McGuire Center Florida Museum of Natural History April, 2007 Issue 1 UF University of Florida News McGuire Center Becomes In this issue: •Conferences at McGuire Center Mecca for Lepidopterists, •Meet the Staff hosts three international meetings in 2006 •Graduate Students The combined meetings of the Botanical Gardens and Goethe Forest •Volunteers Lepidopterists’ Society (57th), Southern while collectors headed north to the •Old Collections and New Lepidopterists’ Society, and the Osceola National Forest. Acquisitions Association for Tropical Lepidoptera •Research Projects were held at the Hilton Hotel Convention The museum’s collections were made •Grants and Awards Center and the McGuire Center for available for researchers, students, and •Recent Publications Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, Florida amateur lepidopterists at the McGuire •Seminars and Lectures Museum of Natural History, University Center. Other special meetings •Expeditions and Travel of Florida, on June 14-18, 2006. included a Noctuoidea Workshop •Rain Forest News There were 202 registrants from 13 that took place at the Department countries in attendance, the most diverse of Entomology and Nematology, representation at any meeting of the during the morning of June 14th, and three societies. continued more informally throughout the meetings. This was followed by Prior to the normally scheduled events, a National Science Foundation Tree of there was a one-day Educational Life Project Workshop in the McGuire Workshop for teachers, amateurs, Center’s Conference Room. and interested naturalists, sponsored by the Education Committee of the Later that afternoon, there was a Lepidopterists’ Society. Speakers Welcome Reception and Mixer included Susan Weller (Univ. of at FLMNH’s Powell Hall and the Minnesota), William Conner (Wake McGuire Center sponsored by the Forest Univ.), Orley Taylor (Univ. Alachua County Tourist Development of Kansas), Robert Pyle (author and Council, BioQuip Products, Florida naturalist), Betty Dunckel, Marilyn Museum of Natural History, and the Martin, Kathy Malone, Nikole Kadel, University of Florida Foundation, Jaret Daniels (all Florida Museum Inc. A tour of the Butterfly Rainforest of Natural History), Martha Weiss was followed by a slidefest with (Georgetown Univ.), and Suzette Lepidoptera being, of course, the main Slocomb (Center School District subject. #58, Kansas City). This workshop concluded with round table discussions The formal meeting sessions were on the topics of special concern such as opened on June 15th at the Hilton attracting students to natural history and Hotel Convention Center by Thomas science in general. Emmel, Director of the McGuire On June 14th, there were Center, followed by Douglas Jones, field trips for observers and Director of the Florida Museum of photographers to Kanapha Natural History, and by presidents of continues on page 4 Our Faculty, Staff, and Students Jacqueline and Lee Thomas Emmel has been Center’s George Austin, the Miller served as the Director since before its construction. collections manager and curatorial staff of the He retired from the UF Zoology Andrei Sourakov, the Allyn Museum of Department in 2003. coordinator of collections, Entomology in Sarasota handle most of the day- and moved along with the to-day collection-related collections. Jackie and issues. George came from Lee have been on the staff the Nevada State Museum of FLMNH since 1981. where he served as Curator of Natural History. Andrei John Heppner of the Christine Eliazar is McGuire had postdoc experience at Division of Plant Industry Center’s administrative assistant. She CalAcademy, USDA and relocated to the McGuire has been working for Tom Emmel for FLMNH, and was involved Center from DPI together 25 years and, in reality, runs the place. in the Center’s construction with the vast moth She is the person you will talk to if planning and exhibits design collections of the FSCA. you call the Center’s main number. and production. Paul Goldstein was hired Andrew Warren moved to as Assistant Curator. the Center in July 2006 as Paul previously worked as a postdoc. He is curating a curator at the Field the skipper collection and Museum in Chicago. continuing with his research Graduate Students on skipper classification Recent graduates: Emily Saarinen Charles Covell joined us and Mexican butterfly (M.S., 2005) worked on butterfly - ant diversity. He came from as a curator of moths, interactions; Christian Salcedo (M.S., Oregon State University. moving from Kentucky. 