Critter of the Week is a regular Radio New Zealand broadcast in which Nicola Toki (originally of DOC, now Forest & Bird) and the host Jesse Mulligan talk about New Zealand species both endangered and neglected. It has been running since 2015, and has covered over 300 different species. "Critter" here refers to plants, animals, or fungi.
This is a planning page for volunteers and the show's hosts. Almost from the start, volunteers have been helping by creating or improving the corresponding Wikipedia article for each species to coincide with the Friday broadcast of the show, and we would like to work more closely with F&B and RNZ to suggest species, arrange openly-licensed photos, and add a link to each broadcast. For more background, see:
To join Team Critter, sign up to the mailing list for a weekly notification of what the next critter is and what needs doing. If you want, you can add {{User Team Critter}} to your user page. The coordinator is Mike Dickison (User:Giantflightlessbirds) (mikerove.wiki).
Volunteer members of Team Critter are committing to helping each week by updating the critter list, making sure there is a link from the Wikipedia article to the radio show, and improving the article if necessary. There are plenty of different jobs to do: one person could add the link to the RNZ show each week, another could look for photos in iNaturalist, and a third could write up a Taxonomy section from the scientific literature.
Occasionally Team Critter will meet via videoconference to make plans, and there is likely to be an annual Critter of the Weekedit-a-thon to work on the backlog of articles. Those new to editing Wikipedia are welcome and we can hook you up with training and support, such as a Zoom Q&A or newbie tutorial. You might find resources like User:Dracophyllum's essay on how to write a NZ plant article useful.
The Robust Grasshopper Award
Each year someone is designated the Most Valuable Player on Team Critter, and becomes a member of the Order of the Robust Grasshopper (Brachaspis robustus) • 2022: Marshelec • 2023: Stitchbird2
Feel free to put your Wikipedia username beside a task if you feel sure you can tackle something each week. You can also use this list as a checklist to see what still needs doing to an article.
Commons Category • 2 min • Easy • Done by:
In the External links section, we can add a link the Wikimedia Commons category for the species. First, find the species in Commons (looking at its Wikidata item—in the side menu—can speed that up). The Commons link goes just after the heading and before the link to the episode. Format: {{Commons category}}.
If the Category in Wikimedia Commons has a different name to this article title, add it: {{Commons category|Petroica australis}}.
If there's almost nothing else in the External links section, use * {{Commons category-inline}} to make the Commons link part of a bulleted list.
In source view, that's: * ''Priocnemis monachus'' discussed on [[Radio New Zealand|RNZ]] ''[[Critter of the Week]]'', [https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018876335/critter-of-the-week 3 February 2023].
That text goes in the "External links" section, after the References section. If there's no "External links" heading, create one (note it's in sentence case).
Try to narrow down to a single species, even if Nic casually talks about 15 species at once (as she sometimes does).
Create one or two common-name redirect links (most articles use the Latin name as the title), but Google to make sure these are the common names for the NZ species and nothing else. For example, "glow-in-the-dark mushroom" just isn't specific enough. Some things don't have a common name.
Make a red or blue link to the Latin-named article; Google to check there isn't already an article under a different Latin name.
The "Broadcast" column links to the RNZ page for that episode. Feel free to add the date, even if the show hasn't been broadcast or gone online yet. Note: use the three-letter abbreviation for the month, so Wikipedia sorts the list correctly. Sometimes the broadcast is missing from the RNZ list of all critters: if that's so, email someone (email address TBD) to let them know there's a mistake.
We currently hand-enter the article quality using the template {{Icon|C}}. Some of those quality assessments are missing or out of date, both in this table and in the articles. Once a year we could have a "Critter-a-thon", go through the table and update all the ratings and links, and note what needs doing to the article.
The older entries on the list use a more basic show listing, so really need to be updated. Put a check mark (✓) beside the broadcast date in the table below when the article now has a link to the show (that's all it means, it doesn't mean the article's now "finished").
Feel free to add specific tasks or problems in the "Notes" field. New articles or substantially improved ones could be nominated for Did You Know; note "DYK" if you do, and link to the DYK listing when it appears.
