Densey Clyne (born Dorothy Denise Bell, 4 December 1922 – 21 May 2019)
Accessed 25 July 2007Tracey Fairhurst (2019
"Author and naturalist Densey Clyne has died, age 96"
''Manning River Times''. Published May 21, 2019. Accessed May 23, 2019. was an Australian naturalist, photographer, writer, and documentarian. She is especially well known for her studies of

spiders Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species dive ...

and

insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...

Life

Clyne was born in

Risca Risca ( cy, Rhisga) is a town in the Caerphilly County Borough and the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in south-east Wales. Risca has a railway station, opened on the Ebbw Valley Railway in February 2008, after a gap of 46 years. It is spl ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, United Kingdom, and moved to Australia in 1936. During World War II she served as a commissioned officer in the

Australian Women's Army Service The Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) was a non-medical women's service established in Australia during the Second World War. Raised on 13 August 1941 to "release men from certain military duties for employment in fighting units" the servi ...

, after a year in the

Land Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. She married Peter Clyne (1927–1987) in 1950. At the time she died, Clyne lived in

Wauchope, New South Wales Wauchope () is a town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is within the boundaries of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council area. Wauchope is inland on the Hastings River and the Oxley Highway west of Port Macquar ...

Achievements

As a naturalist, conservationist, and communicator, Clyne wrote 30 books on natural history and environmental subjects, particularly on insects and spiders. She wrote scripts for her own and other television documentaries on natural history, maintaining a partnership with filmmaker Jim Frazier. Clyne published numerous papers and articles dealing with

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

lives and behaviour in professional journals and popular magazines. She delivered talks and addresses on invertebrate behaviour and the pleasures of insect-watching to schools, adult groups, and professional organisations. She took part in seminars on natural history writing and on wildlife filming, and also acted as a consultant on local wildlife for Australian and overseas television film productions, including several by the

BBC Natural History Unit The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including '' ...

. She also served as a juror at Japan's Environmental Film Festival (1995), and presented regular natural history segments for eight years on Channel 9's ''

Burke's Backyard ''Burke's Backyard'' was an Australian gardening and lifestyle series presented by horticulturist Don Burke, broadcast on both radio and television. On television, it was a regular weekly series on the Nine Network from 12 September 1987 to 26 ...

'' lifestyle show. Densey Clyne was a Fellow of the

Royal Entomological Society of London The Royal Entomological Society is devoted to the study of insects. Its aims are to disseminate information about insects and improving communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological Society of London ...

. For her contributions to arachnology, Clyne had two new species of spider named for her.

Print media

Clyne wrote several regularly-printed columns on natural history for: * '' Australian Wildlife Magazine'' * ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' * '' This Australia'' * '' Australian Natural History'' (''Nature Australia'') * ''

The Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known as simply ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Mercury Capital in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by ...

'' * '' Burke's Backyard Magazine'' * '' Gardens and Outdoor Living''

Scientific papers

Clyne's scientific contributions included the first detailed description of the net-making behaviour and sperm induction of the spider '' Dinopis subrufa'', (''

Australian Zoologist The Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales (RZSNSW) was formed in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in 1879 as the New South Wales Zoological Society. A Royal Charter was granted in September, 1908, leading to a change to the current name ...

'', 1967); the web structure of the spider '' Poecilopachys bispinosa'' (''Journal of the Australian Entomological Society'', 1973); and a joint paper with D. Rentz,

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

Insect Division, on '' Anthophiloptera dryas'', a new

orthoptera Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – grassho ...

n genus and species, studied and recorded over several years by Clyne in her Sydney garden (''Journal of the Australian Entomological Society'', 1983).

Awards

* Hasselblad Masters Award, 1976 * C. J. Dennis Nat. Hist. Lit. Award, 1982, "Wildlife in the Suburbs" * C. J. Dennis Nat. Hist. Lit. Award, 1989, "Garden Jungle" * Roy. Zool. Soc. NSW, Whitley Awards 1982, Best Children's Series, "Nature City" * Roy. Zool. Soc. NSW, Whitley Awards, Commendation, "Garden Jungle" * Roy. Zool. Soc. NSW, Whitley Awards 1993, Best Children's Series, "Small Worlds" * Roy. Zool. Soc. NSW, Whitley Commendation, Best Children's Series, "Small Worlds" * Wilderness Society's Environmental Award 1996, "Small Worlds" * TV Society of Australia, Individual Achievement Award 1977, Best Documentary Director *

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

, Earthwatch award 1995, "Webs of Intrigue" (film) *

Australian Geographic Society Australian Geographic is a media business that produces the ''Australian Geographic'' magazine, ''DMag'' magazine, specialist book titles, travel guides, diaries and calendars and online media. It published editions of the Australian Encyclopa ...

