David Verity of Los Angeles has just gifted the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis, with his personal collection of buprestid jewel beetles.
He is the former collection manager at the UCLA herbarium.
The jewel beetles, widely acclaimed for their iridescent colors, belong to the family Buprestidae. "The family is among the largest of the beetles, with some 15,000 species known in 450 genera," according to Wikipedia.
"We have half of David's collection and will be getting the rest in a couple of weeks," said a grateful Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and professor of entomology at UC Davis.
The Bohart Museum, which houses a global collection of nearly eight million specimens, will be growing rapidly with this addition. "I don't have a count yet of how many specimens but it's a lot," she said.
Kimsey, highly esteemed for her public service, teaching and research, was just named the recipient of the 2016 UC Davis Academic Senate's Distinguished Public Service Award for her outstanding contributions to public service and education.
Kimsey consults with international, national and state agencies; identifies thousands of insects every year for scientific collaborators, public agencies and the general public; answers scores of news media calls and insect questions; and encourages a greater appreciation of insects through the Bohart Museum open houses, workshops and lectures.
It's a service much valued and widely appreciated--but the future is of great concern now with National Science Foundation's recently announced funding cut.
Nature spotlighted the issue in its March 21st edition: "Biological Specimen Troves Threatened by Funding Pause." The subhead: "Decision by U.S. National Science Foundation could hamper research on conservation biology, climate change and invasive species."
"The NSF is one of the only public providers of funds to maintain specimen collections," wrote Anna Nowogrodszki. "It awards between US $3 million and $5 million a year in grants for such collections, equivalent to roughly 0.06% of the agency's $7.5-billion budget for fiscal year 2016."
Meanwhile, mark your calendar for Saturday, April 16. That's the date of the 102nd annual campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day. The theme: "Cultivating Our Authenticity." In keeping with the theme, the Bohart Museum will be focusing on "Real Insects and Their Mimics." Visitors will learn to tell the difference between flies and bees; handle live insects, such as Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and a rose-haired tarantula named Peaches; and chat with scientists.
Attached Images:
