Entomological collections on display

The Museum of Natural History of Venice retains a rich entomological collection, which has more than 650,000 specimens from all around the world. The most abundant component, however, is that coming from Veneto and northeastern Italy, owing to the studies carried out over the decades by staff and collaborators of the Museum. Only a fraction of the specimens is displayed to the public, the remainder is stored in the storage of scientific collections, where it is available to scholars. Every year, the entomological collections are accessed and consulted by hundreds Italian and foreign researchers and, based on the material preserved therein, hundreds of species new to science have been discovered, a process that is still ongoing today.