11005-13001 Millipede ( Eumastigonus sp.) common in forests and gardens under bark and in decaying leaves throughout New Zealand. Movement is sluggish, and at rest they usually coil themselves into a flat spiral *
DSC_6490 Forest gecko (Mokopirirakau granulatus) detail of head of male gecko, showing larval mites or 'chiggers' (Neotrombicula naultini) around the geckos eye. During their larval stage of development 'chiggers' attach to their host and feed on the skin. Later, they drop off the host and develop into nymphs, and then into fully grown adult mites. Nymphs and adult mites are no longer parasitic and feed on plant material instead. Ruapehu *
DSC_2752 Tuatara tick (Archaeocroton sphenodonti) in the neck folds of an adult female tuatara. Even rarer than their host, these ticks have a very restricted distribution and only occur on eight offshore islands, each of which have a resident population of tuatara. Tick loads on individual tuatara vary from zero, through to extremely high levels, with one individual recorded as carrying over 500 ticks! Stephens Island *
