A most curious beetle from the insect collection of William Hunter (1718-1783)

Brown, G. and Hancock, E.G. (2008) A most curious beetle from the insect collection of William Hunter (1718-1783). Linnean, 24(3), pp. 26-32.

Abstract

Dr William Hunter (1718-1783) succeeded as a physician, teacher of anatomy and obstetrician and became an avid collector of a wide range of objects of artistic and scientific interest. These were housed in a purpose built museum within his home at No.16, Great Windmill Street, London, including a fine collection of insects. His bequest of the contents of this museum to the University of Glasgow formed the basis of the first public museum in Scotland in 1807 (Keppie, 2007). The insect collection numbers around 7,600 specimens and in it resides a particularly curious beetle (Fig. 1). This insect was referred to in the first published guide to the Hunterian Museum (Laskey, 1813) as Scarabaeus neptunus and can be seen to be a combination of a number of different species glued together. Whether this was a deliberate attempt to produce a fake, to confound or amuse is open to conjecture.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Hancock, Mr Geoff
• Authors: Brown, G., and Hancock, E.G.
• Subjects: Q Science > QL Zoology; Q Science > QH Natural history
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: Linnean
• ISSN: 0950-1096