Brazilian PhD student Josenir Camara is working with Dr Adrian Plant, Principal Curator of Entomology at Amgueddfa Cymru, on a three-year project to describe some of the diversity of Diptera (flies) inhabiting the rainforest of Brazil’s Amazon Basin. The two researchers have already made numerous collecting expeditions to remote parts of the Amazon, but now they are both back in Cardiff where Josenir will spend the next six months studying at the Museum. As a part of her research she will describe all the Amazonian species of a group of water-inhabiting flies known as Hemerodromia. She already has more than 50 species that are completely new to science and once these have been formally described, the next task is to construct an evolutionary tree showing how the Amazonian Hemerodromia have diversified in respect to Hemerodromia elsewhere in the world. This is where Amgueddfa Cymru comes in as our extensive collections will provide her with an invaluable resource she can use to compare how Amazonian species differ from others. By careful comparison of ‘characters’ of each species and using sophisticated computing methods, Josenir will construct a ‘phylogenetic tree’ to illustrate the sequence of evolutionary changes that have occurred. By comparing the evolutionary tree with the fossil record, geological and climatic history it is hoped that we start to learn more about the biogeography of the Amazon (biogeography is the study of how species and communities or organisms become distributed both geographically and through geologic time).

Do you want to know what happened after washing one of the lithograph prints??

So here you are, the before and after washing treatment where you can see that the foxing spots have disappeared completely over the paper surface.

As we said before, the foxing reddish-brown spots can appear in the paper surface due to different causes. For example, the print has been exposed to relative humidity and temperature fluctuations for a long period of time creating an environment for the growing of mould or another possibility, could be that during the paper making process were used raw materials infested with mould.

These micro-organisms can remain latent for months or years awaiting for the appropriate conditions for growth and there are a wide range of colour stains. In some of the lithograph prints we found basically small yellow spots in different areas of the paper surface.

Wythnos diwethaf, fel rhan o Ddiwrnod Budd a Roi 2014, daeth 50 o wirfoddolwyr o Lloyds Banking Group i Sain Ffagan i helpu gyda nifer o brosiectau. Wnaeth rai helpu’r Adran Garddio, wnaeth rai ymuno a’r Adran Adeiladau Hanesyddol tra gwnaeth rai gweithio ynghyd a’r Gymdeithas Alzheimer. Wnaeth 11 o’r gwirfoddolwyr gweithio gyda fi a Bernice i adeiladu gwrych newydd yn y goedwig wrth ymyl y guddfan adar.

Da ni di bod yn bwriadu adeiladu gwrych wrth ymyl y guddfan adar am sbel, am nifer o resymau. Yn gyntaf, bysai’r gwrych yn actio fel sgrin wrth nesai’r guddfan, gyda’r gobaith bysai’r adar ddim yn cael ei ofni gan ymwelwyr yn cerdded ar hyd y llwybr. Ma’ wrych hefyd yn gallu gweithio fel coridor wrth i fywyd gwyllt symud drwy’r goedwig. Hefyd, mae nifer o ymwelwyr wedi bod yn creu llwybr wrth dorri drwy’r goedwig, ac felly, wrth adeiladu gwrych, da ni’n gobeithio nawr bydd llai o ymwelwyr yn gwneud hyn.

Tasg cyna’r dydd oedd minio’r pyst. Mae’r pyst yn bwysig er mhoen neud yn siŵr bod y gwrych yn cael ei adeiladu ar sylfaen solet. Mae creu min yn neud e’n haws i yrru’r pyst mewn i’r ddaear. Ar ôl creu tyllau arwain, defnyddiwyd morthwyl  mawr i yrru’r pyst i lawr. Unwaith roedd y pyst yn ei le, roedd hi’n bosib i ni ddechrau adeiladu’r gwrych.

Ma’ na nifer o wahanol fathau o wrych, a phenderfynon ni ddefnyddio pren a choed wedi marw. Dros yr wythnosau diwethaf, dwi di fod yn gofyn i’r adrannau garddio ag amaethyddiaeth i gasglu unrhyw bren ac yn y blaen a’i anfon draw i’r guddfan adar. Am fod angen cymaint o bren, es i a rai o’r gwirfoddolwyr mewn i’r goedwig i gasglu hyd yn oed mwy.

