Highlights from the 2024 City Nature Challenge in Greater Wellington

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The iNaturalist City Nature Challenge is an annual event where cities around the world compete to record the most observations and species, and have the greatest number of participants over a four-day period. Science Researcher Lara Shepherd highlights some of the interesting discoveries made during the challenge, in what is Wellington’s fourth year participating.

With over 18 000 observations the Wellington region made over 5000 observations more than last year. More than 2500 species were recorded.

A map of the lower part of the North Island of New Zealand. There are small red squares dotted all over it, mainly near the city of Wellington.
Map of the observations taken in the wider Wellington region during the 2024 iNaturalist City Nature Challenge. Image via iNaturalist

Many of the observations were made by individuals but numerous public events were also held around the region. These events included rockpooling, moth trapping and stream spotlighting.

A man is crouching down near the ground while a small child looks on. They are both wearing head torches and it is nighttime.
Entomologist William Brocklesby (left) and friend closely examine a moth during a public night exploration event at Ōtari. Photo courtesy of Sarah Goldberg

The most observed species in the Wellington region was kawakawa (Piper excelsum). Nine of the 10 most observed species were plants and three of these were weeds (wandering willie, old man’s beard and gorse). The highest-ranking animal was the knobbled orbweaver spider in 8th place and the highest-ranking bird was the pīwakawaka/fantail at 13th.

Conservation wins – nature at your backdoor

It’s always exciting to see what critters are hiding in our urban areas. The native fish kōaro and banded kōkopu, two of the five whitebait species, were observed in the small stream in Central Park, Brooklyn, within a stone’s throw of central Wellington.

A brown spotted fish swimming near rocks.
Kōaro (Galaxias brevipinnis) in the stream that runs through Central Park, Brooklyn. Photo by naturewatchwidow via iNaturalist, CC-BY-NC

Zealandia continues to have a beneficial impact on Wellington’s diversity. The Cook Strait giant wētā (Deinacrida rugosa) is one of the largest insects in the world. They are vulnerable to predation by rats and were once restricted to a few islands in Cook Strait. Cook Strait giant wētā were introduced to Zealandia in 2007 and first recorded on the outside the sanctuary fenceline 10 years later. This year numerous juvenile Cook Strait giant wētā were observed on the outside of the fence, as well as the huge escapee shown below.

A large wētā sitting on a wire grill in the dark. It is lit up by a torch.
A Cook Strait giant wētā (Deinacrida rugosa) on the Zealandia fence. Photo by Leon Perrie via iNaturalist. CC-BY

A toutouwai (North Island Robin), another introduction to Zealandia, was recorded in Tanera Gully in Brooklyn. Its leg bands identify him as Rori and he is the first robin to venture beyond Zealandia and Waimaipihi Reserve.

Rori, a toutoutwai/North Island robin, was spotted in Tanera Gully. Photo by Nigel Charman via iNaturalist, CC-BY-NC.
Rori, a toutoutwai | North Island robin, was spotted in Tanera Gully. Photo by Nigel Charman via iNaturalist, CC-BY-NC

Notable discoveries

Every year tens of thousands of observations get added to iNaturalist for the Wellington region, decreasing the chances of observers finding something new. However, there were still some exciting discoveries this year. Marley Ford, a visiting lichen expert from Northland, observed around 10 new records of lichens for the Greater Wellington region on iNaturalist. Lichens are a fungus growing with a photosynthetic partner and are often overlooked.

This is only the second photo on iNaturalist of the lichen Lepraria ulrikii. Marley also made the other observation of this species, in Auckland. Photo by Marley Ford via iNaturalist, CC-BY-NC-SA
This is the first North Island iNaturalist record of the lichen Ramalina glaucescens. Photo by Marley Ford via iNaturalist
This is the first iNaturalist record of the spider Nomaua rimutaka. Photo by Jean Roger via iNaturalist. CC-BY-NC-ND
The endemic yellow-bordered owlet moth (Meterana tartarea) had not been recorded on iNaturalist from the Wellington region previously. Photo courtesy of Bjorn Madsen via iNaturalist.
This is only the second observation of the endemic parasitoid wasp (Betyla auriger) on iNaturalist. Photo by Jean Roger via iNaturalist. CC-BY-NC-ND

Other notable finds include the first record in Wellington city of an NZ endemic ground beetle (Amarotypus edwardsii) from Wilton, Wellington, Nouvelle-Zélande on April 26, 2024 at 07:33 PM by Jean Roger via iNaturalist, an endemic longhorn beetle (Hybolasius sticticus) from Wilton, Wellington by naturewatchwidow via iNaturalist NZ, an introduced plant louse (Cardiaspina fiscella) from Mount Cook, Wellington, New Zealand on April 27, 2024 by Heidi Meudt via iNaturalist NZ and an introduced ground beetle (Metallic Harpalus) from Island Bay, Wellington 6023, New Zealand on April 27, 2024 by Shaun via iNaturalist NZ.

Strangest find

Described as resembling an uncooked sausage, one of the common names of this species is “penis worm”. Despite its common name, it is not a fish but a marine worm and this one was observed during a ghost diving clean-up in Oriental Bay. This is only the 5th observation of this endemic species on iNaturalist.

Spoon worm (Urechis novaezealandiae). Photo by Shaun Thompson via iNaturalist, CC-BY.
Spoonworm or “penis worm” (Urechis novaezealandiae). Photo by Shaun Thompson via iNaturalist. CC-BY

Amazing photography

These are some of my favourite photos from the Wellington region taken during the City Nature Challenge.

New Zealand Piper (Hyporhamphus ihi). Photo by judyo1 via iNaturalist, CC-BY-NC
Pseudoscorpion. Photo by Jean Roger via iNaturalist. CC-BY-NC-ND
The Nationally Critical Kōtuku | White Heron (Ardea alba), a rare visitor to the Wellington region. Photo by meltea via iNaturalist. CC-BY-NC
Slime mould spreading over a cluster of mushrooms. Photo by Dr C.R. Schack via iNaturalist. CC-BY-NC
This is only the 3rd photo on iNaturalist from Wellington of Staurocladia wellingtoni. This marine invertebrate was only described as a species in 1996, from specimens collected from Te Raekaihau Point between Lyall Bay and Princess Bay in Wellington. Photo by Luca Davenport-Thomas via iNaturalist. CC-BY-NC
Barking gecko (Naultinus punctatus) in Wellington Zoo. Photo by kiwihunter via iNaturalist. CC-BY-NC
Moth (Dichromodes sphaeriata). This is only the 3rd observation from the Greater Wellington area on iNaturalist. Photo by Uwe Schneehagen via iNaturalist. CC-BY-SA
New Zealand glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa). Photo by Michael Berardozzi via iNaturalist. CC-BY-NC
Orange pore fungus (Favolaschia claudopus). Photo by Jean Roger via iNaturalist. CC-BY-NC-ND
New Zealand fernbirds (Poodytes punctatus) are very secretive and difficult to photograph. Photo by Svend Hansen via iNaturalist, CC-BY

Thank you to everyone who made observations and the experts who identified them. Christchurch had the highest number of observers and observations out of the New Zealand cities and Wellington recorded the most species.

Globally close to 2.5 million observations were made of over 65 000 species. Wellington was 31st for number of observation and 23rd for number of species recorded out of the 690 participating cities.

Further Reading

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