E.M.O.P.I.C is an acronym for the E.M. Ostrum Private Insect Collection which is a rapidly growing private collection of insects mostly from North America. All the specimens in the collection were either collected myself or collected by my family and friends. The collection really took hold in 2012 when I began to really invest my free time in it, though there are specimens from as early as 2009. As of the last specimen count the collection currently houses about 15,000 specimens, mostly from Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Colorado.

Currently the collection has representatives from 16 different insect orders with significant holdings of Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera ,and Coleoptera. Starting in 2017 I began to narrow down and focus on only a few groups of insects, though I still do a lot of general collecting to continue adding new species to the collection.

The current collecting focus includes Cicindelinae (tiger beetles), Mutillidae (velvet ants), Buprestidae (metallic wood boring beetles), Lepidoptera (butterflies & Moths), and Odonata (dragonflies & damselflies)

 

This is a quickly growing collection as I go out on collecting trips almost every weekend during the non-winter months. I also get an opportunity to collect on my work trips which take me to various places throughout the U.S.

If you have any questions about the collection or insects in general feel free to contact me…Keep On Bugging.