Newsletter

Winter 2001

Donated Insect Collection
By Sheilagh C. Byler

Au Sable-Pacific Rim has been honored to accept the Robert Y. Pratt insect collection, donated by Marjorie Bakken Hanson, an inheritor of his estate. The insect collection is a treasure of natural history for Whidbey Island, and will be stored at the Pacific Rim Campus for use in teaching and research.

Robert Y. Pratt collected over 2600 insect specimens between 1920 and 1950. His handwritten labels include locations and dates, providing a historical record of what insects were present on Whidbey Island during that time. Until this past year, the insect collection had been stored in tightly sealed wooden Schmidt boxes in a shed on his Ebey's Landing farm.

The insect collection is comprised mostly of Order Coleoptera (beetles), with some Order Diptera (true flies), Order Hemiptera (true bugs), and Order Hymenoptera (bees, ants, and wasps). Identification is to the family level. The bulk of the specimens are from Washington State, with some East Coast specimens plus a few interesting exotic beetles. There is remarkably minimal damage from insect pests.

Marjorie Bakken Hanson has expressed her satisfaction in donating this collection to Au Sable Institute, stating that "Robert would have been very pleased" to know that his insect collection will be used for educating others about the natural history of the island he cared so very much for.

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