Person

Clyne, Densey (1926 - 2019)

Born
4 December 1926
Risca, Gwent, Wales
Died
21 May 2019
Wauchope, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Documentary maker, Natural history writer and Naturalist

Summary

Densey Clyne was a naturalist and documentary maker who specialised in Australian insects and spiders. She lived for extended periods in rural properties in New South Wales, at Turramurra and Wauchope, the gardens of which she cultivated and which provided her with inspiration and many opportunities for observation. Clyne was a well-known figure in natural history circles through her many publications and television appearances. As well as her scientific papers, she wrote regularly for newspapers and magazines (including Australian wildlife magazine and Australian geographic). Many of her books were written for children. For eight years she appeared on the television program Burke's backyard. In 1971 she teamed up with cinematographer Jim Frazier. Over 28 years they produced 23films, some of them educational documentaries. Their company, Mantis Wildlife Films, was regarded a leader in miniature wildlife photography. Clyde was often consulted by local and overseas television film producers, including David Attenborough. The spider species Austrarchaea clyneae and Ozicrypta clyneae were named in her honour.

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Details

Chronology

1932
Life event - Settled in Australia
1993
Award - Whitely Award, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales
2008 - 2019
Career position - Member, Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club Inc.
2010
Award - Whitely Award, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales
2015 - 2019
Award - Fellow, Entomological Society of London

Related Corporate Bodies

Archival resources

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

  • Biographical cuttings on Densey Clyne, spider-watcher, Cuttings Files BIOG; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

  • Interview with Densey Clyne, filmmaker, photographer and author (sound recording), interviewer: Gregg Borschmann, 12 September 1996 - 4 October 1996, TRC 3486; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

  • McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regularly edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details

Books

  • Clyne, Densey, Guide to Australian spiders: their collection and identification (Melbourne: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1969), 168 pp. Details
  • Clyne, Densey, Australian rock and tree orchids (Melbourne: Periwinkle Books, 1972), 112 pp. Details
  • Clyne, Densey, All about ants (Chatswood, N.S.W.: Young Reed, 2010), 48 pp. Details

Journal Articles

  • Clyne, Densey, 'Notes on the construction of the net and sperm-web of a cribellate spider Dinopis subrufus (Kochi) (Araneida: Donopidae)', Australian zoologist, 14 (1967), 189-97. Details
  • Kendall, Ross and Bowden, Daphne, 'A life well lived: Densey Clyne - 4th December 1922 - 20th May 2019', Metamorphosis Australia: Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club Inc., 94 (2019), 21-5, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aYrhIRP0Tu7l5c_QDVS9EtiIQqfxkKhK/view. Details
  • Rentz, D. C. F. and Clyne, D., 'A new genus and species of pollen- and nectar-feeding katydids from eastern Australia (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Zaprochilinae)', Journal of the Australian Entomological Society, 22 (2) (1983), 155-60, https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei. Details

Resources

See also

  • Herd, Margaret ed., Who's who in Australia 2002 (Melbourne: Crown Content, 2001), 2020 pp. Details

Ailie Smith and Helen Cohn

Created: 12 February 2003, Last modified: 29 July 2025

EOAS ID: biogs/P004199b.htm

This Edition: 2026 February - 1926 Centenaries
Kooyang - Gariwerd calendar - Late summer: late January to late March - season of eels
Reference: https://www.bom.gov.au/resources/indigenous-weather-knowledge/indigenous-seasonal-calendars/gariwerd-calendar#bom-anchor-list__item-kooyang-season-of-eels

Publisher: Swinburne University of Technology.

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