Page 14 - Thola Issue 17

12 Entomology Department
ABOVE: Kirstin and Natasha pinning insects on the Sodwana Bay field trip.
ended up cooking by head lamp (and no, it wasn’t load shedding!). It was a successful trip and more field trips are in the pipeline.
The Entomology Department was involved in various activities at the Museum during the year, including International Museum Day (IMD) and Science Week. International Museum Day was a joint event this year with our Local History Museum and Art Gallery colleagues. The theme was ‘Collections Make Connections’. Each department provided an item from their collection that had some folklore attached to it and the invited guests were encouraged to tell us the stories they associated with these items.
The Entomology Department supplied a pray mantid, which proved to be very popular. It had numerous stories attached to it, including one about our ancestors paying us a visit. Natasha
was responsible for manning the entomology display at KwaNunu and
at Church Walk during Science Week. The Madagascan hissing cockroaches proved to be a hit yet again, with
many children daring one another to hold one. Events like these are a good opportunity to educate members of
the public about insects and debunk myths that people have about ‘creepy crawlies’.
It has been a busy and productive year in the Entomology Department, and we look forward to next year and the challenges it will bring.
in the Mammal Department, Leigh and Zama, on a field trip to Sodwana Bay in October. This formed part of the Ezemvelo-KZN Wildlife Bioblitz, where
experts in their fields are invited to do surveys
of an area to populate the species lists
for those reserves. We
had very few records
from Sodwana Bay in the entomology collection, so the specimens we collected have increased the geographic coverage of our collection.
Despite some inclement weather, we collected over 60 specimens, including blowflies and several species of robber flies. Natasha also assisted Leigh and Zama with some of their collecting work, which gave her some exposure to small mammals and bats. There were some lighter moments on our trip, like when the power went out while I was cooking supper and I
The fly exhibition included live flies and an interactive section where people could view flies under a microscope.
thola: VOLUME 17. 2014/15
Natasha with a Madagascan hissing cockroach.