Antique butterflies available digitally

Part of one of the world’s oldest biological collections, Linnaeus’s butterfly type specimens, is now freely available in digital format. The new image database has been launched on the website of The Natural History Museum, London.

The Swedish taxonomist and explorer Carolus Linnaeus is considered the founder of the binomial system of nomenclature and the originator of modern scientific classification of organisms. Undoubtedly, the historical importance of the Linnaeus’s specimens of butterflies is great.

The database is intended primarily for taxonomists and other researchers and contains images of the butterfly specimens upon which Linnaeus based his descriptions. Of 305 taxa described under the name Papilio, roughly two-thirds refer to currently valid butterfly species of subspecies names. This has been developed as a valuable addition to a previously published paper [Honey, M. R. & M. J. Scoble (2001): Linnaeus’s butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea). — Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 132: 277—399], making available images of type specimens and their labels.

The project was carried out at The Natural History Museum, London, in association with The Linnean Society of London. Hopefully, all the existing primary types will be illustrated. Initially, photos of nearly all from those kept at The Linnean Society of London have been posted.

Certainly, this important database will attract a growing and broader audience.

Related: Linnaeus’s Butterfly Type Specimens