A catalogue of the surviving insect collection of the old Funchal Seminary Museum of Natural History

Abstract

After a brief description of the history of the Funchal Seminary Museum and its collections between 1882 and 2015, the authors describe in detail the collection that survived to the present day. A considerable effort is directed at the attempt to associate specimens deposited in the collection with local or foreign entomologists known to have visited the archipelago on those dates. A thorough analysis at the collection s content shows a total of 610 species (1797 specimens) distributed by the orders Coleoptera (70%), Diptera (11%), Hymenoptera (8%), Heteroptera (7%) and Lepidoptera (4%). The number of families, genera and species accounted for each Order is presented. The last and most extensive part of the work consists of an annotated checklist with all the species present in the collection, its synonymy, specimens, associated data and registration number in the current collection at the Madeira Botanical Garden. The following species are new additions to Madeira Archipelago and Selvagens islands: the beetles Attagenus unicolor (Brahm), Dermestes lardarius (L.), Dermestes maculatus De Geer and Alphitobius diaperinus Kugel and the stinkbug Brachynema cinctum (F.). Additionaly, the endemic bee Andrena maderensis Cockrell is a novelty to the Deserta Grande Island.