Arthropod collection
Denton butterfly collection
Mike Kemp (’12) organizes the specially mounted tropical butterflies in the Denton collection. Many of these insects now are scarce in their native habitats.
Arthropod Collection
Aquatic Insect Reference material in the Museum’s Arthropod Collection
The Museum of Biodiversity's Arthropod Collection contains approx. 230,000 specimens of insects and arachnids, with strengths in organisms of medical/veterinary and environmental importance. It includes both pinned and slide-mounted Culicidae (mosquitoes), including many genetic strains of Aedes aegypti (L.). The microscope slide collection contains prepared slide sets (including ticks, mites, mosquitoes, black flies, biting midges, lice, fleas, and sandflies) used for medical entomology and public health training. The collection of immature and adult aquatic insects principally is from the north central U.S., especially the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, northern Indiana, and southern Michigan. A special collection documenting the arthropod fauna of the grounds of Argonne National Laboratory is included. The museum includes about 800 specimens of tropical butterfliies collected by William Denton and his sons from the late 19th Century, preserved in their patented glass mounts, and a large collection of midwestern U.S. moths donated by James T. Vargo.