STRANGE INSECTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22887, 16 November 1937, Page 13

STRANGE INSECTS

MUSEUM TO BENEFIT

ENTOMOLOGIST'S RETURN

MANY BEAUTIFUL SPECIMENS Reputed to he the most widely travelled entomologist in the British Empire and, perhaps, the world, Mr. W. H. Hemingway, honorary entomologist of the Auckland War Memorial Museum, returned to Auckland yesterday by the Mariposa alter an extensive tour of the Orient extending over nearly six months. An ardent entomologist and an inveterate collector of specimens, Mr. Hemingway enjoys a world-wide reputation and of the thousands of specimens he has collected throughout 51 countries over the jiast 40 years ho has donated 9000 to the Auckland War Memorial Museum, although only 2000 have as yet been exhibited for public display. During his most recent trip Mr. Hemingway spent several months in Japan and the Philippines. He also visited China, C'pchin-China and travelled by motor through Cambodia and Siam. He left Shanghai only three days before the bombing by the Japanese commenced. Brilliant Tropical Butterflies

At the ruins of Angkor, in Cambodia, he was able to secure some 60 magnificent specimens of large and brilliant tropical butterflies, which, when extended and classified, will be added to the public display of insects in the Auckland museum.

Following his collecting in the countries already mentioned, he spent nearly two months in Malaya, Sumatra and Java. He was particularly successful in securing many large, strange and beautiful insects of various orders. He also collected a number of land shells. The ethnological section of the museum will also benefit by the donation of a number of bows and arrows from the Philippines and Sumatra and many other weapons. Auckland's Superiority During his intensive travels Mr. Hemingway visited 22 museums, but he declared that no museum building could approach that of Auckland. "The arrangement of the exhibits carried out by the Auckland director, Mr. Gilbert Arehev, is superior to anything I came across in my travels," he said. "Moreover, while entrance to the Auckland museum is entirely free, in even the larger towns of the Orient museum visitors are charged an entrance lee which in some cases is equivalent to more than a shilling." Mr. Hemingway expressed the hope that New Zealanders would continue to take an interest or show oven a greater interest in the magnificent Auckland "War Memorial Museum. He suggested that Aueklanders, when travelling abroad, should be on the lookout for suitable exhibits to add to the collections in the museum in Auckland. It would be necessary at the same time to have in mind the true purpose of the museum and not to lose sight of its educational value.

During the next few months, said Mr. Hemingway, he would be occupied at the museum arranging and classifying 1100 new specimens he has brought back for presentation to the institution.