Letter from the McGuire Center’s Director

portrait of Akito Kawahara standing infront of the McGuire CenterIt has been 20 years since the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity opened thanks to the visionary support of Dr. Bill and Nadine McGuire and the dedicated commitment of founding director Dr. Thomas Emmel. We are proud of what has been accomplished. Gifts of collections have doubled the size of our specimen holdings, and we now have one of the world’s largest butterfly and moth collections. Loyal donors have created endowments that enable us to bring experts from around the world to curate and study valuable specimens. Over 30 of our Ph.D. and master’s students have graduated and found jobs in academia, conservation, and industry. Collectively, our staff and students have produced over 1,000 research publications and authored books for scientific and educational audiences.

Initiatives, such as the McGuire Center’s caterpillar rearing facility and the living Butterfly Rainforest exhibit, inspire students and the public to appreciate the wide array of butterfly and moth species. Additionally, our Center has developed many community partnerships, including providing butterfly encounters to cancer patients and planting butterfly gardens at schools across Florida.

As I reflect on our past accomplishments, I look to the future with great anticipation. We plan to continue growing our specimen holdings and educational impact, and expand into new research areas. These include gaining a better understanding of how butterflies and moths have responded to rapid environmental changes that are happening to our planet. I am excited to be part of the McGuire Center’s bright future, and I look forward to the many discoveries to come.

Sincerely,
Akito Kawahara

Vision for the Future

As a leading academic research institution, the McGuire Center is dedicated to cultivating new methods that employ the latest technologies to extract meaningful data from its collections and explore pressing research questions. Moving forward, Center faculty and scientific staff will continue to prioritize mentoring students, fostering their academic journeys though partnerships on grant-funded research, and encouraging novel scientific approaches that enhance the value of the Center’s collections.

researching in white coats working with test tubes
McGuire Center students train teachers in molecular techniques. Florida Museum photo by Jeff Gage

Newly hired assistant curator Vaughn Shirey will collaborate with labs at the McGuire Center and programs such as the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), on projects related to the global distribution of butterflies. Combining digitization with AI and computer modeling, he will analyze the vast specimen data stored in the McGuire Center’s collections and rapidly expanding archive of live images. These approaches will help identify butterflies and moths that face the greatest threats along with the geographic areas facing the most significant conservation need.

The Center will continue to grow its collections and serve as a hub for global Lepidoptera experts and enthusiasts. It will combine traditional research methods with new cutting-edge technology to advance the study and conservation of butterflies and moths.

Mark-and-recapture programs conducted with the endangered Schaus’ Swallowtail have allowed monitoring of its dwindling populations in the Florida Keys.
McGuire Center collections assistant, Marcela Diaz, collects butterfly appendages for DNA sequencing.
Tomasz Pyrcz, a satyrine specialist, working in the collections as part of the McGuire Center’s visiting researcher program. Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace
Captive rearing of Atala butterflies at the McGuire Center. Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace
Kristin Rossetti working with middle school students as part of the LepCamp program. Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace

Research Highlights

click butterflies to learn more

Florida and Caribbean Lepidoptera Surveys

There are over 3,000 species of butterflies and moths in Florida and the Caribbean. Thanks to surveys conducted by the Center’s staff and students in Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park near Gainesville and UF/IFAS DeLuca Preserve near Orlando, as well as surveys conducted in the Caribbean by the late curator Jaqueline Miller and collections manager Deborah Matthews, we know much more about these faunas.

Blog: DeLuca Preserve Survey

Silk Research

Most of the nearly 160,000 species of butterflies and moths make silk. The commercial silkworm industry is very lucrative, but the diversity of silk and how it is created is less understood in most Lepidoptera, and this has become a focal point of research at the Center. This multi-million dollar project funded by the National Science Foundation will help build collaborations with engineers and material scientists to develop strong silks for application in medicine and other fields.

Dated Butterfly Phylogeny

butterfly phylogeny
Dated butterfly phylogeny

For the last 15 years, the Center has been at the forefront of evolutionary research on butterflies. Spearheaded by curator Akito Kawahara and authored by 88 additional researchers from the Center and around the world, the recently published evolutionary tree includes 2,300 species and 92% of all butterfly genera. Scientists now better understand how butterflies diverged from moths over 100 million years ago, likely in North America.

Wildflower and Butterfly Conservation Efforts

Curator Jaret Daniels is advancing conservation and recovery efforts for butterflies and other pollinators across the U.S. His lab works closely with state agencies, private corporations, and homeowners to improve management practices on roadsides, in powerline easements, solar farms, and urban landscapes. Through local and national outreach campaigns, the Daniels Lab strives to better connect people to the natural world.

researchers planting small seedlings
UF graduate students James Brown and Rachel Walsh plant
native grasses near the McGuire Center on Florida Wildflower Day. Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace

New Species of Neotropical Butterflies

Over his 30 years of work in tropical South America, curator Keith Willmott has co-authored more than 150 scientific works on butterflies of the region and taught more than 50 students to conduct taxonomic research. During this process, one new subtribe, 12 new genera, 123 new species, and 116 new subspecies of butterflies have been described. Several former students now work to conserve Neotropical biodiversity.

