University of Kentucky Insect Collection

The University of Kentucky Insect Collection is composed of two major collections. The primary UK collection had its beginning in 1889 under the newly formed Entomology Department’s chair, Harrison H Garman. Charles Covelle of the University of Louisville facilitated donating their collection to UK; the transfer was completed in 2003. In 2010, the combined collection was moved into its current location in the Dimock building on the UK main campus. The collection is housed in compactors and consists of somewhere between ½ and 1 million pinned specimens in 1,868 drawers. Major strengths include leafhoppers (>250 drawers) and Lepidoptera (730 drawers) where taxonomists Paul Freytag (UK, leafhoppers) and Charles Covelle, Jr. (U of L, Lepidoptera) spent their careers studying these groups. The collection is Kentucky-centric, but has specimens from all over the US, and more exotic locations in Central and South America (Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela), Asia (Japan, Phillipines, Thailand) and the Middle East (Saudi Arabia). There is also a more modest collection of ethanol-preserved specimens.