Category Archives: Bugs, insects and spiders

Collections Online update: Mapping

25 June 2010 – 2.11pm

Mapping the collections
This week we added a new feature to Collections Online, our first efforts to map our collection objects, specimens and other resources.  As you browse the collection, the Related Places section at the right of the page will generate a map of the places related to the collection item or resource – just click on the “show map” link to open up the map for that page.

Collections Online mapping

 

For Humanities collections we are mapping where an object was made, depicts, was influenced by or refers to. We can map these because we catalogue our collections geographic associations using the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names, which often include the latitude and longitude of the place described. That means as we catalogue our collections as part of our acquisition, inventory or research, we are geo-coding the objects at the same time, at least down to the closest geographically named place.

There are limitations to this approach, for example it doesn’t go down to street level, and of course many of our collection objects are recorded simply as being made in “New Zealand”,  the coordinates for which hover above the centre of the country. Not exactly accurate, but may provide some context for some objects. We’ll try to work through some of these issues, but they are inevitable for some of our objects, as we simply don’t have any more specific information about where they were produced. 

Here’s a few examples of the mapping working in the different parts of Collections Online (don’t forget to click the “show map” link to the right of each page):

  • Objects: Mapping the distribution of the Commonwealth countries referred to in this poster
  • Objects: Mount Taranaki Try zooming in on the map and switch it to satellite view
  • Themes: Tapa styles across the Pacific
  • Places: For the TGN place records themselves, well, we show where the place is! E.g. don’t know where Waipawa is? Now you do!
  • Person pages: Pictorialist photographer Richard Sharrell, born in Graz, Austria, died in Wellington, New Zealand.

For Natural environment, we’re using the map references (or more recently GPS coordinates) recorded as part of the collection of specimens on field collection trips.  For example, this snail was collected on the Te Ringa track, not far from Russell in the Far North.

At this stage we can only map one object, specimen or resource at a time (though they may have multiple places related). Next step is to map multiple specimens, objects etc as this will help understand the distribution of a particular species, or the various places an artist worked for example. We’ll also look at how to try to work with more pin point geo-coding for non-named places, more like what you are used to on Google maps or Street View.  But we hope this first step provides at least some more context to the collections and the people and stories that surround them.

By Adrian Kingston | Also posted in Art, Collections Online, Pacific | Tagged , , , , | Comments (4)

Collections Online update: Taxonomy browser

22 June 2010 – 2.26pm

Since we released the new version of Collections Online  in July last year we’ve made the odd fix, or a new feature here and there. You probably don’t notice them but hopefully they’ve made your browsing experience a bit easier.  However recently we’ve done a couple of things we thought were worth pointing out. First up, one for those interested in the natural environment collections.    

Aptenodytes forsteri

Aptenodytes forsteri

 

Taxonomy Browser
Initially this may look like just one for the scientists out there, but I think it could help enthusiasts, and pretty much anybody else, get a bit more insight into the relationships between species of birds, plants and our other natural environment collections. A new taxonomy browser allows you to browse up and down the scientific classifications of our collection specimens.   

For example if you check out the specimen record  for this fine fellow (Emperor Penguin) at the right of the page you can see the new Related Taxa section, showing the classification hierarchy. In this new section click on Aptenodytes forsteri (Species) you jump into the species level record. This shows you the other specimens we have for that species. You can then browse up browse up to the broader level (Genus, Aptenodytes) where you can see all the species (and our specimens) that belong to that genus, or you can browse broader again up to the family record Spheniscidae (penguins), and so on. This also applies to our plant (try it with the ferns) and zoological collections, including the ever-popular spiders.   

Obviously it’s much easier to move around if you understand the latin names used in the Linnaean structure, but hopefully being able to browse around is at least a start for the non-scientists among us too.    

The next step is being able to browse humanities objects for a particular species using the correct taxonomic identification, allowing to see not  only our specimens, but objects in our art , photography, Taonga Maori, Pacific or History collections that feature that species.   

By Adrian Kingston | Also posted in Birds, Collections Online, Ferns, Plants | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

NZ nature on screen

12 October 2009 – 11.46am

nzonscreen1
Last week on NZ On Screen we celebrated our unique natural heritage with the launch of a Nature collection. Aotearoa’s landforms and its magnificent menagerie of natural oddities – birds, insects, and trees like nowhere else on the planet – are showcased in 15 award-winning NHNZ productions – all full length and free to view. From Discovery Channel and David Bellamy documentaries, to Wild South and Our World classics.

