A single donation containing thousands of pinned insects has almost doubled the entomological collection at the National Museum of Natural History.

The insects, donated by Anthony Seguna, from Naxxar, were mostly collected from French Guiana, on the north-east coast of South America, but there are also specimens originating from Morocco, Greece and Turkey, among others, all collected and prepared by Seguna himself.

Some of the pinned insects donated to the Natural History Museum. Photo: Heritage Malta

The museum’s curators are now entrusted with the task of cataloging and digitising the collection which will eventually be made available on Heritage Malta’s website.

Seguna’s collection consists mostly of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), including specimens of Atlas moths and different large blue Morpho butterflies.

Other insect groups include beetles, grasshoppers, crickets and dragonflies.

The total number of specimens in the collection amounts to several thousand, preserved in 200 large double-sided entomological boxes.

Donor Anthony Seguna (left) and senior curator John J. Borg in front of the collection donated by Seguna. Photo: Heritage Malta

Speaking during the presentation, John J. Borg, senior curator for natural history, remarked that collections form the backbone of any museum.

The National Museum of Natural History in Mdina receives an average of 30 donations presented to the museum each year.

These vary from single specimens to collections containing tens of hundreds, as in Mr Seguna’s case.

“It is encouraging for the museum to see that there are individuals who understand that the natural place for such collections is in a museum where they can be curated and made available for research purposes,” Borg added