Te Papa Te Taiao Nature Series (Boxed Set)

Publication: October 2025
Format: Six books in slipcase
ISBN:  978-1-99-107213-9

RRP: $120

The six titles published in the Te Papa Te Taiao Nature Series have been such a hit that they are now available together in a gorgeous slipcase edition. Each title is written by Te Papa curators and species experts and includes specialist illustrations and insights into the museum’s fieldwork and collections.

Save 25% on all individual titles! Native Plants of Aotearoa by Carlos Lehnebach and Heidi Meudt; Native Birds of Aotearoa by Michael Szabo; Native Insects of Aotearoa by Julia Kasper and Phil Sirvid; Native Shells of Aotearoa by Bruce Marshall and Kerry Walton; Native Fishes of Aotearoa by Andrew Stewart; and Native Spiders of Aotearoa by Phil Sirvid are brought together in a set that’s as beautiful – and informative – to own as it is to gift.

Designed by the award-winning Tim Denee, these charming hardbacks can be used in the backyard or out in nature. Together, and fully illustrated, they cover more than 400 species of plants, fish, shells, insects, spiders and birds.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Carlos Lehnebach is Curator Botany at Te Papa. He studies the diversity, evolution and conservation of New Zealand flowering plants. His main groups of interest are terrestrial and epiphytic orchids, alpine plants, and plants shared with other land masses in the Southern Hemisphere.

Heidi Meudt is Curator Botany at Te Papa. She is a researcher whose collections-based research focuses on the evolution and classification of native New Zealand flowering plants, especially forget-me-nots. Her research aims to update the taxonomy and conservation status of all native forget-me-nots.

Michael Szabo is editor of Birds New Zealand magazine and a contributor to New Zealand Birds Online. He was the principal author of Wild Encounters – A Forest & Bird guide to discovering NZ’s unique wildlife (2009), and has written for New Scientist, NZ Geographic and Sunday Star-Times.

Julia Kasper is Lead Curator Invertebrates at Te Papa and an entomologist specialising in flies. She studies the taxonomy and distribution of lower Diptera in Aotearoa New Zealand with a strong focus on biosecurity.

Phil Sirvid is Curator Invertebrates at Te Papa. Phil has a broad general knowledge of Aotearoa New Zealand entomology but specialises in arachnids, particularly spiders and harvestmen.

Bruce Marshall is a malacologist (shell expert) who has worked at Te Papa, and the previous National Museum, since 1976. As collection manager of molluscs, Bruce is responsible for several million specimens representing more than 4,700 Aotearoa New Zealand species.

Kerry Walton is Curator Invertebrates at Te Papa and PhD candidate in the Department of Zoology, University of Otago. His research focuses on understanding the distributions of mollusc species, how these species differ, and how their differences came to be through evolution and dispersal.

Andrew Stewart is Assistant Curator Natural History at Te Papa. His particular areas of expertise are the deep-water fishes and Southern Ocean (Antarctic) fishes, sharks and rays.