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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 51(1), 1997, 102

W. D. WINTER COLLECTION TO THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY, CAMBRIDGE

Additional key words: Geometridae, Noctuidae, New England.

In October 1996, the Lepidoptera collection of William D. (Dave) Winter (Westwood, Massachusetts) was donated to the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University (MCZ). This collection represents a most important regional taxonomic resource, with superbly prepared and documented specimens, often with an abundance of affiliated host-plant and related biological information. The Winter material at the MCZ presently totals 18,077 specimens, 16,079 from the 1996 donation and 1998 from donations between 1979-1989.

The strongest holdings are in the Noctuidae and Geometridae, although there is good representation of many groups. Virtually all the material was either collected personally by Dave, or reared by him from stock that he secured or obtained from other lepidopterists (few specimens are the result of direct exchange or gift). Dave ran a light trap for moths regularly in his back yard, with the back yard moving around in Westwood (from the early 1960s to 1975) and then on to nearby Dedham (1975 to 1995), in mostly semi-open environments with mixed hardwoods. Over time, the radius of his local butterfly and moth collecting expanded to include much of New England, Long Island, and northern New Jersey. Dave and his wife, Jo Brewer, also traveled extensively throughout North America to photograph and collect, with favored localities including Sanibel and Captiva Islands in Florida, and Ossibaw Island in Georgia.

Table 1 provides a synopsis of the MCZ donation. Several hundred specimens remain with Dave at present.

Table 1. Lepidoptera donated by William D. Winter to the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University.

Year of Donation

Naomi Pierce, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.

Received and accepted for publication 15 January 1997.