The Nature Collection has been curated for NZ On Screen by long-time presenter of TV nature programmes Peter Hayden – who now works behind-the-scenes at internationally renowned NHNZ  (Natural History New Zealand). Peter has written a great background piece giving his personal perspective on over 30 years of bringing NZ nature to screen, and what motivates him:

“A parrot that can’t fly, lives in the dark and blows itself up like a football? What about a hairy dwarf, a killer parrot, a reptile with a third eye and giant meat-eating snails? New Zealand is a land of evolutionary oddballs, and that’s why I love it, and have been so privileged to have been part of a team that has turned these often shy creatures into stars of the small screen.”

I’m something of a ngā manu nut myself: regularly dragging my two year old daughter through pockets of remnant bush and to Zealandia most weeks to hang with kaka and tuatara. Growing up as a kid in the 80s, series like Our World and Wild South were formative in my personal connection to Aotearoa’s birds’n’bush. The iconic stories of the black robin and kōkako, were exciting and intriguing and inspired me to “go bush” and get amongst efforts to help out our feathered ark-mates.

So, it’s been a real pleasure to work with Peter in compiling and preparing the collection. And NHNZ deserve a special acknowledgement for their generosity in sharing these titles.

Black robin

Black robin

Many of them are Kiwi classics and have been rarely seen since they screened. My personal favourite is one of the first Wild South documentaries, Seven Black Robins. By 1976 there were only seven Chatham Islands’ black robins left. It was the world’s rarest bird. In this documentary, in a desperate bid to save the species, the wee birds are taken from one island to another in a cliff-top rescue mission. There’s Old Blue (just Blue here) and other characters and with the stakes so high the drama is evident; so is the passion of the people – such as conservation hero Don Merton – striving to save them.

Kaka (bush parrot) cavorting in the rain beside Lake Rotoiti in Bandits of the Beech Forest are gloriously filmed, but there is remarkable footage contained throughout the collection, from a bat-filled tree trunk sauna, carnivorous giant snails, lost whale, and Happy Feet penguins, to the otherworldy depths of fiords and horror movie-like footage of a kea eating a live sheep at night!

The collection features the series Moa’s Ark (presented by David “old man’s beard must go” Bellamy), the Hayden-presented series Journeys in National Parks and Journeys across Latitude 45 (Screened as part of Our World); along with popular children’s nature series Wildtrack.

The one-off docos are Wild South classics: Seven Black Robins and The Black Stilt, and acclaimed films: Kea Mountain Parrot, Under the Ice, Bandits of the Beech Forest, Emperors of Antarctica, Lost Whales, Mirror World, Ghosts of Gondwana, and Exhuming Adams.

Overall the collection leaves one feeling inspired and in awe of our unique natural heritage. It reaffirms the committed efforts of projects like Zealandia (Karori Sanctuary) that mean you can go for a run in the scrub above Brooklyn – 10 minutes from Wellington city – and encounter tieke (saddleback). Courtesy of Karori (and council pest control efforts) we also have kaka screeching above our Newtown house and can see an ecstasy of tui (yes, the correct term for a flock of tui is an ‘ecstasy’!) flouncing around Cuba St. Sweet as manuka honey!

But many of the films are also tragedies, pervaded with sadness. They’re a lament for a birdland that is now lost forever. As Peter says:

“The nature of this land of ours, astounds me. Many species are survivors of ice ages, near-drowning, eruptions and earthquakes. But can they survive us.”

Watch and decide where you stand!

http://www.nzonscreen.com/collection/nature

Paul Ward
Editor, NZ On Screen

NZ On Screen is the NZ On Air-funded website set up last year to archive and showcase New Zealand television and film. It won Best Entertainment Website at the 2009 Qantas Media Awards. You can see the Nature Collection, and over 700 other titles, free of charge at www.nzonscreen.com

By Te Papa | Also posted in Birds, Fish, Plants | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Lethiferous Latrodectus – part 1

21 May 2009 – 3.10pm
Katipo spider

Katipo with 3 egg sacs, 1967, by Richard Sharell. Te Papa

One of my previous posts discussed a recent study on New Zealand’s only endemic spider regarded as dangerous to people, the katipo. I thought readers might be interested to learn a little more about what’s behind the bad reputation of katipo and its’ close relatives.

