MV/ BLB: Keep "everything"?

Chuck, Yes Keep all that you can handle. For decades I was sorry I didn't keep all I could possibly handle when I was younger. But, saying that, you may turn into some collecting fanatic as myself. Fellow entomologists ask me how did I discover over 400 species of moths new to science. Easy answer, spread a thousand specimens of a particular species, then take a closer look at them. There you will discover there are in fact a handful of different species among the lot. By the way, that 400 new species number is a lowball number as I stopped counting how many new species we have discovered about 15 years ago. But my main purpose was a lifetime project pointing out the errors published by our biggest names in entomological history. And I used real true wild captured specimens to prove what I say, not statistical hocus pocus to prove a opinion theory. I am not against statistics, In fact my only A(s) in college were in math and in particular statistical classes I was forced to take. An I have used statistics daily in nearly two decades of daily employment in Quality Assurance Engineering. Here is another example of where I collected species of the marsh habitat genus 'Doryodes'. Over the past 51 years (1969-2020), using self-designed automatic-capture ultraviolet light traps we collected and retained over 400 examples of Doryodes adults from across the state of Louisiana. As a result, there were 4 species among this half century sample, three of which were species new to science. www.academia.edu/45000725/THE_GENUS_DORYODES_GUEN%C3%89E_1857_LEPIDOPTERA_EREBIDAE_IN_LOUISIANA

But I began this fanaticism of volume collecting in the very early 1970s when I began counting hawkmoths for what turned into a 30-year study on the Sphingidae of Louisiana, USA. I saw in the very first MONA fascicle there was a huge amount of false statement and fake information (unsubstantiated opinions) stated as fact. As decades past I reviewed all sphingid literature goin back to the Civil War period, I discovered every one of these noted authors stated much of the very same things, just unsubstantiated opinions.

Here is a link to a species account I published in 2002 on the well known polyphemus moth in Louisiana. www.lsuinsects.org/people/vernonbrou/pdf/2002.%2055.%20Voltinism%20of%20Antheraea%20polyphemus%20%28Cramer%29%20%28Satur.pdf
Even in our most prestigious Moths of North America series (MONA), Ferguson (1972) stated of polyphemus, "As far south as Florida, there still seems to be only two broods ... February to April ... October to December." The question then becomes, to which brood do the May, June, July, August, and September specimens belong. Covell (1984), stated polyphemus has 2 broods, April and September, without further explanation. I collected 1,509 wild adults in Louisiana; polyphemus actually has five annual broods at approximately 47-day intervals beginning with the first brood peaking about mid-March.

For attention to this post here is one of several drawers I have 0f Annea andri males on left, females on right I discovered that the number of brood in our scientific literature is incorrect by the 'experts'. For A. andri, Klots stated this species has two broods. But I collected hundreds and discovered it has 5 annual broods in Louisiana. And I have addressed more than 1,000 species among the 438 research manuscripts published so far.

Here is another example (one of several hundreds) of what I do with all of those duplicate captures. www.academia.edu/2588690/The_genus_Argyrostrotis_H%C3%BCbner_1821_Lepidoptera_Erebidae_in_Louisiana

John, there are still more undescribed Doryodes species out there in other Gulf States. More recently, two more species have been described I think from Florida, can't find that publication at the moment. And yes I have some Donacula, but I have not worked on them. Probably won't get to work on them either as I currently have ~600 manuscripts in various stages of completeness sitting here now. Last year we unplugged 6 of the 7 light traps we have operated here at our home for the past 40years. Getting too old, and too may medical maladies.

I've taken several Leps from boats. How bout one of these? [stock photo]

Vernon, I have to wonder how you store such a massive collection. I visited you about 30+ years ago and you had everything in a separate air-conditioned trailer. Surely your collection has outgrown that space? I know you have donated thousands of specimens over the years, but your personal collection must be huge and take up a lot of square footage.

Will address 'bycatch' later, as I have published several studies mentioning bycatch details.

But to answer storage issues, the one problem I was always presented with over the past half century was where do I put all these specimens. Well, all along I have annually donated some of my duplicates while slowly increasing the number of Cornell drawers and cabinets to hold them. Specimens must be kept in darkened areas, thus cabinets with doors. I self-funded all my activities, but I had no source of funds or rich relatives, so I created and designed an improved method to fabricate Cornell size glass-top drawers. Then I designed 12-drawer and 25-drawer cabinets to put the drawers in. I published How-to-DIY both wooden Cornell drawers and wooden cabinets many decades ago. So, over the years, I also purchased numerous hundreds of used Cornell drawers, and I purchased a few collections from people, even once buying a collection of tropical butterflies from the wife of a medical doctor who committed suicide by drinking cyanide while his wife went to the grocery store.

I had an even bigger problem as I also accumulated a world collection of Sphingidae (around 40,000 adults (800+ species) from 120 countries of the world. In the late 80s I sold that collection for money to live on for three years so I could obtain a 2nd degree, as the oil industry in the US took it's last breath in 1986. When that collection was sold, so too did a few hundred hundred Cornell drawers. That collection now resides with an additional 103,814 lepidoptera specimens donated by me at the McGuire Center in Gainesville, Florida. Altogether, there are about 50,000 sphingidae with my labels on them at the McGuire Center.

But I would buy enough lumber to make batches of 50-100 drawers every few years, and of course I accumulated a shop full of quality woodworking tools and supplies. During my lifetime, I self taught myself how to do quality woodworking, quality sheet metal work, and I worked as a specialty welder and Quality Assurance welding engineer.

Now my donations weren't made because I was just a nice guy. In fact, my first donation was 1,110 specimens made in 1971 to the Louisiana State Arthropod Museum (LSAM), and annually for much of the past half century to many museums. My largest annual donation was 127,283 specimens in 2007 to the LSAM. All along I donated these specimens to numerous major Museums in the USA, and I was able to use them as tax deductions, as these qualified as reducing my tax burden by 50% annually. Though I have lost my record for 17 donations, those appraisals I do currently have involve specimens valued at $599,149.86. I also exchanged and sold an additional 700,000 Louisiana insects to collectors, researchers and museums out of the USA. So now you know how I handled the great volume of duplicates. Currently I have 662 Cornell drawers containing ~500,000 specimens, mostly Louisiana lepidoptera. Also, I have a Collection of world Eudocima (approx. 10,000 + specimens) 42 species from 42 countries of the world and many island locations.

My collection is primarily stored in a environmentally controlled mobile home here on my property though I have somewhat taken over two rooms in our home for a work area and entomological library. I do not plan on increasing the size of my collection as I have no room for further expansion. Here is a handy photo of my collection storage.