India’s first Insect Museum is to be set up in Coimbatore. The museum, to be built in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), will be of great help to students, entomologists, people who study insects as a hobby and farmers as well.
The museum will house more than 100,000 specimens of insects collected from across various ecosystems. The museum will also have specimens of the order Coleoptera, the largest order of the class Insecta, mostly comprising beetles. Specimens of 3 broad categories of insectsviz., terrestrial insects, acquatic insects and those which live on plants will also be kept in the museum.
Director in-charge, Centre for Plant Protection and Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, K Ramaraju said the construction of the museum is underway and these insects have been collected over a period of 50 years by the Centre for Plant Protection and Studies.
By: Archa Dave
