A NEW WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 45, 23 February 1937, Page 10

A NEW WORLD.

EXHIBITION OF INSECTS.

MARVELS FROM NATURE

When you enter the little room in the premises of Messrs. Milne and Choyce Umited, where is housed the dUplav of insects loaned by Mr. W. H. Henimingway of Auckland, you enter a new world. You see moths, butterflies, beetles, epider* euch ae you never dreamed of—that is, unless you have been something of a collector yourself fiu i/l re 4 u- Caseß on die P la y» each filled with exhibits which demonstrate the power and wonder of Nature To epeak of them all would be impossiblenatural historians write many volumes about one small aspect of one small beetle. But if nothiug ie learned of their story, their beauty, at least, can never be forgotten. There ie one case of butterflies, for example, which come from Central and South America. Thev look as if all light had been captured by their wings. They are in glorious shades of iridescent blues. One, according to a little explanatory notice, can be seen as it flies, a quarter of a mile away, so great is the brilliance of its win«e. These are the butterflies whose wings are used to make those ornaments whioh women wear. Some of the vnnjrs have a colour pigment in them; in others a pigment is missing and the eheen is caused by minute corrugations on the wings which cause what is called light interference." But butterflies are not the only examples of glorious iridescence Two cases are filled with "jewel beetles'" Large or small, from an inch long to a fraction of that length, they look an if they wear a suit of shining armour: but it is armour beyond human ingenuity. Perhaps it is red, or blue, 01orange, or old gold, or black. Then there is the largest moth in the world, called technically "cocinoscera hercules," coming from North Australia It has a wing spread of 9Jin, and a greatest wing length of 7in.' This leads to mention of the largest of all insects, the "giant phasmid." found in Australia and New Guinea. II ie lejin long, with a wing spread of B|in. It is a fearaome looking thing, though a placard says it is harmless Talking of fearsome-looking examples fretn natural history leads to mention of a spider which comes from Brazil. It is covered with dark brown fur, and iti greatest leg diameter would be about 3Jin. It enmeshes little birds in itr web and then sucks their blood. Then there is a whip scorpion from Ecuador, other scorpions from Australia, horriblelooking beetles from New' Quinea and other islands and all manner of creeping and crawling things from all over the world. One leaves the exhibition in thankfulness that one lives in New ZeeLand. By the same token, people will be surprised to see the brightness of the .moths that live in the Dominion It is in an effort to help crippled children that Mr. Hemingway ha* loaned the exhibition. A small charge is made, and the proceeds will benefit the New Zealand Crippled Children's Society. Mr. Hemingway ha« produced a booklet explaining tli« 1 exhibition. It is full of useful inform*-1 ' tion. I