Haslemere Educational Museum
Natural History
Insects
The insect collection has over 65,000 specimens from over 6,000 species and is comprised of specimens from both British and foreign localities. They were largely donated or bequeathed by collectors, many of whom were notable figures in their particular field. Our primary strengths are butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, dragonflies, bees and wasps. We hold c.20,000 butterflies, c.30,000 moths, c.10,000 beetles and c.3,500 flies.Many of these specimens were collected from Haslemere and the surrounding area, presenting us with a valuable record of local species over time.
Highlights from the Collection
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| Butterflies from the Buckle collection |
Exploration, history and collecting come together in the Buckle Collection. Butterflies and moths were collected in England, India, South Africa and possibly also in Aden and Egypt.
Major A.S. Buckle started collecting butterflies and moths in 1899, when he was a captain serving in the Goldmohur Valley, Aden in North Africa. He was soon promoted to Major in about 1901, serving in India and the Republic of South Africa. Whilst at these postings, (1901-1908) he collected many different types of specimens. His collection was mostly housed in travelling cases and the date of the specimens gives an insight into where he was serving at a particular time. By the end of his career in India, he had risen to the rank Major General. The Buckle collection came to our museum as a gift in 1930 from Mr A.C.C. Buckle.
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| Beetles from the Oliver Hawkshaw's collection |
Another military man with a passion for entomology was Colonel Oliver Hawkshaw (great nephew to Sir Charles Darwin). He donated a collection of mostly British beetles gathered over the late 19th and early 20th century. Colonel Oliver Hawkshaw presented the Hawkshaw collection to the museum in 1935.
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| Butterflies from the Rupert Long collection |
Mr. Rupert Long collected over 7,000 butterflies and moths between 1922 and 1959, mainly from Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, Cornwall, Dorset, the South Downs, Kent and West Sussex. Mr Long also bred some insects. He lived locally (in Horsham) and gave his collection to our museum in 1977.
The butterflies depicted here were collected in the early 20th century, primarily from Surrey and Hampshire.
Other major insect collectors represented at Haslemere Educational Museum include Mr. Harold King, who collected butterflies mostly from Surrey, Hampshire and Kent between 1948-1962. G.C. Nurse collected flies from Suffolk, Kent and Essex between 1906-1925 and these specimens are stored in their original cabinet.
Mr. J.J. Joicey collected of butterflies and moths are mainly from Africa and Asia, with some from Australasia, in the owner´s original cabinet. The Joicey cabinet is in our Natural History Gallery.
