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Woven Threads: Entomology and Heritage
Sometime clear threads of connection are woven through our University collections. This time, it’s the library’s rare books and heritage collections with entomology specimens from the Department of Pest Management and Conservation.
This delightful group of Tropical moths and butterflies was collected in the Pacific Islands by former Lincoln student Lionel J. Wood. They were presented to Lincoln University by his parents after he was killed in action in the Second World War.
Image: Canterbury Agricultural College 1st XI 1939. Lionel is pictured in the front row, second from left.
While at Lincoln, Lionel was Vice-Captain of the 1939 First XI cricket team, then Captain in 1940. Lionel enlisted in the Royal New Zealand Air Force in December 1940 and embarked for active service in the Pacific in January 1943 during the Second World War. On 6 April 1944 with No. 9 Squadron and with the rank of Flying Officer, he was on board a Ventura aircraft on anti-submarine bombing practice when the aircraft spun into the sea off Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. Engine failure during a turning manoeuvre was the presumed explanation. Sadly, Lionel’s body was never recovered.
In another group of moths from the Entomology department, the largest specimen of the lot (top left corner) is a type of ghost moth (Family: Hepialidae) named Aoraia aurimaculata (Philpott, 1914), previously known as Porina aurimaculata. It is endemic to New Zealand, where it is found along the Southern Alps and western Fiordland in cool temperate to subalpine forests and lower alpine shrubland.
This moth can be spotted in an illustration (Plate XLII, top centre, fig. 12) in this rare volume from the Library’s special collections titled “Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand” by George. V. Hudson (1867–1946), one of New Zealand's pioneer naturalists.
Library staff care for a number of books of historic or unique value, which are available for research use when requested. We had fun finding these links throughout Lincoln University's collections! Here you can see the value of our special material for research purposes to support and connect with wider Lincoln University resources.