Colias croceus
The Museum’s Lepidoptera collection is one of the oldest, largest and certainly the most type rich.
The collection contains 12.5 million pinned specimens and one million papered specimens housed in 80,000 drawers. There are 125,000 type specimens.
The Lepidoptera specimens are divided into two separate collections, British/Irish and international.
International collection
The collection is comprehensive in its geographical coverage. Particularly well represented areas include:
- Africa
- India
- Southeast Asia
- Australasia
This collection includes taxa described by Bates, Bethune-Baker, Boisduval, Butler, Evans, Fabricius, Felder, Fruhstorfer, Hampson, Inoue, Jordan, Leech, Meyrick, Oberthur, Prout, Rothschild, Walker, Walsingham, Wileman and Zeller.
British and Irish collection
Includes collections from Bankes, Chalmers-Hunt, Cockayne, Emmet, Ford, Goater, Jacobs, Kettlewell, Rothschild, Stainton, Stephens, Watson and West.
Material types
Specimens are carefully preserved in a variety of ways:
- dried specimens mounted on pins - the majority of adult Lepidoptera
- microscope slides - dissected body parts (e.g. genitalia), wing preparations or whole bodies
- preserved in fluid, especially Lepidoptera larvae
Looking for a specimen?
The Lepidoptera collection is being digitised
Any questions ?
If you would like to use any specimens for research
Lepidoptera collections team
Senior Curator in Charge
Senior Curator
Curator
Curator
Curator
British reference collection
A British reference collection can be found at the Angela Marmount Centre for UK Biodiversity
Accessing the collections
Scientists and collections management specialists can visit the collections and borrow specimens for research.
Insect division
Our scientists are conserving the Museum's vast insect collection, collecting and identifying new species and utilizing the collections for cutting edge entomological research.
Collections management
Our duty is to provide a safe and secure environment for all of our collections.
Collections on the move
We have set out on an ambitious programme to develop a new science and digitisation centre. As we prepare for the move, access to some collections will be affected.
Find out more and sign up to our newsletter to receive updates on changes to collections access, relevant news and opportunities to get involved.