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RESEARCH PRODUCT

The Giant Butterfly-moths of the Natural History Museum of Wrocław University, Poland, with comments about Friedrich Wilhelm Niepelt and his insect collection (Lepidoptera: Castniidae)

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Even though natural history museums are seen by some as rather gloomy places, they are actually repositories of countless treasures and magnificent sources of knowledge. The Museum of Natural History of the University of Wroclaw is no exception. A process to curate all Museum’s Lepidoptera that started in 2012 allowed us to find among its several collections, the one that originally belonged to the renowned entomologist and insect dealer Friedrich Wilhelm Niepelt. Among the few moth groups in such collection 37 specimens within 19 species and 22 taxa of the neotropical giant butterfly-moths (Castniidae) were found. Even though several of those specimens lack detailed collecting information, and despite the somehow troubling history of the Museum, they are in very good shape and have been well maintained. We provide herein some historical background about the Museum and Niepelt, as well as general comments on the castniid taxa under the Museum’s care.