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#SoilBiodiversity

1 post1 participant0 posts today
Frank Ashwood
Public

Excuse the radio silence from me lately, it's been a very intense University teaching semester.

On the plus side, I've done LOADS of entomology-related lecturing, which has been great fun! Naturally, I've squeezed in plenty of soil invertebrate content to my lectures, such as this bizarre, not-quite-an-insect, Proturan!

Protura are six-legged, wingless, eyeless and lack pigmentation and antennae. Instead, they raise their front pair of legs forwards as they move, which are covered in sensory hairs. This gives them the slightly comical appearance of a villain in Scooby-Do trying to sneak up menacingly behind someone!

A photograph of a proturan - a yellowish, six-legged invertebrate with a conical head lacking eyes.
#Invertebrate#Macrophotography#SoilEcology
Frank Ashwood
Public

We're all on tenterhooks waiting for the results to be announced tomorrow for the NZ Bug of the Year competition!

Here's a few of my favourite contenders. Now voting is over I'll admit I have been quietly rooting for the velvet worm too - they're amazing animals, almost as great as giant springtails!

Whatever happens, thanks so much everyone for your support and patience with my endless vote soliciting on here.

Good luck tomorrow #TeamGiantSpringtail! Fingers crossed!

A photograph of a giant springtail on a decaying log. The springtail has soft blue skin, and is covered in soft, pointy yellow spines.
A photograph of a velvet worm on a decaying log. The velvet worm has many legs, soft blue skin, and is covered in beautiful orange dots scattered randomly over its body.
A photograph of a pair of leaf-veined slugs on a decaying log. One is orange and the other is green, and both have a leaf vein-like branching depression running down the midline of their bodies, giving them a leaf-like appearance.
A photograph of a manuka chafer beetle walking on a bright yellow sheet. The beetle is beautifully iridescent green with orange-brown legs.
#Entomology#BugoftheYear2025#SoilBiodiversity
Frank Ashwood
Public

We're halfway through the Bug of the Year '25 contest, and the Giant Springtail is still in the lead! BUT there's still four weeks of voting left, so get on it!

Vote here if you haven't already, and please share with your friends and family: bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-

Let's get these majestic little giants the public attention they deserve, and the conservation protection they need!

A photograph of a giant springtail walking on a mass-covered log. The springtail has soft blue skin and is covered in many soft yellow spines.
#TeamGiantSpringtail#Invertebrate#Entomology
Frank Ashwood
Public

I went out with my camera today for the first time in ages, and (totally non-creepily) watched this cute little sproinglet explore a miniature slime mold forest on a log.

I feel very lucky to get to share so many wonderful, hidden little worlds and creatures through my macrophotography, and eventually through a popular science book I'm currently writing!

A photograph of a white, soft-bodied springtail walking over some tiny, white cup-shaped fungal fruiting bodies on the surface of a log.
A photograph of a white, soft-bodied springtail walking past some vertical trumpet-shaped slime mold fruiting bodies on the surface of a log.
#Invertebrate#SoilBiodiversity#SoilEcology
Frank Ashwood
Public

A short break from #BugoftheYear content to share with you the delight that is Pauropods!

These tiny relatives of millipedes possess unique branching 'biramous' antennae, and feed on fungi and organic matter. They’re found in leaf litter, soil, and under stones and logs - but at <2 mm length you’ll struggle to spot them!

A photograph of a pauropod - an orange segmented relative of millipedes, with strangely branching antennae.
#Invertebrate#Myriapoda#Nature
Frank Ashwood
Public

Do you need a New Year's resolution that's quick, free, easy to achieve and makes a difference?

Then l've got one for you! Vote for Giant Springtail (Holacanthella) in the Bug of the Year contest! You can vote from anywhere in the world, just follow the link below!

bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-

#BugOfTheYear2025 #bugoftheyear
#TeamHolacanthella #Entomology #SoilBiodiversity #Macrophotography

A photo of a giant springtail, and invertebrate with a soft blue body and lots of yellow spines on its back.
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Frank Ashwood
Public

Today I found this impressive oribatid mite in some leaf litter.

Oribatida are masters of self-protection: they've evolved protective armour flaps, defensive chemicals, and some even wear their old moults on their back like shields. But this Neotrichozetes spinulosa has said 'yeah nah' to all that and instead opted to become a sentient pincushion!

A photograph of a round, hard-bodied mite covered in very long, barbed spines.
#Macrophotography#SoilEcology#SoilBiodiversity
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