Tasmanian Thipsels

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M18 gonopod, and when is M76?

Below is the left gonopod telopodite of an M18 male from the batch I collected two days ago. As I wrote in a previous post, M18, M20 and M77 are geographically clustered thipsels that share a projecting "shelf" on the telopodite base.

M18 gonopod

Left gonopod telopodite, posterior and slightly ventral (left) and medial (right) views.

I returned to Loyetea today for what turned out to be another fruitless search for M76 in beautiful forest with nicely damp litter. The dates for successful searches in past years were 18, 19 and 21 November, and 6 December. If M76 hides deep in the soil for most of the year and goes topside only to mate and disperse, I was probably too early today. I'll try again in 6-8 weeks.

2026-10-05