Natural History Museum Digitisation team rediscover Leopard moth collected by founder Richard Owen

Sir Richard Owen was the founder of the Natural History Museum, London and the leading comparative anatomist and palaeontologist of his time. He is perhaps best known for coining the word dinosaur and is not known to have collected or studied insects, making this new discovery very special.

Geoff Martin, Senior Curator in Charge of Lepidoptera at the Natural History Museum says, ‘I believe this is the first known moth that Owen has collected and what makes this find particularly interesting is that according to the data on the label it looks as though Owen collected the Leopard moth from his own garden. It’s fantastic that by unlocking the collection through digitisation we have been able to re-discover this moth 218 years after Richard Owen was born on 20 July 1804.’

Moths and Butterflies (lepidoptera) are very sensitive to changes in land use and temperature. The Museum has so far digitised over 770,000 Lepidoptera which have been used by researchers around the world to measure the impact of climate change. While most data about insect responses to human activities comes from surveys from the 1970s onwards the Museum has specimens dating back over 200 years. Natural history collections are one of the only sources of data that extends the time period of biodiversity information available to scientists.

This rediscovery of what may be the only moth collected by the Museum’s founder emphasises the importance of digitisation. Sometimes Museum digitisers are the first people to look at an entire collection in decades. The data created is then shared online with researchers around the world allowing them to make use of these collections. This process also identifies which specimens need additional curatorial care and lessons learned can impact other collections and recommended important data to capture in the future. Alongside producing biodiversity data, the process often uncovers forgotten histories behind specimens and their collectors.

Since the Museum's Digital Collections Programme was initiated in 2014 the team have digitised over 5.16 million specimens. These are now freely available via the Museum’s Data Portal world wide and the data has already been used to inform 1900 scientific studies. It is hoped that through continuously unlocking this treasure trove of information we can understand some of the most difficult issues facing the natural world today and work towards a future where both people and planet thrive.

Notes to editors

Natural History Media contact: Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 5654 / 07799690151 Email: press@nhm.ac.uk  

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