Integrating an extraordinary Lepidoptera collection: The Ulf Eitschberger Collection at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity of the Florida Museum of Natural History

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

The Eitschberger Lepidoptera collection of is one of the largest and most significant collections of butterflies and moths ever donated to a public museum. Containing nearly one million specimens from all major groups and world regions, it has already been the basis for hundreds of scientific publications. This project will make the collection accessible to the scientific community and general public by integrating it into the Florida Museum of Natural History's (FLMNH) Lepidoptera collection at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity. Currently, the Eitschberger collection is largely inaccessible because the specimen storage containers are incompatible with the museum's storage system. This project will therefore provide the storage equipment and scientific expertise necessary to properly sort, identify, prepare and house these specimens. Integration of this collection will substantially strengthen the FLMNH Lepidoptera collection, which simultaneously will be reorganized, and specimen data for key groups will be made available via the Internet. The project team will complete several publications based on the collection, and training in museum techniques will be provided to high school and university students. Ultimately, the Eitschberger collection will be open to the students, researchers, enthusiasts, photographers and authors that regularly visit the McGuire Center, and will thus help the museum to illustrate the importance of natural history collections in society.