As I said then, katipo belongs to the genus Latrodectus, a group of spiders that includes infamous species such as the black widow spider (Latrodectus mactans) and the Australian redback (Latrodectus hasseltii) amongst its ranks. The cliché that ‘the female of the species is deadlier than the male’ applies here as the male is very much smaller and incapable of biting through human skin.

Latrodectus venom contains potent neurotoxins capable of putting an adult in hospital and in some cases may even fatal. While fatalities are rare, a bite from one of these spiders can be EXTREMELY painful and deeply unpleasant. The symptoms are many and varied, but pain, particularly in association with severe abdominal cramping is common.

Not all bites are necessarily the same. The age, health and size of the victim as well as the amount of venom injected are just some factors that can influence the severity of a bite.

In New Zealand, katipo bites are very uncommon. For one thing, katipo prefers to run rather than bite. For another, katipo is nowhere near as widespread as it used to be as humans make more and more changes to the beach-front habitat katipo prefers. While there are parts of the country where katipo exist in good numbers, your chances of meeting one are small and the chance of being bitten by one smaller still.

Even if you defied the odds and were bitten by a katipo, your suffering is likely to be less severe than if you were bitten by another species such as black widow. This is because katipo is the smallest Latrodectus species and thus delivers the least amount of venom when biting. Nonetheless, a good dose of katipo venom is probably going to have you feeling very sorry for yourself. Fortunately, New Zealand hospitals carry suitable anti-venom.

There will be more on the subject of Latrodectus in my next posting, including where I found the word ‘lethiferous”.

By philsirvid | Comments (2)

Latrodectus Love Bites

13 February 2009 – 7.30am
Latrodectus valentini (Valentine's widow spider)

St Valentine's widow spider

 

In honour of Valentine’s Day this post will look at the wonderful world of courtship in the spider genus Latrodectus, more commonly known as the widow spiders. Readers of my previous post will recall this genus includes species such as the American black widow (Latrodectus mactans), the Australian redback (L. hasseltii) and the New Zealand katipo (L. katipo), all spiders with a toxic reputation.

Mating: We all know the birds and the bees do it, but what about spiders? Well obviously they have to reproduce but spider courtship presents some problems. Imagine yourself as a male black widow for a moment.  First of all your prospective mate is an aggressive carnivore many times your size.  If that’s not bad enough, you’re venturing into her web where she holds all the advantages. Worst of all, her first reaction is going to be ‘dinner!’ As you can see, mating is a risky business from his point of view!

However, if male spiders were always eaten before they got to mate we’d soon run out of spiders.  In order to approach females in relative safety, male spiders have special courtship signals to let them get up close and personal. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work and the poor lovelorn male may end up as a snack if he puts a foot wrong. Even if he gets his moves right, he still may not make it out alive. This is how the black widow earned its’ name. It was widely believed that the female black widow would always devour the hapless male after mating. However, it turns out that the black widow’s femme-fatale image is exaggerated because while males may sometimes end up as lunch, it’s not all that common.

So are widow spiders still deserving of the name? Yes!  While the black widow’s reputation might not be completely justified, mating in the Australian redback species can accurately be described as the ultimate dinner date. Not only is the redback male eaten by the female after mating, he voluntarily places himself under her fangs to make it easier.

So what drives this suicidal strategy? Redbacks often live in arid areas where food is short. It’s thought that by feeding his mate she in turn has more nutrients to better provision more eggs and thus develop more of his offspring. But there’s a further twist to this tale. Female redbacks can store sperm from more than one mating for months at a time so one male’s sacrifice may end up being used to provide for another male’s offspring.

Female katipo is a bit gentler on her male counterpart and typically lets him escape to try and mate another day. Katipo and redbacks are close relatives and can still mate, but only one way. This means female katipo can mate with males from either species, but redback females will only mate with their own kind. The male redback will still offer himself up to be bitten when mating with katipo but she’s too polite to nibble!

And before anyone asks, there is no such thing as the St Valentine’s widow spider!

This post is dedicated to the late Dr Lyn Forster, a New Zealand arachnologist who was the first to document sexual cannibalism in the redback spider.

By philsirvid | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (3)

Valentines day: roses are what?

