RESEARCH SUMMARY SNAPSHOT

During the quarter QVMAG welcomed a range of visiting researchers through the collections.

The Natural Sciences collection was of particular interest, welcoming researchers from Brazil and the University of New England, NSW.

Dr Pedro Castanheira and Dr Renner from the University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, undertook a taxonomic revision of the orb weaving spiders based on mitochondrial DNA. This visit was a valuable collaboration to learn more about the institutions collection of orb weaving spiders.

During this period, the Natural Sciences team also welcomed Palaeontologists from the University of New England, NSW, who examined QVMAG’s Palaeontological collections.

Research inquiries remained high during the reporting period, with one particular collection inquiry coming from a PhD student studying at the Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada. This collection inquiry was sent after the student found a small bone in their collection belonging to a specimen that, according to their records, had been transferred to QVMAG in 1988.

The metatarsal bone was part of a racoon skeleton acquired along with other North American mammals as part of an exchange at the time. After confirming that QVMAG did have this racoon skeleton in the collection, the bone was repatriated to North America and reunited with the rest of the skeleton.

This quarter, the institution collected the first voucher specimens for the state of the European wool carder bee, Anthidium manicatum

This bee is a native to parts of Europe, Asia and Africa and is an introduced species to North and South America and New Zealand. It was first recorded on mainland Australia in Victoria in 2019.

Three specimens were collected from a garden in central Launceston after sightings had been reported from several locations in Launceston.

It appears that this bee has been well-established in the Launceston area for some time and has most likely gone undetected due to its similarity to a European wasp. This solitary bee is not considered a threat to any native fauna or to commercial beekeeping.