Author: More than a Dodo

What’s on the van? – Mosquito

This week’s What’s on the van? comes from Zoë Simmons, of the Museum’s Hope Entomological Collections.

The word mosquito (formed by mosca and diminutive ito) is from the Spanish or Portuguese for “little fly”. Approximately 3500 species of mosquito have been described to date. The females of a few species require a blood meal in order to lay fertile eggs but many more do not and of those that do, only a handful are disease vectors (a carrier of disease).

These few species however, are of global importance to the human race as they can transmit diseases such as Yellow Fever and Malaria. As a consequence, the mosquito has been dubbed ‘the most dangerous animal in the world’. A large amount of scientific research has been put into combating mosquitoes and the diseases that they carry, but some of the most important information has come from entomologists who have studied mosquito behaviour and lifecycles in detail. From this, scientists have been able to get a better and more complete understanding of the species and thus develop more effective methods of eradication and disease management.

What’s on the van? – Aragonite

This week’s What’s on the van? comes from Monica Price, Head of Earth Collections.

Can you believe your eyes?
If I were to tell you that these crystals of aragonite (composed of calcium carbonate) from Sicily are a dull grey colour, you might not believe me. Look at them in daylight or under ordinary room lights, and you will see that they really are! The picture on the van shows how they look when they are fluorescing – glowing pale salmon pink under an ultraviolet light.

Ultraviolet (UV) light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, like visible light, microwaves, radio waves and X-rays. Humans cannot see UV light, which is why we sometimes refer to it as ‘black light’. It has just a little bit more energy than the visible light which we can see.

Some minerals contain a chemical activator which allows them to fluoresce. When UV light shines on a fluorescent mineral, the energy bounces some of the mineral’s electrons out of their orbitals. A tiny bit of the energy is converted to heat, so that when the electrons fall back, the rest of the energy is emitted again, but now it is visible light. The mineral literally glows in the dark.

As long as ultraviolet light shines on the mineral, it will continue to glow. You will be able to see lots of fluorescent minerals when the Museum reopens next year!

What’s on the van? – Four-horned trunk fish

This week’s What’s on the van? comes from Malgosia Nowak-Kemp, Collections Manager in the Museum’s Zoological Collections.

The name “four-horned trunk fish”, Acanthostracion quadricornis, comes from this animal’s unusual appearance. The fish looks rather like a stiff box or trunk with solid walls that allow only small openings for the tail, fins, eyes and mouth, but keeps all the internal organs safe from predators. Some members of this group are not only protected by the box’s shape and its structure, but also have the ability to release a poison when threatened. Acanthostracion quadricornis, can be easily identified by the presence of four “horns”, two at the front of the head and two at the back of the body. The animal’s other name of “cowfish” makes a clear reference to them. This and other members of its family, Ostraciidae, live in shallow waters of oceans: Atlantic, Indian and Pacific

This particular example is one of the oldest specimens in the country, as it dates from the seventeenth century. It belonged to the Tradescant Collection, also known as the “Tradescant Ark”, assembled by the two John Tradescants, father and son. Their collection of “Naturalia” and “Artificialia” contained not only exotic, hitherto unknown animals and plants, but also portraits,  clothes, weapons and jewels brought by sailors and traders from newly discovered  lands. The collection was displayed for many years at the Tradescants’ home in Lambeth, London and all the specimens were listed in 1656 in the very first printed museum catalogue in the country.

In 1678 their collection became the property of Elias Ashmole, who in turn offered it to Oxford University. In 1683 fourteen carts containing the collection travelled on barges to Oxford to be displayed in the newly built Ashmolean Museum, then located on Broad Street. This ancient fish is now one of the real treasures of the Museum of Natural History’s collection.