The conservation status of small or less well known groups of New Zealand terrestrial invertebrates

Thomas Buckley, R.L. Palma, P.M. Johns, Dianne GLEESON, A.C.G. Heath, Rod Hitchmough, I Stringer

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    19 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    A total of 27 taxa from taxonomic groups with few species, or that are less well known, are listed as Threatened, 50 taxa are At Risk, 110 taxa are Data Deficient and three taxa are Extinct. Thirteen taxa are Nationally Critical: Aceria clianthi; Eriophyoidea incertae (Acari); Cryptops sp.; Haasiella sp. (Chilopoda); Burmjapyx sp. (Diplura); Hirudobdella antipodum (Hirudinea); Antiponemertes allisonae (Nemertini); Prasmiola unica (Opiliones); and Tepakiphasma ngatikuri (Phasmatodea) are freeliving whereas the lice Apterygon okarito, Coloceras harrisoni, Rallicola takahe and Saemundssonia chathamensis (Phthiraptera) have the same threat status as their bird hosts. No taxa were considered Nationally Endangered but 14 ectoparasites are Nationally Vulnerable, including six Acari and eight Phthiraptera. The At Risk taxa comprise two that are Declining, four that are Recovering, one that is Relict and 45 taxa that are Naturally Uncommon. Earthworms (Oligochaeta) also make up 101 of the 110 Data Deficient taxa. All of the Extinct species were host-specific feather lice: two were on extinct birds and one became extinct when its host was transferred to predator-free islands. Thirty-six earthworm species that were previously Data Deficient are now ranked Not Threatened, as are five Phthiraptera that were previously ranked either Nationally Critical or Nationally Endangered and one Phasmatodea that was previously ranked Nationally Endangered.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)137-143
    Number of pages7
    JournalNew Zealand Entomologist
    Volume35
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2012

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'The conservation status of small or less well known groups of New Zealand terrestrial invertebrates'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this