Enviroschools on camp at Pine Valley
Term 4 is traditionally a great term for getting out-of-doors and into the bush or stream, especially if you are on camp!
At Mill Flat in Pine Valley, Anna and Angela have been working as a team so that students are able to study the diversity of life in the river and in the bush surrounding it as part of their camp activities. Mill Flat is the perfect location to explore our wonderful diversity of native insects, animals, freshwater life and plants.
Adult (winged) Stenoperla
Stenoperla (aquatic) nymph
One of the insect species living in Pine Valley Stream is the endemic large green stonefly ‘Stenoperla’. Its presence in the awa tells us that the awa is very healthy, as this species can’t survive if the water is even slightly polluted or low in oxygen. This photo shows an adult Stenoperla that was flying near the stream and decided to land on a student from Mayfield School. The babies (or ‘nymphs’) are aquatic, living on and under river stones for up to two years, before spending one glorious day as a winged adult! We were lucky to see this one – it seemed to quite like us too!
To find out more about Stenoperla and loads of other Marlborough freshwater critters, take a look at our padlet collection: padlet.com/EnviroschoolsMarlborough/freshwatercritters
And let us know if you’d like us to join you on camp next year!