Ar ôl cinio, fel grŵp, aethon ni i fyny i Fryn Eryr, safle’r ffarm Oes Haearn newydd sy’n cael ei adeiladu. Mae’r goedwig yma wedi cael ei chlirio yn ddiweddar, felly llanwyd trailer yn barod i’w cludo i’r guddfan. Erbyn diwedd y prynhawn, llwyddon ni i orffen y gwrychoedd. Gorffennwyd y gwrychoedd efo toriadau palalwyf er mwyn ychwanegu bach o je ne sais quois.

Fel mae’r lluniau yma’n dangos, mi oedd y diwrnod yn llwyddiant enfawr! Gallwn ni ddim di gofyn am dywydd gwell a dwi’n meddwl gwnaeth pawb mwynhau’r profiad. Gorffennwyd y 2 darn o wrych oeddem ni am adeiladu, a dwi eisoes wedi meddwl am brosiectau am y dyfodol! Cyflawnwyd llwyth o waith mewn un diwrnod, bysai’r gwaith di cymryd amser maeth i mi a Bernice i orffen heb help y gwirfoddolwyr. Diolch yn fawr iawn i bawb wnaeth helpu ni a’r prosiectau arall hefyd!

The following photographs are from the book, Twelve new designs of English butterflies, by Benjamin Wilkes [published in 1742]. This rare work consists solely of twelve engraved plates each depicting geometric arrangements of both butterflies and moths. Wilkes produced this profoundly beautiful work as member of the Aurelian Society. Aurelian is an archaic word for lepidopterist [one who is interested in butterflies]; the term is derived from aurelia, meaning chrysalis, and relates to the golden colour it may attain just before the butterfly emerges.

The Society of Aurelians [London], one of the oldest organized bodies of specialists in any branch of zoology. The group collected and documented insects from the 1690s but came to an abrupt end in March 1748. While members of the society were in a meeting in the Swan Tavern, a great fire broke out  in Cornhill and enveloped them. All the members escaped, but their entire collection, library, and records were destroyed. This event was documented by Moses Harris in The Aurelian; or, Natural History of English Insects (1765). The loss disheartened the group so much that they never managed to regroup again…Aurelian societies were formed several times in Britain [most notable 1762 and 1801], but each time they collapsed.

…Benjamin Wilkes was an 18th-century artist and naturalist whose profession was 'painting of History Pieces and Portraits in Oil'. When a friend invited him to a meeting of the Aurelian Society, where he first saw specimens of butterflies and moths, he became convinced that nature would be his 'best instructor' as to colour and form in art. He began to study entomology spending his leisure time collecting, studying and drawing the images larvae, pupae and parasitic flies of Lepidoptera, assisted by the collector Mr Joseph Dandridge. Wilkes' own collection was kept 'against the Horn Tavern in Fleet Street' London 'Where any gentleman or lady' could see his collection of insects [Wikipedia].

All photographs in this post taken by the author

Hello again!

This week we are going to talk about the watermark found on the lithograph prints.

Do you know what a watermark is? Well, the watermark is a design or a pattern which is made during the paper production by the paper makers. The first paper mill which introduced a watermark in its papers was Fabriano, Italy in 1282. A watermark is made by attaching wire in a shape or letters to the mould, the sieve which catches the fibres making a sheet of paper. This then causes the paper to be thinner in this areas. Another way to make a watermark is impressing a water-coated metal stamp or dandy roll onto the paper during manufacturing. Watermarks can show us the manufacturer’s name, an animal, geometric designs, etc.

If you hold a bank note against the light you will be able to see a watermark!

During the lithograph prints conservation process we found in many thinner papers a Holbein watermark. After some research, we discovered that Holbein paper was a handmade printing paper sold by Spalding & Hodge, 145-7 Drury Lane, London WC. At the end of nineteenth century Spalding & Hodge were the owners of paper mills at East Malling in Kent also they bought Horton Kirby Mill, South Darenth, Kent in 1872.