Overview
Hoppers are amphipod crustaceans. There are thousands of species in the sea, as well as sand hoppers on the beach, and land hoppers in the bush and grass. Even though land hoppers are little seen, they are major recyclers of leaf litter (“shredders”).
They occur in alpine grasses, native bush and shrubland. Some species are also happy in the litter under introduced pines and they are even easy to find in your garden, so look out for them!
There are 28 named species of native land hoppers in New Zealand (together with three more introduced species), but there are obviously more. However, it is very difficult to tell them apart because they look so similar and live among each other.
Detailed work on land hoppers in Northland has discovered some new species as well as identified several species that were thought to be rare or even extinct. Olivier Ball of NorthTec and Te Papa’s Rick Webber have microscopically examined many hundreds of specimens, with Te Papa’s Lara Shepherd contributing data from DNA sequencing.
The detailed descriptions that result will allow the species from Northland to be accurately identified by those who manage and protect the area. Similar work is needed in other parts of New Zealand.
Related reference:
Fenwick G, Webber, R (2008) Identification of New Zealand’s terrestrial amphipods (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Talitridae). Tuhinga 19: 29-56. Online paper.
Note: Te Papa’s collections of land hoppers are not yet online.