Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera)
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Glasgow Museums has a large and significant collection of approximately 100,000 butterfly and moth specimens (Lepidoptera) which makes up over half of Glasgow Museums’ entire insect collection. The specimens date from 1877 to the present.
The collection is the largest butterfly and moth collection in Scotland outside the National Museum, Edinburgh. It contains dried and pinned adults. There are also empty pupae and parasites that have emerged from specimens bred by collectors. There are caterpillars preserved dry and in spirit, a selection of displays depicting life cycles and a selection of decorative objects made from butterfly wings.
There are butterflies and moths from all five continents in the collection, including species that are now globally extinct, and ones that are no longer found in Britain. This includes the New Forest Burnet moth (Zygaena viciae ytenensis) and the Black-veined White (Aporia crataegi). There are also specimens of the Large Blue butterfly (Maculinea arion eutyphron) which went extinct in Britain in 1979 but has recently been reintroduced. As well as the British Isles, there are specimens from the Andaman Islands, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, Spain, Surinam, Ecuador, Egypt, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Trinidad, Vanuatu, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
The collections from Paul Smart (born c.1941), owner of the Saruman Museum and National Butterfly Museum in Sussex, and William B. L. Manley (1900-1985) are of particular significance. They contain type and figured specimens and rare endemic species which are of international significance to researchers. The collection also holds historical specimens that were collected by the missionary David Livingstone (1813–1873) during his travel in central and eastern Africa.
About butterflies and moths
There are believed to be approximately 160,000 butterfly and moth species worldwide, around 2,570 are found in the United Kingdom. Butterflies and the bigger moth species have often been a favourite for people to study, as they are noticeable and colourful. - Broader term
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