Arthropoda - Butterfly Museum

About

The exhibition is the largest permanent display of world's butterflies in Poland. Over five thousand (5049) specimen from all over the world can be viewed. Realised in 2009 by Jacek Kobiela and his son Filip Kobiela, the collection is a crowning of the over 35 year lasting passion of the former. Together, the two represent the second and the third generation of collectors in the family. They continue the legacy of Prof. Stanislaw Fischer, who established the Bochnia Museum in 1959, which currently bears his name. ,,Arthropoda's" collection includes an overview of day and night butterflies divided into families and genuses present in all of the world's continents. The collection shows arthropods - the biggest group of animals living on earth: day and night butterflies, beetles (Poland and world), scorpions, mantes, hemiptera. Species from around Bochnia comprise a substantial part of the collection. The exhibition is complemented by a selection of macro pictures of butterflies and beetle heads shot by Filip Kobiela. Butterfly classification is based on the taxonomy of Linnaeus, who first introduced latin binomial nomenclature describing biological species. The museum presents species, whose appearance and biology ilustrate various natural phenomena - a moth doesn't have to be grey and a butterfly can be a leaf, an owl or a tiger.

At a glance

• Typical visit: about 30 minutes