India's first insect museum to come up in Coimbatore

Coimbatore, Aug 18 (ANI): India's first insect museum is all set to come up in Coimbatore city of Tamil Nadu. The museum, to be built in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), will be of great help to students, entomologists, people who study insects as a hobby and farmers as well. The museum will house over 100,000 specimens of insects collected from across ecosystems. The museum will also have specimens of the Coleoptera Order, the largest family of the 29 orders and comprising of beetles. Specimens of three broad categories of insects including terrestrial insects, acquatic insects and those which live on plants will also be kept in the museum. Director in-charge, Centre for Plant Protection and Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, K Ramaraju said the construction of the museum is going on in full swing. Ramaraju added these insects have been collected over a period of 50 years by the Centre for Plant Protection and Studies.