Auckland Shell Club

August meeting
Our guest speaker was John Early, curator of Entomology at Auckland Museum.
John gave us a well illustrated presentation on the history of the Auckland Museum, with a particular focus on its entomology collections.
The Museum opened in Grafton Street on 25th October 1852, and in 1867 moved to Princes Street where it stayed until 1929. Throughout most of that period it expanded vigorously under the command of its secretary and sole curator, Mr T.F.Cheeseman.
In 1929 the Museum moved to its current hill-top home in the Auckland Domain, and was renamed to the "Auckland War Memorial Museum". This allowed for a dramatic increase of both storage space and staff, and subsequently the commencement of expeditions and active field collecting.
The various Museum collections have continued to grow, with the entomology collection in particular now containing over 750,000 specimens.

John also described the various techniques used to catch insects, and it was interesting to learn that bright yellow pan traps are much more attractive to insects than other colours.
Our data projector was put to good use displaying spectacular images of insects, spiders, centipedes, wetas, butterflys, etc. There was even the mention and a slide or two of shells!
In fact there are many parallels between these two fields of study, and I'm sure that during the evening some of us even considered branching into insect collecting.

The shell theme for the evening was Muricidae, and attendees brought in many interesting trays on this subject. In particular was a fine display of NZ Muricidae by Derrick and Ann Crosby who fortunately were up from Whakatane in time for the meeting.

Next Meeting - Tuesday 13th September
Epsom Community Centre, 202 Gillies Avenue, Epsom at 7:30pm (doors open at 7pm).
African evening. Bring along some shells from Africa!
Heather is going to share some amazing experiences in Africa including Kenya, Tanzania and Rawanda looking at some of the most impressive national parks including the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater showing birds and animals.
She may add a little on the Middle East, Europe, Scandinavia and the Arctic Circle if we have time.

Your club needs you!
Volunteers are required for some of the clubs more active positions. In particular for the roles of President, Secretary, Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, & Porieria Editor.
If you have the time and the skills for any of these positions then we would like to hear from you.
Please contact Peter Poortman on petermwp@gmail.com or (09) 817 1397.

Shell Auction - Albany Hall, Saturday 22nd October 2011
Our annual Shell Auction will again be held at the Albany Hall, 3-21 Library Lane, Albany.
The lot list is included with this newsletter - free Excel Viewer if required.
Due to the size of this years auction (304 lots) we will again commence at midday, with viewing from 10am.
Proxy bids should be emailed to Peter Poortman at petermwp@gmail.com or posted to 26 Pendlebury Street, Green Bay, Auckland 0604.

Poirieria Magazine
Articles should be emailed to Peter Poortman (petermwp@gmail.com) before the end of September.
Contact Patricia Langford on (09) 479 6149 if you have any queries.

Club Library
We have an extensive collection of books, magazines, and scientific publications available, as well as a biological microscope.

Other Club News
. The 2012 Australian Shell Show will be held in Adelaide from Friday 13th to Sunday 15th April 2012. For more information go to www.sashellclub.com.au, or email sashellclub@gmail.com.

. The latest monitoring information from the Powelliphanta augusta land snail relocation programme at Stockton Opencast Mine in Buller suggests at least one of the resettled groups of the native snail is capable of being self sustaining. More information at http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC1108/S00065/native-land-snail-update.htm

. A comprehensive course on molluscs will again be held at the University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia from 5th-16th December 2011. The course covers the biology, diversity, conservation, classification, relationships and importance to humans of the second largest animal phylum. It includes field work and practicals and can accommodate 21 students. Some places are still available. Overseas and interstate participants are welcome and student accommodation is available. The course is organised by Associate Professor Andy Davis and run with staff from the Australian Museum (Winston Ponder, Don Colgan, Mandy Reid). Details can be found at http://www.uow.edu.au/science/biol/UOW009845.html

. Items of interest for the monthly newsletter are always welcome - email to petermwp@gmail.com, or post to 26 Pendlebury Street, Green Bay, Auckland 0604.

Previous Newsletters