Insect Collections

Within the museum we have a number of collections from donated from specific collectors, researchers or companies, as well as curated collections used for teaching our students the differences in insect orders. We recently started a fieldwork collection to store insects gather by staff and students on field trips. 

Doncaster collection: 

Our Doncaster Collection consists of Lepidopteran specimens (moths and butterflies)  reared and curated by Arthur Doncaster. 

Arthur Doncaster was born the youngest of 10 children in 1856 and was a world-leading expert in Entomology. The Doncasters' were a well-connected Quaker family who were acclaimed in the Sheffield steel industry. His grandfather, in 1778, formed the successful Daniel Doncaster & Sons’ steel merchant.

In his career, Arthur made significant contributions to the development of Watkins and Doncaster, a business specialising in the sale and manufacture of equipment for Natural Sciences. From its foundry, in 1874 to today, it has become a widespread business, to which Doncaster was a pivotal driver of its growth and success from 1879 to the 1930s. 

In particular, Arthur was specialised in the collection of tropical butterflies, and he worked closely with the curators for the British Museum, providing much advice and assistance. The ties between the two institutions has resulted in over 26,000 donations of Lepidopteran specimens from Watkins and Doncaster to the British Museum (now the Natural history museum) across the years. 

Notably, Arthur was both deaf and speech impaired and communicated via a slate board that he hung around his neck. Whilst this brought great disadvantages, Arthur uniquely benefited from his affluent family, providing funds to continue his research. 

‘The Doncaster Collection’ here at Alfred Denny Museum, houses specimens that were most likely shipped in and reared by Arthur Doncaster and potentially his assistant, Fredrik Mette, who overtook Watkins and Doncaster after Arthur Doncasters' death in 1931. Our collection is thought to be at least 100 years old, some specimens may even be closer to 200 years old.

Watkins and Doncaster catalouge, image courtesy of Watkins and Doncaster, the Naturalists. 
Priscilla's note to Arthur on behalf of her sister Gertrude

The influence of Arthur Doncaster:

Arthur Doncaster made significant contributions to the study and collection of insect museum collections and Lepidopteran species throughout his life. He inspired many young people and received letters from young aspiring entomologists. One of the letters received reads:

“Dear sirs, I’ve decided to become a naturalist. Please send me a chrysalis of the Privet Hawk Moth. Love Peter”

The boy who wrote that letter grew up to become the famous naturalist Peter Scott the son of the legendary Antarctic explorer Captain Scott!

Alongside his older brother Samuel, Arthur found a great hobby in Entomology, which he pursued into a full-time career during his life. Arthurs’ passion in entomology and collecting specimens was shared with his niece and nephew, Gertrude and Leonard Doncaster. Leonard became a well-known academic and superintendent at the Museum of Zoology in Cambridge. 

A note to Arthur found amongst our Doncaster collection is most likely from his niece, Priscilla Doncaster [PD] and documents her sister's [Gertrude Mary’s] interest in moths. This is a charming insight to the family-orientated interest in entomology.


Illustration of Arthur Doncaster 
Students collecting insects at Sherwood forest

Fieldwork Collection:

Our ‘Fieldwork Insect Collection’ showcases insect biodiversity in the Peak District and Sherwood forest. These specimens were collected by staff and students during undergraduate fieldwork trips. The development and curation of this collection began in 2018 as part of the undergraduate Animal Ecology and Behaviour module. 

Insects in this collection are found in a range of habitats such as flowers, rock, trees and bushes and grasslands. 

Specimens displayed span over 8 insect orders including; Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Neuroptera, Odonata, Hemiptera, Orthoptera and Dermaptera.

Some of the insects collected on the Sherwood trip - Identified and labelled by Sonal Ladwa PhD student during her 1 month placement

The display was created by a PhD student working a placement in the Museum who identified and arranged the insects. This display demonstrates the collaborative effort that goes into creating new material for the museum. Specimens are collected, identified, databased, curated and finally displayed by a group of students and staff working together within the museum.

Images below:
A series of macro images highlighting the fine details of insects. Taken by Kane Dibb

Teaching Collection

Within the department of Biosciences at the University of Sheffield, we use a range of teaching materials to train undergraduate students. One of these is a full collection of insect specimens from the Alfred Denny Museum, curated for the purpose of teaching the new generation of scientists.

This display includes specimens from a variety of insect orders to illustrate the differences between their definitive characteristics, and aid identification skills. We currently have insects from the orders: 


Coleoptera (beetles) in the teaching collection 
Diptera (flies) in the teaching collection

Packer Collection:

The Packer Collection consists of insects Dr Laurence Packer acquired in his childhood which he donated to the museum as they were too delicate to ship with him when he moved to the University of Toronto from England. 


Dr Packer is a Mellitologist who specialises in the study of wild bees. He is currently a Professor of Biology at the University of York and has done lots of work developing galleries containing images of bee species from around the world to aid with identification and sexing of wild bees. Much of his work focuses on advocating for more awareness of the 20,000 bee species that are often ignored in favour of the western honey bee Apis mellifera. 

The collection contains a variety of English insects, mostly from the Odonata order (dragonflies, damselflies and mayflies), as well as some true-bugs and crickets collected from woods and parks in Oxfordshire. Some of the collection also contains insects acquired on a trip to Ecuador.

Learn more about Dr Packer on the York University website. 

Acknowledgements: information about each collection was provided by Sonal Ladwa, PhD, who was responsible for curating the fieldwork displays and working hard to database our Doncaster collection. Images:
Watkins and Doncaster flier from archiveorgWatkinsAndDoncasterCatalog, image in Public Domain