Tag Archives: animals

Name our monarch butterflies!

NatureSpace has an exciting new display – monarch butterfly caterpillars! Watch them grow from a caterpillar to a butterfly.

We need your help. The caterpillars don’t have a name! What should we call them? Put your suggestions in the comments, tweet them to @tepapa or email ruth.hendry@tepapa.govt.nz.

We’ll pick the best two names and let you know what you’ve named them.

Send in your pics!

There’s a community display in NatureSpace where we’re putting up your images of New Zealand monarch butterflies from egg to adult. We’d love to see your pictures!

You can email them to ruth.hendry@tepapa.govt.uk and we’ll put them in the display so everyone can see them.

Male Monarch butterfly: scent pocket on vein of hind wing. Sharell, Richard. Gift of Mrs L. Sharell, 1987. © The Estate of Richard Sharell. Te Papa

Male monarch butterfly: scent pocket on vein of hind wing. Sharell, Richard. Gift of Mrs L. Sharell, 1987. © The Estate of Richard Sharell. Te Papa

Did you know…

Monarch butterflies in America and Canada migrate over 3,000 kilometres each year. It’s the longest insect migration.

In New Zealand, monarch butterflies don’t migrate. Perhaps they’re lazy!

Visit our caterpillars

We’ll be releasing them once they turn into butterflies, so catch them whilst you can.

You can find out more about monarch butterflies by checking out the books in NatureSpace, visiting the ARKive website or visiting Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

West Coast Fern Fieldwork 2012, 6 – animal miscellany

Here are a few, token animal photos to finish this account of our fieldwork.

South Island fernbird, Bowdleria punctata punctata, in manuka bordering tangle fern (Gleichenia)-dominated pakihi near Westport. This was the first fernbird I have ever seen/noticed, but we saw/heard several others elsewhere during our trip. Unfortunately my camera is optimised for close-ups (since plants don’t run away), and has a terrible zoom – hence this blurry picture. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

A western weka, Gallirallus australis australis, making a mess of DOC’s lawn. Enchanting birds, but somewhat of a road hazard, and evidently careless gardeners. Tauranga Bay, Cape Foulwind, near Westport. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

c. 10 cm long slug, Stockton. I nearly stepped on it during my excitement of finding a couple of uncommon ferns. The slug’s impressive size was enough to distract me from the ferns, momentarily. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Mammals impersonating slugs – seals at Tauranga Bay, Cape Foulwind, near Westport. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

South Island robins, Petroica australis australis, are regular companions during forest walks in many parts of the South Island. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Other blog posts about our West Coast fern fieldwork cover:

What we were doing.

Where we went.

Sticherus (umbrella ferns).

New, problematic, and interesting species.

Favourite photos.

Visual trend research from the Picture Library

Part of the job of a Picture Librarian is to do visual trend research. We predict what trends are coming, so we can stay on top of our digitising and identify possible image requests coming our way.

Sugar Glider, Petaurus breviceps, collected no data. Gift of the Wellington City Council, 1929. Te Papa

Sugar Glider, Petaurus breviceps, collected no data. Gift of the Wellington City Council, 1929. Te Papa

An example of visual trends would be the current shift in consumer behaviour. We are completely addicted to technology these days…..you name it and there is a gadget or an app for it.

So what do we digitise then? Well Te Papa holds images of the historical gadgets that might seem simply prehistoric to modern users but we digitise these so that people can view the developments in technology over the years. Think about the changes that have occured to the telephone, the camera, the radio. Thirty years ago who would have thought that all three could be rolled into one device that you could hold in the palm of your hand.

Events happening throughout New Zealand also influence visual trends. The recent election, the rugby world cup and the little blue penguins that had to be rescued from the Rena oil spill. These can all make an impact on visual trends and the requirements of image users. The same goes with world events too.

While we can predict alot of visual trends coming our way, there is one trend that I would never in a million years have seen coming…..LOL animals. Don’t deny you haven’t had the odd giggle at Maru the cat, with his 12,983,838 views or the ultimate dog tease, with his 91,867,644. Once these animals hit the internet and go viral there seems to be a huge audience out there who just love animals and love to have a bit of a laugh as well.

With this in mind we went on a hunt through the collection and pulled together a selection of our favorite LOL animals picture that always give us a giggle when we see them….enjoy!

Koala, Phascolarctos cinereus, collected no data. Te Papa

Koala, Phascolarctos cinereus, collected no data. Te Papa

Billy Silly, 1958, New Zealand. Lee-Johnson, Eric. Purchased 1997 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. © Te Papa.

Billy Silly, 1958, New Zealand. Lee-Johnson, Eric. Purchased 1997 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. © Te Papa.

Red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, collected no data. Gift of the Wellington City Council, 1929. Te Papa

Red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, collected no data. Gift of the Wellington City Council, 1929. Te Papa

Laughing kitten, 1950s, New Zealand. Lee-Johnson, Eric. Purchased 1997 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. © Te Papa.

Laughing kitten, 1950s, New Zealand. Lee-Johnson, Eric. Purchased 1997 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. © Te Papa.

Emperor Penguin, Aptenodytes forsteri, collected 23 Sep 1957, Cape Crozier, Ross Island, Antarctica. Te Papa

Emperor Penguin, Aptenodytes forsteri, collected 23 Sep 1957, Cape Crozier, Ross Island, Antarctica. Te Papa

By Becky Masters, Picture Library Manager
www.tepapapicturelibrary.co.nz

Animal and plant collections

Te Papa’s Natural Environment team have revamped their webpages. You can access them here.

Collection highlights online include:

North Island Brown Kiwi, Apteryx mantelli, New Zealand. Te Papa

The following links will take you to more information on specific collections:

Let us know below what additional information you would like to see online about Te Papa’s collections of animals and plants.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 309 other followers