The biting truth about white-tailed spiders
White-tails are blamed for lots of nasty symptoms, and have developed something of a bad reputation, but is it deserved? Bug expert Phil Sirvid sorts fact from fiction.Read more
2018-02-02
A trip to remote Tokelau: Life a few metres above sea level
The Pacific island nation of Tokelau is one of the most remote places on the planet, and, with the entire country sitting metres above sea level, one of the most under threat from climate change. Media creator Kate Whitley describes the journey to this vulnerable ‘necklace of small islands’.Read more
2018-01-11
Cigarette packets and chocolate boxes: How we used to store our collections
Storing collections in the right space and environment is incredibly important in museums – so would you be surprised to see natural history specimens stored in colourful vintage cigarette packets? Curator Alan Tennyson and conservator Robert Clendon shed light on past practice. Modern museum storage involves rows and rows ofRead more
2018-01-08
Ancient colossal penguin bones discovered in Otago
What do you do when you discover what is possibly the largest penguin ever? You name it after your mum. This is what Curator Vertebrates Alan Tennyson – who has a paper on the discovery out today – did.Read more
2017-12-13
Cross-pollination experiments with one of New Zealand’s rarest trees
When an incredibly rare native tree – the Bartlett’s rātā – flowered for the first time in a quarter-century, Botany curator Carlos Lehnebach was ready with his tweezers. Bartlett’s rātā is one of the most threatened trees in New Zealand. It’s also one of our rarest species, with only 13Read more
2017-12-07
Further flax weevil finds from farthest Fiordland
Until 2016, flax weevils (large flightless protected beetles) were known from a single island in Fiordland. Recent surveys by Te Papa and Department of Conservation staff have now found evidence of them on a further 56 Fiordland islands. Here, Te Papa scientist Dr Colin Miskelly reports on the latest findings from remote southern Fiordland.Read more
2017-12-06
Seabird discoveries in remote southern Fiordland
Te Papa scientists Alan Tennyson and Colin Miskelly recently joined a Department of Conservation-led survey of seabird colonies in remote Chalky Inlet and Preservation Inlet in southern Fiordland. The team made the most of an extended spell of fine weather to land on an astonishing 77 islands. Colin Miskelly summarises some of their more notable discoveries.Read more
2017-12-05
A new fungus for New Zealand discovered in Wellington’s Mount Victoria
You don’t have to be in the wilderness to make biodiversity discoveries. One of our scientists, Lara Shepherd, recently made an exciting find whilst walking home from work.Read more
2017-11-06
Martinborough’s cave of bones: How thousands of flightless birds met their end
Fossilised bird grave sites are common in New Zealand, but one particular cave in Martinborough has revealed thousands of bones of flightless birds who plunged to their deaths.Read more
2017-11-03
New Zealand’s weirdest mosquitoes: The impatient males
Curator Terrestrial Invertebrates Julia Kasper looks at the reproductive lives of our local mosquitoes.Read more
2017-10-20
Hit rate high in high-country forget-me-not search
Field work is a key part of scientific research at Te Papa. Each year, Research Scientist Heidi Meudt spends about three weeks in the field collecting specimens for her taxonomic research on native New Zealand forget-me-nots (Myosotis). In January 2017, she travelled to three main areas in northern South Island (Cobb Valley,Read more
2017-09-25
Election 2017: Voting for the environment
This is a series on five major election issues seen through the eyes of the national museum. In the lead-up to the 2017 General Election, we have linked each of these issues to an object, or a programme, run by Te Papa. In this post, Curator Botany Leon Perrie writesRead more
2017-09-19
Myosotis hunting in the deep south
Field work is a key part of scientific research at Te Papa. Each year, Research Scientist Heidi Meudt spends about three weeks in the field collecting specimens for her taxonomic research on native New Zealand Myosotis. In December 2016, she recently traveled to the southern South Island and Stewart Island together with CollectionRead more
2017-09-13
Extracting DNA from dried plants – with an eraser
Until now, it hasn’t been possible to get the DNA out of a pressed dried plant (herbarium specimen) without destroying part of it by removing a leaf and grinding it up. But new research by scientist Lara Shepherd has proven that you can use an eraser to ‘rub off’ the DNA.Read more
2017-09-11
Kōwhai seeds on Kermadec and Chatham Islands’ beaches
Recent research led by scientist Lara Shepherd used DNA sequencing to examine the origins of kōwhai seeds found on the beaches of the Chatham and Kermadec Islands.Read more
2017-09-04