Johann Karl Ernst Dieffenbach, also known as Ernest Dieffenbach, was a German physician, geologist and naturalist, the first trained scientist to live and work in New Zealand, where he travelled widely under the auspices of the New Zealand Company, returning in 1841–42 and publishing in English his Travels in New Zealand in 1843.
The tomtit is a small passerine bird in the family Petroicidae, the Australasian robins. It is endemic to the islands of New Zealand, ranging across the main islands as well as several of the outlying islands. In Māori, the North Island Tomtit is known as miromiro and the South Island Tomtit is known as ngirungiru. This bird has several other Māori and English names as well. There are several subspecies showing considerable variation in plumage and size. The species is not threatened and has adapted to the changes made to New Zealand's biodiversity.
The pūriri moth, also commonly called the ghost moth or pepetuna, is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. This moth is endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It is New Zealand's largest moth, with a wingspan of up to 150 mm. It spends the first five to six years of its life as a grub in a tree trunk, with the last 48 hours of its life as a moth. Footage has been taken of a pūriri moth chrysalis hatching over a period of one hour and forty minutes.
Epyaxa rosearia, the New Zealand looper or plantain moth, is a moth of the family Geometridae.It is endemic to New Zealand.
Early New Zealand Books (ENZB) is a project from the library of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, launched in 2005, that aims at providing keyword-searchable text of significant books published about New Zealand in the first two-thirds of the nineteenth century. It also includes the subsequently published memoirs, journals and correspondence of people active in this era. The project has been funded and managed by the University of Auckland Library and is freely available on the internet.
Anachloris subochraria is a species of moth of the family Geometridae. It is found in New Zealand and the southern half of Australia including Tasmania and from Queensland across to Western Australia. This moth is day flying and can be found in New Zealand on the wing between November and April.
Zemelanopsis trifasciata is a species of freshwater snail in the family Melanopsidae. It is endemic to New Zealand, where it is found in fresh and brackish water habitat throughout the country.
Micrelenchus sanguineus is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Trochidae, the top shells.
Xanthocryptus novozealandicus, the lemon tree borer parasite, is a wasp in the family Ichneumonidae. It is a native insect of New Zealand. It is also found in Australia and New Guinea. Females hunt for larvae of wood-boring beetles around March, including the lemon tree borer, a native cerambycid that tunnels into citrus trees, grapes and many native species. When a suitable host is found, the female pushes her ovipositor through the wood and injects her eggs into the grub. This has the incidental benefit of helping to control some pests. X. novozealandicus prefers to prey on second year lemon tree borer larvae. This specific parasite prefers to prey on larger second year larvae due to its larger size.
Coccinella leonina, common name orange-spotted ladybird, is a species of ladybird native to New Zealand. It is black with orange spots. It is present in a variety of habitats and is a predator species.
Orocrambus flexuosellus is a species of moth in the family Crambidae. It was first described by Edward Doubleday in 1843. O. flexuosellus is endemic to New Zealand. It has been recorded from the North Island, South Island and the Stewart Islands. The species' habitat consists of lowland to alpine grasslands.
Pericoptus punctatus is a sand scarab beetle that is endemic to New Zealand. It is a smaller and similar New Zealand scarab beetle species to Pericoptus truncatus.
Poecilasthena pulchraria is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found in Australia and New Zealand. It was first described by Edward Doubleday in 1843 and named Acidalia pulchraria.
Orocrambus ramosellus is a moth in the family Crambidae. It was described by Henry Doubleday in 1843. It is endemic to New Zealand, where it has been recorded in the North and South Islands. The habitat of this species consists of pastures.
Orocrambus vittellus is a moth in the family Crambidae. It was described by Henry Doubleday in 1843. It is endemic to New Zealand. This species has been recorded in the North and South Islands, as well as Stewart Island. It prefers a habitat that consists of grasslands.
Hexatricha pulverulenta, commonly known as the squeaking longhorn, is a beetle in the family Cerambycidae, the only species in the monotypic genus Hexatricha. It is endemic to New Zealand. It was first described by John O. Westwood in 1843 as Lamia pulverulenta, and later moved into the genus Hexatricha.
Blosyropus spinosus, also known as the spiny longhorn or spiny silver-pine borer, is a rare species of longhorn beetle endemic to New Zealand. It has no specific Māori name, but the term for large longhorns of this type are howaka and kapapa.
Geodorcus sororum is a large flightless species of stag beetle in the family Lucanidae. It was discovered in 1973 by Mr. A. Wright on an expedition to Middle Sister Island/Te Awanui, one of The Sisters Islands/Rangitatahi which are part of the Chatham Islands in New Zealand. This holotype specimen is held in the New Zealand Arthropod Collection. It was first described by Beverley Holloway in 2007. The name sororum is translated from Latin to mean "belonging to the sisters".
The lemon tree borer, also known as the whistling beetle or the singing beetle, is a longhorn beetle endemic to New Zealand. Its larvae are generalist feeders, boring into the wood of a wide variety of trees, native and introduced. When citrus orchards were first established in New Zealand, this beetle started inflicting serious damage, and so gained the name "lemon tree borer". Four species within the genus Oemona have been identified, suggesting that more species could be found. When disturbed by predators or humans, the adult beetle stridulates creating a "rasp" or "squeak" sound by rubbing its thorax and head together against an area of thin ridges. Māori would eat a liquid called "pia manuka", which was produced by manuka trees when its wood was damaged by the larva. When Captain Cook first arrived in NZ, his naturalists, Banks and Solander, collected a lemon tree borer in their first collection between 1769 and 1771. This oldest collected specimen can be found in the British Museum. A few years after the first collection, the species would be first described by the Danish naturalist Fabricius in 1775.
