Kokichi Hatta and Japanese Collectors Donated More Than 20,000 Insect Specimens to NCHU

More than 27,000 insect specimens donated by Japanese scholar Kokichi Hatta and insect collectors Yasuron Takasaki and Nobuhiro Yoshida, after more than a year of contact and formalities, arrived at the Museum of Entomology of National Chung Hsing University in mid-January. Kokichi Hatta is a retired professor from Nagoya Women's University. In 2009 and 2011, Kokichi Hatta donated 15,000 pinned specimens of the butterflies, beetles and dragonflies from all over the world, as well as the books and microscopes, to the Department of Entomology, National Chung Hsing University. Ten years later, Kokichi Hatta donated more than 6,000 collections of the specimens and books for the third time. At the same time, under Kokichi Hatta’s recommendation, Kokichi Hatta’s friends Yasuron Takasaki and Nobuhiro Yoshida also donated more than 15,000 and more than 5,000 specimens, respectively.

Yasuron Takasaki, 87 years old, is an amateur researcher of Odonata in local Nagoya and a staff member in the Investigation Center of the Insect Red Book of Aichi Prefecture. The donation this time includes quite complete specimens of Japanese dragonflies, except for Japanese conservation species, containing 191 species of adult dragonfly specimens and 102 species of dragonfly exuviae; there are also display specimens of Japanese beetles, stink bugs, moths and sanitary insect pests.

Nobuhiro Yoshida is 82 years old and is an insect collector in Nagoya. The donation this time includes the butterfly and dragonfly specimens collected from Japan, Indonesia, Myanmar and Peru. Among them, the earliest specimen is the dragonfly specimen collected by the famous Japanese dragonfly collector Ichirou Matsui in 1932. Nobuhiro Yoshida passed away due to illness during the donation period. The collection of specimens arrived in Taiwan from afar for permanent preservation, which is even more precious.

Kokichi Hatta is 78 years old. His main research is the monitoring of the environment quality by using aquatic insects. As an entomologist, he kept high enthusiasm in insect collection and has been continuously visiting Taiwan for more than ten years. He visited the Museum of Entomology of National Chung Hsing University almost every year to curate his donated specimens, which is more than 20,000 specimens in total so far. Most of the species donated this time were collected from Japan, with a wide range of species, including the butterflies, moths, beetles, praying mantises, dragonflies, damselflies, stink bugs, etc.

Professor Man-Miao Yang of the Department of Entomology, National Chung Hsing University said that the collection sources of the Museum of Entomology, National Chung Hsing University were mainly collected by teachers and students in the past. In recent years, the donations from home and abroad have greatly increased the diversity of the specimens. Professor Man-Miao Yang specially thank Dr. Kokichi Hatta for his trust and support to the Museum of Entomology, National Chung Hsing University.