Importance of Natural History Collections

Here is a brief report and interesting video from one of our volunteers. Hi I’m Molly Czachur, a Zoology student at the University of Manchester, and a volunteer in the Entomology department. I work on the recuration and updading of the nomenclature of the Crustacean collection here at the museum, where we have over 500 [...]

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Discussion on the Sacred Scarabs

The Sacred Scarab, apparently the most famous beetle on the Earth, was a symbol of resurrection and reincarnation in ancient Egypt, called there Khepri – the life giving force deity. Occasionally, the Scarabs roll their pellets from the east to the west, the same path taken by the sun, that evoked the metaphor of world [...]

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Our visitors – unusual transformation of a butterfly wing

The ManchesterMuseum’s Entomology Department welcomes a wide array of visitors, from scientists coming to study our extensive insect collections to designers and artists exploring the diversity of shapes, colours or patterns of the many thousands of creepy-crawlies deposited here. An interesting project has been undertaken by the MMU’s photography student Renata Lazdauskiene. Renata was first [...]

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Our visitors – Insects ‘Beyond the Surface’

During the last academic year (2010-11), a number of design/art students from the Stockport College visited the Manchester Museum’s Entomology department and undertook their ‘bug-related’ final year projects. One of them, Matt Geeling who got his degree in design and visual arts, is sharing his experience of working in the Manchester Museum with visitors to our blog. [...]

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Our visitors – insect remains in archaeology

Over a half of the visitors of the Manchester Museum’s Entomology department are researchers. Many of them undertake interesting inter-disciplinary studies. For instance, Ms Kim Vickers, a Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield, works on the research project called “The shielings of Reykholt in Snorri Sturluson’s time“, looking at the environmental impact of medieval seasonal [...]

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Curatorial work – science illustrations, why do we need them?

A taxonomic research is one of the activities undertaken by natural history curators, and it includes a need to illustrate studied specimens. Here is the insight into the viability of traditional illustrating of animal and plants by Ms Gina Allnatt, one of the Manchester Museum’s Biology Curatorial Trainees (funded by the HLF). ______________________ In the [...]

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Curatorial work – the Phasmid Collection at Manchester Museum

Phasmids commonly known as stick insects are fascinating insects which are related to leaf insects; grasshoppers; locusts and crickets. Phasma translates from the Latin as ‘phantom, spectre, apparition or ghost’ and this gives a clue as to why they are so named. Most stick insects use camouflage as a protection against predation and have evolved [...]

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Our visitors – old store-boxes and 3D design display

Many visitors of the Manchester Museum’s Entomology department get their inspiration from the diversity of shapes, colours or patterns of the thousands of insects deposited here. Yet, even old store-boxes are not totally neglected and used time to time by some creative artists. For instance, Jade Ashton, a 3D Design student, visited the Entomology department [...]

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Curatorial work – re-curating of the Manchester Museum’s Myriapoda collections

Ongoing re-housing and re-curating of the Manchester Museum’s entomological collections constitute a significant part of the work undertaken by the Curator and his colleagues. Two years ago, a good start was done by Graham Proudlove (the Honorary Curatorial Associate; email: g.proudlove@manchester.ac.uk) with re-curating of the departmental collections of Myriapoda (centipedes and millipedes). As Honorary Curator [...]

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