The foundation of knowledge of the BC fauna lies in valuable collections found throughout the world.
Some of the institutions and people that have significant collections of BC material are as follows.
Collections:
Institutional Collections:
American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) About 15,000 BC Lepidoptera specimens
Beaty Biodiversity Museum (BBM) University of British Columbia: Collection now houses over 600,000 specimens (All orders). Most holdings are from BC, the Yukon, and Alaska. contains about 25, 000 specimens including the majority of material from the collections of Blackmore, Jones and Buckell. It also contains the butterfly collection of Harvey, who wrote the first good account of BC butterflies. His and other Vancouver collections in the former Vancouver City Museum were transferred to the UBC collection when the museum moved to its modern buildings. UBC Digital Collection.
Canadian National Collection (CNC) Lepidoptera collection contains nearly 1.6 million specimens housed in over 8000 drawers and represents one of the best research collections of Lepidoptera in the world. It includes the Cockle collection from Kaslo, BC and significant material collected by CNC staff including McDunnough and material from northern BC collected by the Northern Canada Insect Surveys in the decade after WWII.
Northern Forestry Centre Arthropod Collection approximately 50,000 specimens of over 1,850 species of Lepidoptera, mostly from western Canada, with provincial/territorial occurrences recorded for all species.
Oregon State University (OSU) Contains most of Jon Shepard’s original collection of butterflies, estimated as 25,000 specimens. The general collection is housed in about 2500 drawers and contains about 375,000 specimens. The butterfly collection is world wide with strengths in the fauna of N & S America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and West Africa. The Shepard collection of butterflies is 31,000 specimens and the OSAC contains other BC holding from Harold Rice and Barry Sullivan. A significant portion of the BC butterflies in the Shepard collection is the material from Douglas Knight of Creston, BC and the smaller collections of Peter Hughan & A. C. Jenkins
Pacific Foresty Centre - Victoria (PFC)
Quesnel Museum A small (< 100 specimens) collection, but it is a historical collection of butterflies from the Okanagan
Royal BC Museum (RBCM) Lepidoptera (61,165: Pieridae (2,503), Hesperiidae (3,131), Lycaenidae (4,502), Nymphalidae (4,780), Geometridae (14,008), Noctuidae (20,207). It Contains the collections of Hanham, Day, and George Hardy who all collected extensively on SE Vancouver Island. It also has the Moilliet collection from Vavenby.
Simon Fraser University Biology Museum
Strickland Museum, University of Alberta 45, 000 Pinned spread moths from the Jim Troubridge collection
USNM or Smithsonian collection in Washington, DC contains about the same number of Lepidoptera as the CNC. Important BC material includes the 20,000 specimens that Dyar collected in 1903 from Kaslo, BC, while a guest of Cockle and the J. F. Gates Clarke collection primarily of Micro moths but also an almost complete synoptic collection of BC and WA Macro Lepidoptera known at the time Clarke left for Cornell and the USNM at the beginning of the Great Depression. Clarke material is estimated to be at least 10,000 specimens and is currently being databased by Jon Shepard. The USNM also has the type material of Geometridae that were described by Rev. Taylor. These were purchased by the Barnes collection and later donated to the USNM.
Vernon Museum David L. Threatful Collection (retired from collecting), about 2,000 butterfly specimens
Private Collections:
Lars Crabo (LC)
Crispin S. Guppy (CSG) – about 40,000 BC butterflies (60,000 total butterflies) (includes John Reichel Collection (deceased) – about 1,000 BC butterflies
Roger A. Ashton Collection (retired from collecting) – about 2,000 BC butterflies)
Dave Holden (DGH) just over 25,000 BC micro to macro moths - about 850 BC butterflies
Norbert G. Kondla (NGK) – about 72,000 BC butterflies (150,000 total butterflies)
Greg Pohl (GP)
Jon H. Shepard (JHS) – around 40,000 BC moths (most) and butterflies. Jon H. Shepard collection contains 4,000 + Boloria [Clossiana] specimens representing most species, world wide and 65,000 moths. Half of the moth collection is BC, YT and AB material and the rest is from mostly from adjacent northern Washington State. Species coverage for BC species is 95%+ for Macro moths and 75% for none leaf mining Micro moths.
