McGuire Center Florida Museum of Natural History April, 2008 Issue 2 UF University of Florida News In this issue: •Florida Entomological Center’s Exhibits: Society honors McGuires •Moths of Paynes Prairie Cast the Nets Broadly, but Aim High •Center in the News •Collection Donations The McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and electron microscope. •New Owl Butterfly Biodiversity is a place that truly illustrates Outside the Rainforest, the live exhibit •Grants and Awards the popular saying: “It takes all kinds to continues in the form of a recently added make the world.” Florida Wildflower and Butterfly Garden. •The Butterfly From scientists, obsessed with the number Not only butterflies, but frogs, lizards, Conservation Initiative of setae, the shape of the uncus, or the and birds are at home here. One resident, •Seminars, Visiting position of androconia (go Google it, if you a perfectly harmless black racer snake, is Scientists, and Meetings want!), to educators and horticulturalists, we often seen sunning itself in this garden. are all housed under the same roof (though Indoors, there is the world’s largest •Museum’s Expeditions a few are under a screen, which does not museum exhibit on butterfly and moth •Recent Publications keep out sun or rain). Different as we might diversity. The Wall of Wings tells at one •Where is Bob? be, we are all united by the same purpose, glance the story of diversity and beauty, •ButterflyFest the purpose of changing the future. which is epitomized by the Lepidoptera. •Butterfliesofamerica.com One might say that the future is not yet It also tells a story of the passion that here, but unfortunately that is only partially people have for butterflies, which is often true. The future is here in the form of manifested in an enthusiasm for creating deforestation, pollution, extinction, global collections. These private collections, which warming and other forms of environmental allow people to experience and interact degradation, which are decreasing with nature, are often donated to museums biodiversity. It is also here in the form like the McGuire Center. Once visitors of various unwanted social phenomena, reach the end of the Wall of Wings, they caused, as Richard Louv put it in his recent are able to see firsthand through the glass book Last Child in the Woods, by a “Nature- the vast scientific collection housed by the Deficit Disorder” in our children. institution. These specimens were collected The McGuire Center’s live butterfly by thousands of amateurs and professionals exhibit, a.k.a. “the Butterfly Rainforest,” throughout the world during a period of more has become a major hit for both children than 200 years. They represent millions of and adults in Gainesville since its opening hours and hundreds of millions of dollars in 2004. However, there is more to the spent on travel, preparation, and curation. educational component of the McGuire These collections were mostly made during Center’s exhibits than just watching pretty times when natural environments seemed butterflies in a beautiful garden. Even endless compared to the mild encroachment within the Butterfly Rainforest, the docents of human civilization. and employees of the museum are ready The rearing lab in the middle of the Wall of to explain to visitors the peculiarities of Wings offers visitors a glimpse of emerging butterfly ecology. Educational exhibit butterflies, which are shipped here as pupae panels offer basic information on ecology from around the world. Turning the corner as well as a unique opportunity to touch the at the end of the Wall of Wings, visitors “untouchable,” reliefs of a butterfly eye, enter a new realm. Windows into the tongue, or wing scales, magnified millions laboratories show how scientists study and of times, created by a museum propagate butterflies and moths for research sculptor, Ron Chesser, who worked or conservation. Here, one also can watch from photographs taken on an preparators as they meticulously mount continues on page 4 UF McGuire Center for Florida Entomological Society Recognizes Lepidoptera and Biodiversity University of Florida the McGuires with Major Honor Florida Museum of Natural History The Florida Entomological Society P.O.Box 112710 honored William and Nadine McGuire Gainesville , FL 32611 as Pioneers in Florida Entomology dur- fax (352) 392-0479 ing the Annual Meetings, July 16-19, e-mail: [email protected] 2007, in Sarasota, Florida. The McGuires were acknowledged McGuire Center for their detailed scientific and taxo- News nomic studies on skipper butterflies (Hesperioidea), especially the genus Editorial Board: Hesperia and the subfamily Mega- Christine M. Eliazar thyminae, both exceedingly difficult Thomas C. Emmel groups. Through their work on these Andrei