, Award for Excellence 1996 * Australian Geographic Society, Photographer of the Year Award 1999 * Roy. Zool. Soc.NSW Whitley Awards 2010 Best Children's Series '"All About Ants" and "Secret Life of Butterflies"

Publications

Books authored or co-authored by Clyne include: * 1969 – ''A Guide to Australian Spiders. Their Collection and Identification''. Thomas Nelson & Sons. * 1969 – ''Australian Frogs''. Periwinkle Books: Melbourne. * 1970 – ''Australian Ground Orchids''. Periwinkle Books: Melbourne. * 1972 – ''Australian Rock and Tree Orchids''. Periwinkle Books: Melbourne. * 1973 – ''Wildflowers of New South Wales''. Rigby Australia. * 1973 – ''Wildflowers of the Outback''. Rigby: Adelaide. * 1973 – ''Australian Insect Wonders''. (With

Harry Frauca Harry Frauca (14 October 1928 – 1986) was an Australian naturalist, writer and photographer. Of Catalan origin, he was born in Spain and educated in Denmark and England. He moved to Australia in the 1950s and became an Australian citizen. F ...

). * 1976 – ''Australian Wildflowers''. International Limited. (With Esther Stepnell and Marian Beek). * 1978 – ''How to Keep Insects as Pets''. Angus & Robertson. * 1979 – ''The Garden Jungle''. Collins: Sydney. * 1979 – ''Rainforest. A Journey into Nature's Richest Garden'' (with Jim Frazier). * 1982 – "Night Animals" Methuen * 1982 – "Birds" Methuen * 1982 – "Frogs and Lizards" Methuen * 1984 – ''Wildlife in the Suburbs''. OUP: Melbourne. * 1984 – ''More Wildlife in the Suburbs''. Angus & Robertson: Sydney. * 1984 – ''Silkworms''. Angus & Robertson. * 1985 – ''Fraser Island/ Sands of Time''. ABC Enterprises: Sydney. (With Felicity Baverstock). * 1987 – ''The Watchers of Dar''. Lilyfield Publishers, Australia. (With Nicholas Brash). * 1988 – ''Densey Clyne's Wildlife of Australia''. Reed. * 1990 – ''How to Attract Butterflies to Your Garden''. Reed Books: Balgowlah. * 1992 – ''Cicada Sing-Song''. (Small Worlds). Allen & Unwin. * 1993 – ''Catch Me If You Can!'' Allen & Unwin. * 1994 – ''Flutter By, Butterfly''. Allen & Unwin. * 1994 – ''Growing Roses''. Kangaroo Press. (With Valerie Swane). * 1995 – ''Spotlight on Spiders''. (Small Worlds). Allen & Unwin. * 1995 – ''It's a Frog's Life!'' (Small Worlds). Allen & Unwin. * 1998 – ''Plants of Prey''. (Nature Close-Ups). Gareth Stevens Publishing. * 1998 – ''The Best of Wildlife in the Suburbs''. OUP: Melbourne. * 2001 – ''Australian Rainforests''. New Holland, Australia. * 1999 – ''Densey Clyne's Wildlife of Australia'' Pub. New Holland * 2007 – ''Densey Clyne's Wildlife of Australia'' (new edn) New Holland * 2009– "The Secret Lives of Caterpillars" Pub. New Holland * 2010 – "All About Ants" Pub. New Holland * 2011 – "Attracting Butterflies to your Garden" Pub. New Holland * 2018 – "My Encounters with Minibeasts" Pub. New Holland

Filmography

Densey Clyne was involved as researcher, writer, narrator and/or adviser in the following productions, in partnership with cinematographer Jim Frazier: * 1971 – "The Australian Ark" (Shell's Australia). Clyne was asked by producers Robert Raymond and

Vincent Serventy Vincent Noel Serventy AM (6 January 1916 – 8 September 2007) was an Australian author, ornithologist and conservationist. Life and career Born in Armadale, Western Australia, the youngest of eight children of migrant Croatian parents ...

to film her garden insects in macro, as part of a TV series on Australia's natural heritage. She approached Jim Frazier to join her in the venture; his first attempt at cinematography, based on her research into insect behaviour, was so successful that the team was commissioned to complete one entire programme for the series. This was the start of a 28-year filming partnership between Clyne and Frazier. * 1975 – "Garden Jungle" and "Aliens Among Us", two 50-minute documentaries researched and written by Clyne and filmed by Frazier, about the insects and spiders in her garden. These were sold first in Australia to the national 0–10 TV network and subsequently to the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...