On a night walk at Maungatautari, Phil spotted rare, native frogs and a moth which had all the experts stumped.
"On the 28th of April we did a night walk into the middle of Maungatautari Mountain and we saw 17 Hochstetter frogs. This was a unbelievable experience but to add to this we found a moth which look like a small puriri moth - but it's head was different. After sending it to three different people it had them stumped," he says.
"Robert Hoare, the moth expert at Landcare Research thinks that it is a specimen of Feredayia graminosa which belongs to the moth family Noctuidae, collectively called cutworms and armyworms. It is in beautiful fresh mint condition having just emerged from the pupa and its wings are not yet fully expanded."
For more information on Maungatautari Ecological Island visit their website or their facebook page.
To see more of Phil's work check out his website.
