Visitors on their way to the Discovery Room on the Yale Peabody Museum’s second floor may have noticed cases filled with an array of colorful butterflies, moths and other insects, including some of the smallest to some of the largest insects known. In a series of rotating presentations, these cases will showcase the collections, history, scientists and research of the Museum’s Division of Entomology.

  The specimens housed in the Peabody collections are an invaluable resource for research related to issues of local and global biodiversity, ecology, taxonomy, evolution and species history. The collections provide basic research data for professionals in entomology at Yale and elsewhere, and contribute to undergraduate and graduate training in epidemiology, systematics (evolution) and zoology. The Entomology Division provides educational services in the form of tours, teacher training programs and, of course, exhibits.

The Museum is committed to communicating the results of the research these collections support to the widest possible audience through publications, programs and, especially, exhibitions. Here the Division of Entomology examines a range of topics in the world of entomology, highlighted by examples from the diverse and numerous specimens found in its collections.

Through these exhibits we explore some of the fascinating aspects of the insect world and experience some of the wealth of information contained in the Yale Peabody Museum’s entomological holdings. The entomology exhibits will highlight different areas in the study of insects. Future topics will include how insect colors are generated, size and sexual differences, and mimicry among insect species.