This is a currently undescribed likely new species of moth. On the show, Nicola Toki described this as a mat daisy jumper or the Cloudy Bay moth. This probable new species has also been referred to as Kiwaia sp. cf. jeanae “Cloudy Bay”. This name indicates that the species is likely to fall in the genus Kiwaia and is similar in appearance to Kiwaia jeanae but is has yet to be formally or scientifically described. This probable new species likely falls within Kiwaia, a genus of moths with the common name of mat daisy jumper. There is a useful document about the Cloudy Bay moth here. [1]
(Note Matariki holiday) Student project article: some of it is about this tree wētā, some about all tree wētā; needs rewriting and tightening up (and a photo)
The linked article is about the genus, not the species, but there is a redirect. Lots of sources in Google Scholar mention Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa so it might be possible to create a separate article. There are loads of images in Wikimedia Commons at: c:Category:Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa
Several genera involved: have been asking isopod researchers for the species that is found in NZ butterfish (need to get those photos cleared for Commons). Ceratothoa does not seem to be the genus in NZ fishes.
Hairworms already done (6 Nov 2015), so picked a common specific wētā hairworm. ref. But maybe Gordionus maori discovered 5–6 years ago in Rock & Pillar Range? refrefref
The Critter of the Week regularly use suggestions from this list. Anyone can nominate a critter by adding it below.
The perfect Critter of the Week is non-charismatic (not traditionally cute and cuddly), neglected (not appearing regularly in the media spotlight), and endangered.
Check Wikipedia, and link to both its common name(s) and Latin name; red link if there's no article.
What can they spend ten minutes talking about with your critter? "It's rare and we don't know much about it" isn't good radio. Give a short hook that explains what Nic and Jesse can talk about.
References and names of people who can supply information about the critter would be great.
Quillwort (Isoetes aff. kirkii): eyelash seaweed, a tiny seaweed known only from a few rocks near Kaikoura. Wendy Nelson good to talk to.
Phylloglossum drummondii: an odd clubmoss once found in the South and northern North Island, now just in a few remnant bits of gumland scrub in Northland; Nationally Threatened. There are some links and an iNat photo suitable for adding.
New Zealand anemone (Anemone tenuicaulis): Anemone is a misleading name, because most people think of sea anemones. But anemones are actually land plants.
Myosotis bryonoma – At Risk/Naturally Uncommon South Island endemic forget-me-not. It’s only found in alpine bogs in Otago, has small bronze-coloured leaves, and is quite tiny and special! And the public helped come up with the name. Described in 2018 by Te Papa/Manaaki Whenua/Ahika scientists. Contact: Heidi Meudt.
Myosotis retrorsa – At Risk/Naturally Uncommon South Island endemic forget-me-not. Described in 2018 by Te Papa/Manaaki Whenua/DOC scientists who realized they were looking at a new species based on comparison of previously collected specimens in the herbarium - some of them had never seen it in the field until after they published the new species! Contact: Heidi Meudt.
Myosotis umbrosa – Threatened - Nationally Critical South Island forget-me-not. Described in 2018 by Te Papa/Manaaki Whenua/Ahika scientists. Very rarely seen or collected. Endemic to Otago, known only from the Rock and Pillar and Lammerlaw Ranges, often at the base of tors. Contact: Heidi Meudt.
Celmisia morganii: a daisy found only in the Ngakawau River Gorge, Haggard Creek, Blackwater River on the West Coast, areas under investigation for a dam?
Aciphylla, the speargrasses - many species of mostly spiky alpine plants. Is there a particular endangered species? Also the Māori collection of speargrass oil
Trilepidea adamsii, the Adams mistletoe, extinct in 1954 (if we wanted to talk about spotlighting plant extinctions)
Kermadec koromiko (Hebe breviracemosa, now Veronica breviracemosa), thought to be wiped out by goats, then for years only known from one specimen; dozens of plants later discovered by brave rock-climbing volunteers. NZGeo
Freycinetia banksii - kiekie. Has amazingly beautiful edible flower bracts, can be a menace if planted in urban settings.
Tecomanthe speciosa, a subtropical climber with big greeny-white flowers. Discovered on the Three Kings by Geoff Baylis, shortly before he also discovered Pennantia baylisiana; like that species, it was down to a single individual, thanks to goats. Brought back from the brink, and now planted all over the warmer parts of New Zealand as a rampant building-coverer.
