Charles Darwin’s early beetle collections: ‘Darwin’s beetle box’ and the Down House box

Figures & data

Figure 1. Darwin’s insect cabinet in Christ’s College, Cambridge.

Figure 2. Darwin’s beetle box, with labelled position codes. Original image provided by University Museum of Zoology Cambridge.

Figure 3. Down House box, with labelled position codes.

Table 1. Taxonomic representation of Darwin’s beetle box and the Down House box; number of specimens is given as number of positions in the box. Where specimens are missing the number present is given in parentheses.

	Darwin’s beetle box		Down House box			Darwin’s beetle box		Down House box
Family	Specimens	Taxa	Specimens	Taxa	Family	Specimens	Taxa	Specimens	Taxa
Gyrinidae	4	4	−	−	Trogossitidae	1	1	−	−
Haliplidae	21	7	−	−	Byturidae	2	1	−	−
Noteridae	5	2	−	−	Cleridae	3	3	2	2
Hygrobiidae	3	1	−	−	Dasytidae	3	2	−	−
Dytiscidae	79	44	−	−	Malachiidae	2	2	−	−
Carabidae	347	177	16 (15)	9	Kateretidae	4	4	2	1
Helophoridae	4	4	−	−	Nitidulidae	13	9	6	5
Georissidae	1	1	−	−	Monotomidae	4	2	−	−
Hydrochidae	1	1	−	−	Silvanidae	1	1	15 (14)	6
Hydrophilidae	22	17	−	−	Laemophloeidae	1	1	−	−
Histeridae	13	8	2	2	Phalacridae	6	4	−	−
Hydraenidae	7	7	−	−	Cryptophagidae	13	5	7	4
Ptiliidae	7	3	2	2	Erotylidae	−	−	3	2
Leiodidae	14	13	2	1	Endomychidae	−	−	1	1
Silphidae	13	13	1	1	Coccinellidae	−	−	12	5
Staphylinidae	3	2	19 (17)	12	Corylophidae	3	2	2	1
Geotrupidae	−	−	4	2	Latridiidae	1	1	−	−
Trogidae	1	1	1	1	Mycetophagidae	5	4	1	1
Lucanidae	−	−	6	2	Ciidae	−	−	6	1
Scarabaeidae	25	16	15	10	Tetratomidae	−	−	1	1
Clambidae	2	2	−	−	Melandryidae	−	−	3	2
Scirtidae	2	2	−	−	Ripiphoridae	−	−	2	1
Buprestidae	2	2	1	1	Zopheridae	4	2	−1	1
Byrrhidae	6	4	3	1	Tenebrionidae	−	−	19	13
Dascillidae	1	1	2	1	Oedemeridae	−	−	10	3
Elmidae	8	4	−	−	Salpingidae	1	1	−	−
Dryopidae	2	1	−	−	Scraptiidae	−	−	1	1
Heteroceridae	3	3	−	−	Anthicidae	−	−	4	2
Eucnemidae	1	1	−	−	Cerambycidae	−	−	30	14
Elateridae	19	16	22	13	Chrysomelidae	−	−	40 (39)	22
Lycidae	1	1	3	1	Rhynchitidae	5	4	3	1
Lampyridae	1	1	−	−	Attelabidae	2	2	4	2
Cantharidae	11	10	6	2	Apionidae	27	2	5	2
Bostrichidae	1	1	−	−	Dryophthoridae	2	1	2	1
Dermestidae	3(2)	2	9	5	Erirhinidae	6	4	5	3
Ptinidae	9	4	11 (9)	6	Curculionidae	82	36	53	31
Lyctidae	1	1	−	−

Figure 4. Pins and mounts used in the boxes; (a–d) Darwin's Beetle Box; (e–i) Down House Box.

(a) Hand-made pin; (b) machine-made pins on labels and mounts; (c) hand-cut multiple-point card mount; (d) printed card mount; (e) different sized hand-made pins and hand-cut card mounts; (f) hand-made pin; (g) machine-made pin; (h) hand-cut multiple-point card mount; (i) hand-cut and printed card mounts.

Figure 5. Examples of labels in the boxes; (a–e) Darwin's Beetle Box, (f and h) Down House Box.

(a) Printed label from Stephens (1829a); (b) printed labels from Crotch (1866); (c) labelled discs; (d) handwritten by Crotch (DHB); (e–f) handwritten by Emma Darwin; (g) examples of Emma Darwin’s handwriting (from DCP-LETT-13400 F); (h) different styles of handwritten label, probably by Francis Darwin; (i) examples of Francis Darwin’s handwriting (from DCP-LETT-11604, 5761 and 11638).

Table 2. Data from the annotated copy of Stephens (1829a), published in Stephens (1829c, 1830, 1831), the notebook DAR118 and Darwin’s letters. Localities are grouped to county or region.

Locality/source	Stephens 1829a	Stephens 1829c–31	DAR118	Letters
Total records	285	35	51	25
Localities
No locality	18	1	12	–
Cambridgeshire	115	22	8	2
Derbyshire	1	–	–	–
Devon	2	–	–	–
Essex	1	–	5	–
Gloucestershire	–	–	1	–
Hampshire	3	–	–	–
Kent	–	–	1
North Wales	27	9	6	14
Passim	47	–	1	–
Shrewsbury	25	–	7	7
Shropshire	10	3	1	–
Staffordshire	2	–	1	–
Yorkshire	1	–	–	–
Collectors
Cooper	1	–
Hays	1	–
Hoare	–	–		2
Hope	19	–	4
Thompson	2	–
Waterhouse	14	–	2
Weaver	3	–	2

Stephens JF. 1829a. A systematic catalogue of British insects: being an attempt to arrange all the hitherto discovered indigenous insects … containing also the references to every English writer on entomology … with all the published English genera to the present time. London: Baldwin & Cradock.

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Crotch GR. 1866 ( mislabelled 1870). Catalogue of British Coleoptera. 2nd ed. Cambridge: University Press; p. 17.

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Stephens JF. 1829c. Illustrations of British entomology, or a synopsis of indigenous insects: containing their generic and specific distinctions …: embellished with coloured figures of the rarer and more interesting species. Mandibulata. Vol. 2. London: Baldwin & Cradock.

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Stephens JF. 1830. Illustrations of British entomology, or a synopsis of indigenous insects: containing their generic and specific distinctions …: embellished with coloured figures of the rarer and more interesting species. Mandibulata. Vol. 3. London: Baldwin & Cradock.

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Stephens JF. 1831. Illustrations of British entomology, or a synopsis of indigenous insects: containing their generic and specific distinctions …: embellished with coloured figures of the rarer and more interesting species. Mandibulata. Vol. 4. London: Baldwin & Cradock.

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