McGuire Center students train teachers in molecular techniques. Florida Museum photo by Jeff Gage
McGuire Center alumnus, Ana Paula dos Santos de Carvalho, who studied mating adaptations in butterflies. Florida Museum photo by Jeff Gage
K-12 students learn the art of creating collections through programs offered at the McGuire Center. Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace
Pupa of a Monarch butterfly. Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace
Miniodes maculifera digitized by a visiting researcher.
Riley Gott and Deborah Matthews showcase a new species they described. Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace

Fundraising Opportunity

several people in an field, one is holding a long net the other is pointing towards plants
Andrei Sourakov teaching LepCamp — the McGuire Center’s program for middle school students to learn about maintaining insect collections. Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace

With the help of supporters like you, the McGuire Center has grown to include one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive Lepidoptera collections and has become the premier academic research center focused on moths and butterflies. Your gifts have enhanced every part of the McGuire Center.

You have funded innovative student research and provided grants that cover the costs of sharing research results at conferences and in prestigious peer-reviewed journals. You have brought researchers from around the world into the McGuire labs to collaborate with our scientists and curate the collections. You have supported pioneering research and donated the specimens that form the heart of the Center. Because of you, the McGuire Center is a thriving research enterprise with a bright future.

Thank you.

Please join us in celebrating 20 years of the McGuire Center with a gift to the McGuire Center Support Fund. Your donation will support the Center’s highest priorities.

Checks should be made out to the UF Foundation and mailed to Development, Florida Museum, P.O. Box 112710, Gainesville, FL, 32611, with a note that the gift is for the McGuire Center.

You may also give to a specific initiative.

brown, black and yellow butterfly

Endangered Species

McGuire Center staff conduct captive propagation and releases of endangered butterfly species in Florida to promote pollinator conservation.

orange monarch butterfly

Florida Museum and Monarchs

Every year, McGuire Center staff lead tours to the overwintering sites of the Monarch butterfly in Michoacán, Mexico, and are involved in studying Monarch conservation in Florida.

black and yellow butterfly

Butterflies of California

The Center received several large butterfly and moth collections from California, including from donors David Bauer, George Bers, and John Emmel.

Orange and blue butterfly

Andean Butterflies

The Center’s extensive program studying butterflies in the Andes has led to numerous discoveries. Former students continue this work in Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia, and lead courses to teach students from Latin America.

pink-orange butterfly

Palearctic Collections

Specimens from the Eurasian continent have increased greatly since the opening of the museum, especially with the donation of the Ulf Eitschberger collection in 2009.

blue, brown and orange butterfly

Butterflies of Asia

McGuire Center staff have been working on Central Asian butterfly taxonomy in collaboration with European and Canadian colleagues. This work has resulted in several high-profile publications.

yellow-green and black butterfly

Butterflies of Australia

The endemic Australian butterfly fauna is now better represented in the Center’s collection thanks to the donation of specimens by A.F. Atkins.

brown moth with a long tongue

Research in Madagascar

McGuire Center students conducted behavioral research on the Wallace’s Sphinx, Xanthopan praedicta, and it’s ability to evade capture from bats. The moth has an extra-long proboscis that helps it feed on and simultaneously pollinate the famous Darwin’s Orchid.

yellow and black striped butterfly with orange and blue marking on the lower wings

Students from South Korea and Japan

Over the past 20 years, the Center has hosted many researchers and students from Japan and South Korea who are interested in the taxonomy, genetics, and evolution of butterflies and moths.

yellow and black striped butterfly with orange and blue marking on the lower wings

Students from South Korea and Japan

Over the past 20 years, the Center has hosted many researchers and students from Japan and South Korea who are interested in the taxonomy, genetics, and evolution of butterflies and moths.

orange black and yellow butterfly drawing

Contributions to African Studies

The African Lepidoptera collection has grown thanks to donations from Daniel Buttafuoco, John Heppner, Raymond Murphy, JD Turner and others. The Center contributes photos and significant data to African moth websites.

orange black and yellow butterfly drawing

Contributions to African Studies

The African Lepidoptera collection has grown thanks to donations from Daniel Buttafuoco, John Heppner, Raymond Murphy, JD Turner and others. The Center contributes photos and significant data to African moth websites.

orange black and yellow butterfly drawing

Contributions to African Studies

The African Lepidoptera collection has grown thanks to donations from Daniel Buttafuoco, John Heppner, Raymond Murphy, JD Turner and others. The Center contributes photos and significant data to African moth websites.

orange black and yellow butterfly drawing

Contributions to African Studies

The African Lepidoptera collection has grown thanks to donations from Daniel Buttafuoco, John Heppner, Raymond Murphy, JD Turner and others. The Center contributes photos and significant data to African moth websites.

orange black and yellow butterfly drawing

Contributions to African Studies

The African Lepidoptera collection has grown thanks to donations from Daniel Buttafuoco, John Heppner, Raymond Murphy, JD Turner and others. The Center contributes photos and significant data to African moth websites.

orange black and yellow butterfly drawing

Contributions to African Studies

The African Lepidoptera collection has grown thanks to donations from Daniel Buttafuoco, John Heppner, Raymond Murphy, JD Turner and others. The Center contributes photos and significant data to African moth websites.