Please let me know of other collections that should be listed. BCLeps@shaw.ca
Some of the institutions and people that have significant collections of BC material are as follows.
Collections:
Institutional Collections:
American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) About 15,000 BC Lepidoptera specimens
Beaty Biodiversity Museum (BBM) University of British Columbia: Collection now houses over 600,000 specimens (All orders). Most holdings are from BC, the Yukon, and Alaska. contains about 25, 000 specimens including the majority of material from the collections of Blackmore, Jones and Buckell. It also contains the butterfly collection of Harvey, who wrote the first good account of BC butterflies. His and other Vancouver collections in the former Vancouver City Museum were transferred to the UBC collection when the museum moved to its modern buildings. UBC Digital Collection.
Canadian National Collection (CNC) Lepidoptera collection contains nearly 1.6 million specimens housed in over 8000 drawers and represents one of the best research collections of Lepidoptera in the world. It includes the Cockle collection from Kaslo, BC and significant material collected by CNC staff including McDunnough and material from northern BC collected by the Northern Canada Insect Surveys in the decade after WWII.
Northern Forestry Centre Arthropod Collection approximately 50,000 specimens of over 1,850 species of Lepidoptera, mostly from western Canada, with provincial/territorial occurrences recorded for all species.
Oregon State University (OSU) Contains most of Jon Shepard’s original collection of butterflies, estimated as 25,000 specimens. The general collection is housed in about 2500 drawers and contains about 375,000 specimens. The butterfly collection is world wide with strengths in the fauna of N & S America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and West Africa. The Shepard collection of butterflies is 31,000 specimens and the OSAC contains other BC holding from Harold Rice and Barry Sullivan. A significant portion of the BC butterflies in the Shepard collection is the material from Douglas Knight of Creston, BC and the smaller collections of Peter Hughan & A. C. Jenkins
Pacific Foresty Centre - Victoria (PFC)
Quesnel Museum A small (< 100 specimens) collection, but it is a historical collection of butterflies from the Okanagan
Royal BC Museum (RBCM) Lepidoptera (61,165: Pieridae (2,503), Hesperiidae (3,131), Lycaenidae (4,502), Nymphalidae (4,780), Geometridae (14,008), Noctuidae (20,207). It Contains the collections of Hanham, Day, and George Hardy who all collected extensively on SE Vancouver Island. It also has the Moilliet collection from Vavenby.
Simon Fraser University Biology Museum
Strickland Museum, University of Alberta 45, 000 Pinned spread moths from the Jim Troubridge collection
USNM or Smithsonian collection in Washington, DC contains about the same number of Lepidoptera as the CNC. Important BC material includes the 20,000 specimens that Dyar collected in 1903 from Kaslo, BC, while a guest of Cockle and the J. F. Gates Clarke collection primarily of Micro moths but also an almost complete synoptic collection of BC and WA Macro Lepidoptera known at the time Clarke left for Cornell and the USNM at the beginning of the Great Depression. Clarke material is estimated to be at least 10,000 specimens and is currently being databased by Jon Shepard. The USNM also has the type material of Geometridae that were described by Rev. Taylor. These were purchased by the Barnes collection and later donated to the USNM.
Vernon Museum David L. Threatful Collection (retired from collecting), about 2,000 butterfly specimens
Private Collections:
Lars Crabo (LC)
Crispin S. Guppy (CSG) – about 40,000 BC butterflies (60,000 total butterflies) (includes John Reichel Collection (deceased) – about 1,000 BC butterflies
Roger A. Ashton Collection (retired from collecting) – about 2,000 BC butterflies)
Dave Holden (DGH) just over 25,000 BC micro to macro moths - about 850 BC butterflies
Norbert G. Kondla (NGK) – about 72,000 BC butterflies (150,000 total butterflies)
Greg Pohl (GP)
Jon H. Shepard (JHS) – around 40,000 BC moths (most) and butterflies. Jon H. Shepard collection contains 4,000 + Boloria [Clossiana] specimens representing most species, world wide and 65,000 moths. Half of the moth collection is BC, YT and AB material and the rest is from mostly from adjacent northern Washington State. Species coverage for BC species is 95%+ for Macro moths and 75% for none leaf mining Micro moths.
Please let me know of other collections that should be listed. BCLeps@shaw.ca
