another native snail showing relative size to my thumb

A landhopper (the terrestrial version of the sandhoppers found
on the beach) - shortly after moulting

Landhopper (right) slowly moving away from old case (left)

Another shot using flash

My camera continues to amaze me - it's a $200 point and shoot model but it can see details that my eyes can't. Andy suggested getting a good loupe (magnifying glass) so I'll look for one next time I'm in town - what I really need are zoom eyes, preferably with a high quality built-in camera facility!!