This adorable little creature is one of New Zealand's endemic giant springtails, but it's not just ANY giant springtail...
I first discovered this springtail population two years ago, living up in the few remaining patches of native forest in the Port Hills of Christchurch. This put them on the map - nobody had ever seen them near the city before, so it was a wonderful surprise to find them there!
They appear a lot smaller than other members of their species that I've found elsewhere, making me wonder if they're undergoing a form of island dwarfism in the small, fragmented areas of bush. Maybe these ones aren't so 'giant' after all...
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