12 February 2009 – 10.53am

 

Margaret Stoddart, Roses, 1920s

Margaret Stoddart, Roses, 1920s

In Europe during the 1300s February 14th was thought to be the day when birds paired off to mate. This date was originally an ancient Greco-Roman pagan festival, and was later called St Valentines Day Feast by the Church. Since the 1300s, on February 14th each year, roses (and flowers in general),  have been widely accepted as gifts and Saint Valentines Day is now celebrated by many cultures in different parts of the world.  The art collection at Te Papa houses numerous paintings of roses and other flowers – for example Margaret Stoddart’s watercolour still life of roses.

The natural history collections at Te Papa also include many specimens of flowering plants (Angiosperms). However, in order to preserve them, these specimens are pressed and dried, and consequently loose the colour and beauty of the fresh flowers. Some of the oldest specimens in our collections were obtained by the naturalists who visited New Zealand during the voyages of Captain James Cook in the late 1700s.

Jersey cudweed. Specimen collected by Joseph Banks Oct. 1769

 This specimen of jersey cudweed or pukatea (at left),  was collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander on 8th October 1769 shortly after the Endeavour arrived in New Zealand waters and sailed into a bay at the entrance of a small river in Tuuranga-nui (today’s Poverty Bay, near modern Gisborne).

Storing these specimens provides an invaluable resource for scientific research, and the flowers are very important in determining the relationships between different species. However, the giving of flowers on Valentines Day raises an interesting question, as flowers are the sexual organs of plants!

What exactly is the meaning behind severing the sexual organs from a plant and giving them to a friend? 

Sexual organs of animals are frequently used in traditional medicines and sold as aphrodisiacs – particularly the dried and ground-up remains of bacula (or penis bones), from seals, bears and other canines. However, presenting somebody with the severed sexual organs of a small mammal probably wouldn’t win many friends!

collection manager Anton van Helden and friend

Collection Manager Anton van Helden alongside a stranded male pygmy blue whale.

For that matter, consider the reaction of presenting a lover with the sexual organs of a large mammal! Even the simple logistics of presenting such a large gift may not win over the object of one’s affection?

 

Meanwhile, James Cook continued his voyages of discovery, and Banks and the other naturalists collected many specimens of flowering plants which are still held in the collections at Te Papa and in other museums in Europe.  

Valentines Day is also remembered for other reasons – on February 14th 1779, the Endeavour arrived in at Kealakekua Bay, Hawai’i, where during an altercation with local natives, James Cook was clubbed and stabbed to death. Perhaps he should have brought flowers.

By chrispaulin | Also posted in Art, Collections Online, Exhibitions, History, Plants, Whales | Comments (1)

Skin Deep Differences Don’t Matter In Katipo

10 February 2009 – 11.03am

Skin Deep Differences Don’t Matter in Katipo

Katipo with 3 egg sacs, 1967, by Richard Sharell. Te Papa.

Katipo with 3 egg sacs, 1967, by Richard Sharell. Te Papa.

Having spent my last two postings dealing with butterflies and moths, it’s time to move on to the animals I love the most – spiders!

The subject of this posting is the katipo spider (Latrodectus katipo), New Zealand’s only endemic spider known to be dangerous to humans. Katipo is a Maori word meaning ‘night stinger’. The genus Latrodectus includes a number of species with a nasty reputation such as the black widow of North America and the Australian redback spider.

Katipo like sandy beaches (especially dune systems with native vegetation). The range for katipo covers much of the coast of the North Island and extends down as far as Dunedin on the South Island’s eastern side. On the South Island’s west coast they are known from Greymouth north.

The female katipo looks is pea-sized and satiny black. Her abdomen is marked with a red stripe on top and a red hourglass below. However, a completely black form of katipo can be found in the northern half of the North Island. Going by the unimaginative common name of black katipo, it has been considered a separate species (Latrodectus atritus) in its own right.

However, a recently published study I was involved with found otherwise. I joined forces with Christchurch-based scientists Cor Vink, Adrian Paterson and Jagoba Malumbres-Olarte, fellow Wellingtonian James Griffiths and US-based Pierre Paquin to see just how different the two types of katipo really were.

We looked at DNA, body measurements, cross-breeding and more besides only to find no meaningful differences aside from the absence of a red stripe in black katipo females. In short, they are not different enough to warrant being treated as two separate species.

Why then do we get the black form of katipo in northern New Zealand? We found a strong correlation between higher annual mean temperature and the presence of black katipo. Darker colouration tends to be associated with a need to absorb more heat, something we wouldn’t expect in the warmer, northern parts of the country. What benefits (if any) the black katipo gets from the loss of her red markings is still a mystery to us but temperature may still have something to do with it.

