Significant Insect Collection Donated by University of Maine

A rare insect collection containing more than 107,000 specimens has been donated to the museum by the University of Maine.

The collection contains many specimens collected within Maine for decades by students and university professors. It also includes rare tropical butterflies and other specimens from outside the state.

The collection will be kept and used for research at the museum's climate-controlled storage facility. From time to time, portions of the collection may be exhibited at the museum, such as during the upcoming Bug Maine-ia, or lent to other institutions.

Click here to see a news segment from Bangor's WVII about the recent move of the collection and its storage cabinets to the museum's collections storage facility.

The Kennebec Journal also covered the story in its September 7 edition. Read it by following this link.

Bill Green from WCSH Channel 6 also stopped by to learn more about the donation. Here, he is photographed interviewing museum curator and registrar Paula Work. He also interviewed Charlene Donahue from the Maine Forest Service. The program will air on Channel 6 on Monday, September 17 at 6:00 p.m.