McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity

McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity

The center houses a collection of more than six million butterfly and moth specimens, making it one of the largest collections of in the world, rivaling that of the in . The collection includes extinct species. It started with around four million specimens, with space for significant further expansion. The collection brings together those from the  in other University of Florida collections, and the 's Division of Plant Industry collections.

A $4.2 million gift was received from William and Nadine McGuire of Wayzata, Minnesota in 2000 to establish the William W. and Nadine M. McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity. This gift was one of the largest private gifts ever given to foster research on insects and was matched from the State of Florida Alec Courtelis Facilities Enhancement Challenge Grant Program The McGuires later gave another $3 million to fund final construction of the center. This new $12 million facility fo research and public exhibits opened in August 2004.

The research space includes laboratories focusing on molecular genetics, scanning electron microscopy, image analysis, conservation and captive propagation of endangered species, optical microscopy and specimen preparation, as well as classrooms and offices for 12 faculty curators, collection managers and other staff.

Some of the research laboratories and collection can be viewed through glass panels at the back of the museum. The center has around 39,000 square feet (3,600 m²) of space for its facilities in total.