Australia 2015: Back in the Wet Tropics to assist Professor Sarah Boyer and her Macalester College undergraduates, Joanne Johnson and Jill Oberski. We had new targets this year, in addition to Cyphophthalmi in the genus Austropurcellia; the Laniatores family Zalmoxidae and bothriurid scorpions in the genus Cercophonius. 

Zalmoxis falcifer. Photo: P.P. Sharma.

Cercophonius sulcatus. Photo: M.S. Harvey.

First stop: Queensland Museum, Brisbane.

With the legendary Geoff Monteith.

Chasing waterfalls.

The viscerally fun task of sifting litter to find harvestmen.

Campsite at Kroombit Tops.

Breakfast in the field.

The view from Kroombit Tops. Cyphos found!

Sarah brought a machete. Good idea.

Campsite in the evening.

Cercophonius queenslandae (above) and Liocheles australasiae (below).

Sifting in the rain.

The Macalester 2015 team.

Back in Townsville after four longs years. I have missed this peak.

Gelato on the strand in Townsville after an uninterrupted, record-setting run of Opiliones collecting.

Cardwell's pier, now repaired. When I last saw it in 2011, a cyclone had torn the pier into two pieces.

Journey to Hitchinbrook Island.

A photo on the beach at Hitchinbrook Island, amidst fossils and cuttlebone.

Searching in lava tubes for Zalmoxis lavacaverna or other troglobitic species.

Jill and Sarah, examining isopods.

The landscape outside the lava tubes.

Carwash. The only way to end the trip.