2006) studied roosting behavior in His expertise is moths of Heliconius; Akers Pence (Ph.D., 2006) the family Geometridae. researched conservation of Sweadner’s James Schlachta was hired hairstreak; Matthew Lehnert (M.S., as Assistant Director for Jaret Daniels became 2005) worked on the Operations. Previously, Assistant Professor Homerus Swallowtail in Jim worked as the Center’s of Entomology and Jamaica; Delano Lewis construction manager. He Nematology, hired jointly (M.S., 2006) dealt with is also the acting manager systematics of Cyllopoda by this department and of the Butterfly Rainforest (Geometridae); Michael facility and its staff. the FLMNH. He has an Perry (M.S., 2006) Emily Saarinen office and many research worked on developmental biology of projects based at the butterfly wing patterns; Lorraine Duerden is our Center. Debra Mathews (Ph. D., full-time preparator and 2006) has been studying oversees four part- Keith Willmott was hired Pterophoridae for many time preparators working for the position of years; she currently works at the display window Assistant Curator. He was at the Center curating facing the public exhibits. Debra Mathews previously a postdoctoral moths; Varsovia Cevallos (Ph. D., 2007), studied butterfly fellow at the Natural A Few Facts about the McGuire Center: biodiversity and ecology in Ecuador; and Dec. 2000 - initial gift of $4.2 million was made History Museum in Charlotte Skov (Ph.D., 2007) worked London. by McGuire Family Foundation of Wayzata, on ecology of orchid bees. Students Minn., matched by the state of Fla. with $4.2 mil- who graduated with the M.S. are mostly lion in April 2001. Mirian Medina Hay-Roe continuing on working on their Ph.D. In 2002, additional $3 million was given by Wil- continues her term as a Additionally, Mathew Trager, Court liam and Nadine McGuire. postdoc at the Center. She Whelan, James Dunford, Bret Boyd, Construction began March 2003 and finished Jennifer Zaspel, and many other students July 2004. is also teaching a course Center has 50,000 sq.feet of collection, office and are associated with the McGuire Center. on Lepidoptera Biology. exhibit space located on 3 floors. 2 McGuire Center News, Vol. 1, April 2007 The Collection’s safety and security: though we moved away from the use Collections and Acquisitions of pesticides, we have now successfully All of the diverse collections at the fumigated the collections twice. This will Recent Donors of Specimens be done as a precaution every year. The rest McGuire Center have been merged Allen T. Hart W. Olson E. of the year, the collection rooms are kept at now into a single collection. This was Anderson R. Harvey D. Platt A. 60°F. All incoming material is frozen for not a small task. There were more than Austin G. Heppner J. Preston F.&J. Bailowitz R. Hesterberg R. Rings R. one week at –36°F in our 1600 ft³ walk-in 100 separate collections in the building freezer . Bowe J. Hollister R. Ross G. when we moved in; two of these (Allyn Boyd B. Khanal B. Rozycki R. Brock J. Klein T. Savage P. The library has grown almost as fast Museum and DPI) were in excess of Bryne Leigh A. Seitz J. as our collections. A second full set 1.5 million specimens each. Some Covell C. MacPherson B. Simon M. of compactors was just installed in the private new donations were also very Cox J. Marcus J. Samford Un. Deroller C. McGuire W. Sourakov A. library to accommodate new acquisitions. large, such as Austin’s collection of Eisele R. Miller G. Turner J. Daidria and Delano Lewis are working 350,000 specimens. With 10,000 new Eitschberger U. Miller H. Turner T. as part time librarians. CalAcademy-type drawers that were Emmel T. Miller J.&L. Tuttle J. Finkelstein I. Minno M. Watkinson I. purchased prior to the opening of the Gilbert L. Nordin J. Whelan C. Center, we were able to organize the Gorelick G. Noss A. Willmott K. Goldstein P. O’Hara B. collections of Riodinidae, Lycaenidae Harjes G. Odor J. and Hesperiidae as well as a large portion of the moth collection. These Phenology of a Moth Community in now are located in the new compactors North-Central Florida: Volunteers on the 1st and 2nd floors. George Austin and Andrei Sourakov have been analyzing richness and UF students, Sam Landrian, Shelly phenology of the moth fauna in North- Flanagin, Kevin Carty, and Lyndall The larger butterflies and moths Central Florida since January 2005. Brezina are assisting in curating and are housed in Cornell drawers in databasing collections. High school compactors on the lower level. The students, such as Ian Segebarth curation of these groups is in progress. and Patrick McCaffrey also work as volunteers. Meanwhile, we have recently received Mark J. Simon, several major collections. Fortunately, a physician, who has had the space in the compactors will not Tiger moths Tiger Apanthesis a life long-interest in be an issue for many years to come In only the first year of the study, over Lepidoptera, is currently as there is room for 70,000 drawers 1100 species were collected from a recurating the neotropical Isis Jaimez (50,000 CalAcademy and 20,000 single locality (George’s backyard) Charaxinae. Isis Jaimez is visiting Cornell). Purchases of unit trays have adjacent to Paynes Prairie near from Venezuela, where she studied been made, totalling 60,000 trays. Gainesville. Sampling, databasing, satyrines. She will be volunteering in the and analyzing nearly 14,000 specimens collections while studying English at UF.