My co-author Adrian Paterson has also blogged about this study and you can read his post here. Amongst other things, Adrian’s post gives more detail on how we evaluated the differences between the two forms. Readers interested in learning more about katipo and other spiders might like to visit the spider section on the Te Papa website.

There’ll be more on katipo and its close relatives next post.

Reference:  Cor J. Vink, Phil J. Sirvid, Jagoba Malumbres-Olarte, James W. Griffiths, Pierre Paquin and Adrian M. Paterson (2008).  Species status and conservation issues of New Zealand’s endemic Latrodectus spider species (Araneae : Theridiidae). Invertebrate Systematics 22(6): 589-604.

By philsirvid | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

A Tiger with Crimson Wings

2 February 2009 – 8.53am

A Tiger with Crimson Wings

Cinnabar moth from Te Papa’s ‘Blood Earth Fire’ exhibition (©Te Papa).

 This post is inspired by Smiv’s reminiscences about cinnabar moth caterpillars when commenting on my previous blog entry:
http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2009/01/26/a-menu-for-monarchs/#comments

Also, as adult cinnabar moths are on the wing this time of year in New Zealand summer and sightings always generate a number of calls to Te Papa’s entomology department, I thought this species deserved a posting of its’ own.

The cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) is part of the family Arctiidae (also known as tiger moths). With its distinctive red and black wings, the cinnabar moth is often and aptly described as striking. Its bold colours mean it is sometimes mistaken for a butterfly.  Even the older caterpillars are strongly coloured with alternating yellow and black bands. These sharply contrasting colours are a warning to would-be predators that these insects taste bad because of the toxic alkaloids they’ve taken up while feeding on ragwort (Senecio jacobaea).

A taste for ragwort is the very reason this moth was introduced from the UK to New Zealand. While ragwort’s toxins help protect the cinnabar moth’s caterpillars, they are a menace to livestock. Thus, it was hoped the cinnabar moth would help reduce the risk ragwort posed to stock.

These moths were first imported into New Zealand from the UK in the 1920s. By 1932 cinnabar moths had been released over much of the country. Alas, the moth didn’t really prosper outside of central New Zealand and its value as a ragwort biological control agent in its own right is mixed. Thanks to re-establishment efforts in the 1980s the cinnabar moth is more widely established in NZ than it once was. While it may not win the fight against ragwort on its own, it still has a part to play when used with other ragwort control agents such as ragwort flea beetle and ragwort plume moth.

Anyone interested in learning more about biological control of ragwort and other weeds might like to visit the ‘Biological Control of Weeds Book’ site here:
http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/research/biocons/weeds/book.asp

Visitors to Te Papa can also see specimens of the moth in the ‘Blood Earth Fire’ exhibition on level 3.
More about Blood Earth Fire

By philsirvid | Tagged , , , | Comments (5)

A Menu for Monarchs

26 January 2009 – 11.37am

 

R Sharell, Copyright Te Papa

Monarch butterfly caterpillar Photo credit: Richard Sharell, © Estate of Richard Sharell(used with permission).

In the summer months I get plenty of phone calls and emails from monarch butterfly fanciers, all with a common problem:

“My swan plants are almost stripped bare yet I have so many monarch butterfly caterpillars I really don’t know what to do. Is there anything else I can feed the caterpillars on?”

This problem arises because at times there are too many butterflies laying too many eggs on too few swan plants! It’s as though the butterfly is gambling that at least some of her offspring might somehow get enough food to make it through to the chrysalis stage. If she doesn’t lay eggs on the right food plant they have no chance at all.

So what can you do besides buy more swan plants? Well, there is a partial alternative – pumpkin! I say ‘partial alternative’ because only the older, larger caterpillars can make use of it. While smaller caterpillars can feed on pumpkin flesh, pumpkin doesn’t provide everything they need to properly develop. In contrast, larger caterpillars that have been reared on swan plants are likely to have picked up enough of the chemicals they need to undergo metamorphosis.

It may not work in every case, but it’s worth a try if you don’t want to purchase more swan plants. If you’re still sceptical, check out what the Monarch Butterfly NZ trust has to say on the subject here: http://www.monarch.org.nz/monarch/2005/08/13/pumpkin/

By philsirvid | Tagged , , | Comments (25)
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