Check it Out! Presents A Bug’s Life: Tales of the Newfoundland and Labrador Insect (1833-2019)

Check it Out! Presents A Bug’s Life: Tales of the Newfoundland and Labrador Insect (1833-2019)

On Wednesday, Sept. 18, Memorial University Libraries, Boulder Books and the Canadian Museum of Nature will present an evening showcasing two exceptional books about the insects of Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as the experts who are passionate about them.

Entomologia Terrae Novae, recognized as the first attempt to classify and illustrate the insect fauna of Newfoundland and Labrador, returns to the province for the first time since 1835. This remarkable unpublished manuscript, on loan from the Canadian Museum of Nature, contains some 250 exquisite paintings of insects by amateur naturalist Philip Henry Gosse.

Stouts, Millers, and Forky-Tails: Insects of Newfoundland and Labrador, by Tom Chapman, Peggy Dixon, Carolyn Parsons and Hugh Whitney, is the first field guide to the insects of this province. It drew inspiration from Gosse’s work and was recently published by Boulder Books.

Join speakers Elizabeth Smith, acquisitions and cataloguing officer, research and collections with the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, and Dr. Tom Chapman, head, Department of Biology, Memorial University, co-author of Stouts, Millers, and Forky-Tails: Insects of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Special guests include Maddie Roche, performer, (with choreography by Clea Chapman); Graham Blair, printmaker; Colleen Quigley, Archives and Special Collections, Queen Elizabeth II Library, and Colleen Field, Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Queen Elizabeth II Library.

This public event is from 7-9 p.m in the Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Queen Elizabeth II Library, third floor, Memorial University’s St. John’s campus. Light refreshments will be served.

Entomologia Terrae Novae will be on display in the Centre for Newfoundland Studies from Sept. 19-20.

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For more information, please contact Kristine Power, senior communications advisor, Memorial University Libraries, at 709-864-3188 or kristinep@mun.ca.