A Fijian insect museum was opened by the Minister for Agriculture, Rural and Maritime Development and National Disaster Management, Inia Seruiratu yesterday.

The National Insect Museum at the Koronivia Research Station near Nausori Town would collect, keep and preserve Fijian insect specimens and those collected from around the region.

Mr Seruiratu said the museum would assist in insect and insect pest diagnosis and risk analysis.

“The new office space and insect collections would help staff effectively carry out their work better to understand the impact of insect pest and also have a reference point that would assist in diagnosing pest problems,” Mr Seruiratu said.

The new museum replaces the existing one that had been in use for many years which had been refurbished to become a staffroom.

Mr Seruiratu said staff workstations were in laboratories where cultures were maintained for pest and disease diagnosis.

“This current arrangement which has been established for many years has been implicated as the cause of high culture contamination in the laboratories.”

The museum would be maintained by the Plant and Protection Section of the Station. The curation and preservation of specimen are two of its important functions.

Mr Seruiratu said the museum would be best used for pest identifications.

Some of the activities expected to be carried out when the new museum will up and running are curation of a total of five insects specimens per quarter, pest diagnostic request received and advisory services made- as when required by clients and preservation of quarantine intercepted pests as references for Pest Risk Analysis.

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