Improvements to the Florida Museum of Natural History Lepidoptera Collection

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The Lepidoptera collections of the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) Allyn Museum of Entomology (AME) represent one of the most significant regional, national and international systematic research resources in North America. Composed of a number of impressive older collections, other donations, and field work completed by the curatorial staff and other investigators, including several biodiversity surveys, the AME collections contain more than 1.1 million specimens and are 92-95% complete in the representation of genera worldwide. Among the institutions in the Western Hemisphere, the collections of AME rank comparable with and exceed the holdings of some major institutions in butterflies alone. Collection growth as the result of donations of private collections and biological survey studies in progress has increased markedly over the past seven years. In the interim, the storage capacity to integrate these specimens into the main collection in order to make them readily available for research and use by the scientific community has dramatically decreased. These collections along with voucher specimens derived from previous and current biodiversity studies in addition to a backlog of more than 80,000 processed specimens have further exacerbated the situation. Due to critical lack of appropriate storage facilities and very limited access, some data and specimens are not available for study. This project will improve the collection in four areas: (1) the installation of additional mechanical storage units to incorporate significant collections, voucher specimens derived from biodiversity surveys, and a backlog of processed specimens, (2) additional part-time personnel to aid in the complete reorganization, transfer and integration of these specimens and collections, (3) assistance in the sorting of specimens into groups to be forwarded on loan for identification, and (4) provide support for visiting taxonomic specialists to assist in the ident ification and integration of specimens into the collection. At the completion of the project, the entire collection will be reorganized and expanded to accommodate this backlog of specimens. The identification and integration of all processed, backlog specimens and other donations in kind received should be completed. The increase in collection storage and reorganization will conserve and make these unique research resources available for further study, enhance curation, and aid in the future computerization of collection data.