Tupeia antarctica, a native mistletoe, only one in its genus (named for Tupaia). Threatened by possums, harbours lots of specialised insects, not showy and colourful like the other native mistletoes, just looks like a messy ball of leaves with greeny-white flowers. Hard to propagate from seed but grows on lots of small trees and even other native mistletoes! Ref
Clathrus archeri - or stinkhorn fungus, or devils fingers. Weird and amazing.
Austropeltum glareosum – a lichen found only on the Denniston Plateau, where it is threatened by mining. Very restricted range (though also found in Australia) and a very small population. Lichens are totally cool – composite organisms that are really mini ecosystems!
Caloplaca maculata – a very striking endemic lichen, restricted to Chatham Island and a couple of other places in the same archipelago.
Deconica baylisiana, an alpine pouch fungus that was recently rediscovered in the mountains of Otago, having not been seen for 50 years
Abstoma purpureum, a sand-dune puffball that may already be extinct. These last three were some of 30 native New Zealand fungi recently added to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. NZGeo article.
Deinacrida talpa, the giant mole wētā: found only in the Paparoas on the West Coast, it's the only burrowing giant wētā, digging a tunnel up to 30 cm long. [Ref].
Southland chafer beetles (Stethaspis pulchra), rediscovered in 2005 after not being seen for 50 years, by a six-year-old who picked one out of a puddle in the car park as the expedition were loading up their vehicles. "Is this it?". Eric Edwards at DOC is the contact.
Agrius convolvuli, the kūmara hawkmoth or hīhue, known as the convulvulus hawkmoth overseas, and a pest of kūmara plantings across the Pacific. Lots of Māori lore on its control. Has startlingly-huge horned caterpillars in a wide range of colours.
Xanthorhoe bulbulata, a nationally critical, brightly coloured, day flying moth that hasn't been seen since 1991 but was once common in the South Island & seen during the months of September and March. Possibly do a programme in those months to see if anyone spots it? Possible tie in with a discussion on Ahi Pepe | MothNet project?
Holcaspis brevicula, a Canterbury ground beetle now surviving only in a single pine plantation.
Philanisus plebeius, the marine caddisfly (one of very very few marine insects), found around coastal NZ. The most common of 5 species in their own family (endemic to NZ, but recently introduced to Australia), dating back 90 million years to Gondwana. ref, ref, ref, Brian Smith good to talk to.
Botanical moth (Sabulopteryx botanica), initially described as a larva from a pressed herbarium plant collected in 1961, then discovered in the "wild" in Christchurch Botanic Garden living in the rare small-leaved shrub Teucrium parvifolium.
Cloudy Bay mat daisy jumper, Kiwaia "Cloudy Bay", an undescribed species of flightless moth found in coastal Marlborough and rediscovered in 2021 after being feared extinct; lives on Raoulia daisies which are eaten by rabbits. refref
Hoherius meinertzhageni, the ribbonwood fungus weevil with its interesting sexual dimorphism and two male morphs with different weaponry.
Pison morosum, only endemic species of Pison wasp in Aotearoa
Widebody pipefish (Stigmatopora nigra), UC student studying female sexual ornamentation and competition for males to rear the eggs, gender reveral but more dramatic than in sea horses. ref
Awakopaka skink (Oligosoma awakopaka): Nationally Critical. Known from a single individual, found in the Homer Saddle in Fiordland: name means "glacier skink".
Hura te ao gecko (Mokopirirakau galaxias): Discovered in 2018, described 2021. Beautiful black-eyed spotted gecko, found in Central Otago while looking for Oteake skinks. Ref. One of four new NZ reptile species described that year alone.
Tohu gecko / te mokomoko a Tohu (Hoplodactylus tohu): a new (2023) gecko species from Cook Strait, split from our largest gecko species, named by Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui. Description, ref
Cyanoramphus forbesi, Forbes' parakeet, that only lives on Mangere and Little Mangere Island
Pterodroma magentae, Chatham Island taiko or magenta petrel - seabird that was thought to be extinct discovered on Rekohu, Chatham Island, 1978, currently trying to save the species!
Critters of the Week listed on the RNZ website (this is not necessarily comprehensive; and if the Critter concerned has not had a web page created for that broadcast, make a note in the Critter list and we'll harass RNZ.)
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