If you don’t like spiders or other invertebrates, consider giving this blog a miss – I don’t want anyone having nightmares!

In early January I had the fantastic opportunity to join a PhD candidate, Leilani Walker, on a foray to collect male Sheet-web Spiders for her studies. This entailed hiking around in the dark for 3 hours catching spiders in yogurt containers while I took photos! It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot about the spiders and macro photography at night. Dad was instrumental in preparing me for this new experience. He taught me how to use flash effectively, and made a wonderful DIY flash diffuser that would withstand the rigours of late-night bush-bashing while being light and portable.

I’ve done a lot of hiking and bushwalking over the years, but doing it at night is a completely different experience. With headlamps to light our way, we were in the world of nocturnal invertebrates and birds. Morporks called from their perches high in the canopy, and we disturbed a few slumbering Kereru who went flapping through the trees in blind confusion! Weta of varying sizes were all over the trees, especially in hollowed out trunks. I also saw my first Puriri Moth, which spend around 6 years as a caterpillar in a tree-trunk, and then 48 hours as a moth! In this time they mate and lay eggs, and then promptly die. As adult moths they have no mouthparts, so they can’t eat for the two days they spend trying to find a mate.

I was amazed at the sheer numbers of spiders and Weta that we saw – they were absolutely everywhere! This was great for collecting and photography, giving us ample opportunity for both. We also saw little Koura and an Eel in the stream, which was a bonus for me! No photo of the Eel I’m afraid, but I love the little glowing eyes of the Koura.

Sheet-web spiders, of which there are about 30 species, live all over New Zealand. The largest species, Cambridgea foliata, were the ones we were after. They’re quite big and have very long legs and chelicerae (mouthparts/fangs), which can make them quite intimidating! Their webs can be expansive, consisting of a horizontal sheet with drop-down wires that knock prey down into the sheet, where the spider can grab them. If you want to find out more about what Leilani is studying, you can follow her blog here.

It was a great experience, a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to get out and do some more night-photography. Thanks to Leilani for taking me with her and answering my endless questions about everything!