|
The insect collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology is among the richest
and historically most significant in North America, containing more than seven
million specimens and the primary types of more than 33,000 species. The representation
is worldwide and particularly strong in the major orders Coleoptera, Hymenoptera,
Lepidoptera, and Diptera. Several historically important collections are housed
at Harvard, including the type-rich beetle collections of Horn, LeConte, Melsheimer,
Bowditch, Fall, and Darlington. The collections in many smaller orders are also
among the most important in North America, i.e., Trichoptera, Odonata, Psocoptera,
Neuroptera, and Collembola. The ant collection, alone comprising nearly a million
specimens, is the largest and most important in the world. The fossil insect
collection is the second most important one in the world. The MCZ Entomological
collection was started in 1859 by Samuel Scudder and A.S. Packard, but includes
the earlier material of T.W. Harris (the oldest intact North American synoptic
insect collection), which was studied and partly determined by the pioneering
American entomologist Thomas Say.
|