Sourakov groups, the McGuires have provided Jaret C. Daniels Jacqueline Y. Miller a leadership role in the use of Lepi- doptera as bioindicator species for the Designer/editor: state of the environment and biodiver- Andrei Sourakov sity. Their efforts also helped in recog- contact: [email protected] nizing entomological and other collec- tions as valuable resources for scientific Nadine and William McGuire Photography: investigations, as well as educating the ciety further recognized the McGuires James Schlachta Andrei Sourakov general public about natural history. Thomas C. Emmel Andrew Warren for their extraordinary philanthropy in Chelsea Smith Eddie Rivers Finally, the Florida Entomological So- founding the McGuire Center for Lepi- Court Whelan NASA doptera and Biodiversity and in devot- Jennifer Zaspel Randy Batista ing financial support for the training of undergraduate and graduate students McGuire Center Staff Atwater, Montana: Technical Research Asst. from around the world at the Univer- Austin, George: Collection Manager sity of Florida. Barszczak, Lukasz: Technical Research Asst. Since its opening in August, 2004, the Boulware, Mike: Landscape Specialist Boyd, Bret: Endangered Species Research McGuire Center has developed rapidly Covell, Charles: Visit. Scientist & Curator into a world-class research and educa- Daniels, Jaret: Asst. Professor & Asst. Curator tional facility. The Center showcases Duerden-Rawls, Lorraine: Tech. Research Asst. Eisele, Robert: Research Assoc. the tremendous vision of Dr. William Eliazar, Christine: Administrative Asst. and Nadine McGuire and demonstrates Emmel, Thomas: Center Director Goldstein, Paul: Asst. Curator convincingly how science, avocation, Habeck, Dale: Research Assoc. and philanthropy can seamlessly blend Hansen, Jeffrey: Vivarium Asst. Manager to the benefit of nature and human- Hay-Roe, Mirian: Postdoctoral Researcher Heppner, John: Curator kind. Hickey, Shannon: Technical Research Asst. Lewis, Delano: Graduate Asst. Matthews Lott, Deborah: Technical Asst. McManus, Valerie: Graduate Asst. Miller, Jacqueline: Curator and Adjunct Prof. Support the McGuire Center Miller, Lee: Curator and Adjunct Prof. The McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity relies upon the generosity of Pence, J. Akers: Postdoctoral Assoc. private donors to build and enhance its collections, educational outreach efforts and Peterson, Cassandra: Genetics Lab Tech. international research programs. Every gift is important and contributes to our success. Reid, Kyle: Technical Research Asst. Private Gifts are accepted and are tax-deductible. Private donations support student Saarinen, Emily: Graduate Asst. Salcedo, Christian: Graduate Asst. and faculty research, endowed chairs for curators, collections maintenance, exhibits and Sanchez, Stephanie: BFCI Program Coord. education programs. Named endowments may be established at 30,000 and may be Schlachta, James: Constr. Coord. & Asst. Dir. eligible for state matching at $100,000 and above. Sourakov, Andrei: Collections Coord. The Monarch Society: Donors who commit $10,000 to this fund receive permanent Trager, Matthew: Graduate Asst. Warren, Andrew: Postdoctoral Research recognition in the McGuire Center and are invited to participate in special events. Waterman, Kristen: Technical Research Asst. For additional information about donation opportunities within the McGuire Center and Whelan, John Court: Graduate Asst. Willmott, Keith: Asst. Curator the Florida Museum of Natural History, please contact Beverly Sensbach, Director of Development, at (352) 273-2087 or [email protected]. 2 McGuire Center News, Vol. 2, April 2008 Survey of Paynes Prairie Moths The staff of the McGuire Center has been conducting species inventories not only around the world, in places such as Armenia, Ghana and Ecuador, but also close to home. An investigation to inventory the moths occurring at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park was initiated in late June 2007 by G. T. Austin, P. Z. Goldstein, and C. V. Covell, Jr. with financial support from the Board of the Florida Museum Associates. This is an ongoing investigation with full support northcentral Florida is being continued from the park manager, park biologist, and by George Austin and Andrei Sourakov, others involved with the park. and has been going for more than three Inventories should always be backed years. Austin’s collection and Sourakov’s The 22 March, 2008 issue of St. Peters- by voucher specimens. To date, about databasing and analysis have yielded burg Times Magazine (above), a publica- twenty nights have been spent within interesting patterns in the seasonal tion received by half a million residents of the park, producing a sample of nearly variation of the moth fauna in Gainesville. the