Collecting and preserving natural history specimens dates back centuries, and well-preserved and curated collections are critically important to many fields within the Natural Sciences. Each specimen is a treasure-trove of information, providing data on the distribution of a species, as well as habitat and related information such as the seasonal timing associated with its lifecycle. In this way specimens can provide not only what is needed for systematic and taxonomic research, but also key evidence for understanding changes in ecosystem health and biodiversity, information that can be critical in conservation efforts.

Vladimir Nabokov’s collecting and taxonomic work also relied heavily on various natural history collections. Upon his arrival in the United States he approached the Lepidoptera Collection at the American Museum of Natural History, where he deposited the very few butterflies he had managed to bring with him when fleeing World War II in Europe. In his poem On Discovering a Butterfly Nabokov describes the wonders of the “secluded stronghold” that is a natural history collection where an insect can be “safe from creeping relatives and rust” and thereby “transcend its dust”.

When Nabokov moved to the Boston area he quickly sought out Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) where he became their de-facto Curator of Lepidoptera. Here he spent up to 14 hours a day mounting, sorting, dissecting, and analyzing butterflies, and soon even described a new species, the Karner Blue, from specimens in that collection. This charismatic little butterfly’s existence became threatened due to habitat loss in the decades following Nabokov’s description, and it is now listed under the Endangered Species Act which seeks to protect it and other vulnerable species across the country.

The Cornell University Insect Collection (CUIC) dates back to humble beginnings in 1871 when John Henry Comstock started the Collection in the room in McGraw Tower where he worked as chimesmaster. By the beginning of the 1900’s, however, Cornell University’s Department of Entomology was preeminent in the world. Now, with over 200,000 species represented by seven million specimens, the CUIC serves as a permanent repository for specimens representing world-wide insect diversity and important species, both economically and scientifically. The CUIC supports insect identification, systematics research, education, and public outreach, also cooperating with scientists worldwide by sending specimens on loan for their research. One such researcher was Vladimir Nabokov during his time at Harvard’s MCZ. Nabokov used the collections of MCZ and specimens he borrowed, including from the CUIC, to reclassify many butterfly genera and species, and also to develop his theory of butterfly evolution based on his studies of the Polyommatus Blues. Although other lepidopterists at the time largely dismissed his theory, in 2011 genetic research was able to show that his hypothesis about the evolution of the Blues in the Americas is valid. See the Nabokov's Blues section of this exhibit for more details on this exciting discovery.

Every insect in a natural history collection contains DNA, which we can extract and sequence thanks to advances in sequencing technology. This can provide a critical window into a species’ genetic past, helping scientists identify genetic changes over time that can be linked to species’ conservation. For example, scientists studying the endangered Miami Blue butterfly used museum collections from the 1970s and 1980s to measure historical levels of genetic diversity in the species. They then compared data from these museum specimens to the genetic diversity of current populations, finding it had greatly reduced. A decline in genetic diversity is usually detrimental to a population, resulting in increased inbreeding and individuals less able to adapt to changing environments.

Every butterfly specimen is accompanied by one or more labels, which record a variety of information about the specimen, including when and where it was collected. By compiling location information from many specimens, researchers can better understand the historic distribution of threatened species. Historic distributions can be compared to current distributions to make the case that a butterfly species deserves legal protection. Dates that specimens were collected can also be used to determine the phenology of a species, or at what time of year a species is active. In comparing modern collections to older ones, some species show a marked shift to an earlier flight time that correlates with our rapidly warming climate and the resulting shifting of the duration and timing of seasons.

By combining location information from specimen labels with plant occurrence data and information about the locations of particular ecosystems, researchers can better understand the specific habitat requirements of threatened species such as the Karner Blue.

Many species have some amount of variation between populations or across their range. An important goal of conservation biology is to protect this intra-specific variation. By examining specimens from natural history collections and their DNA, researchers can identify unique populations that may need protection to maintain genetic diversity in the species.

Is that rare butterfly a unique species, in need of conservation protection? Or, is it simply a variation, or subspecies, of a very common butterfly? Natural history collections can help answer these questions. Using specimens, taxonomists can make use of morphological and genetic information to better understand species relationships. This is especially important with extinct species, since collections are the only way to study them! For example, Dr. Corrie Moreau, professor in Cornell’s departments of Entomology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Director and Curator of the Cornell University Insect Collection (CUIC) and her colleagues sequenced the genome of the extinct Xerces Blue butterfly, once found in the sand dunes of San Francisco. By comparing it to genomes from closely related butterflies, these scientists were able to determine that the Xerces Blue truly was a distinct species, separate from the widespread Silvery Blue. This research confirmed the species’ extinction, and helps motivate future conservation of endangered butterfly species and subspecies.