A Visit to the National Science Museum: Natural History | 국립중앙과학관 자연사관 (Daejeon, Republic of Korea)

 Walking to the Science Park

Great iNaturalisting along the way, take a bit of a wrong turn and then have to go through some construction. Then, over to the main road and there is even more construction. I’m waived through by one of the workers and go around a front loader. Lots, of course, cicadas around by deafening sound of their chorusing!

National Science Museum | 국립중앙과학관

The National Science Museum is a very large complex with a Science & Technology Hall (that’s packed with interactive displays and loud crowds of children (as by design I assume) on one side and the Natural History Museum on the other. Also in the complex is a Children’s Science Museum, something called the Dreamy Experience Center, an Astronomy Center, and a science playground.

Behind the Science and Technology Hall is the Space Science Park, a display of Korean rocketry and, for some reason, maglev trains. Very popular photo spot!

• As the representative place of science technology, and culture, the National Science Museum was established in Seoul, Jung-Gu, Yejang-Dong in 1945 to promote the scientific developments of everyday life and to encourage the developments of scientific creativity amongst youth. In 1983, the expansion and relocation of the Science Museum took place at Daejeon’s Daedeok Science Complex, the new compound was to have total space of 176,232㎡ and the interior space of 43,384㎡. After 5 years of construction, the current Science Museum opened in October 9th of 1990. -- Website

National Science Museum Natural History | 국립중앙과학관 자연사관

Across the way from the Science and Technology Hall  (through a giant archway) is the Natural History Museum. The first floor is dinosaurs, geology, stuffed animals, the usual things. Very nice exhibition of trilobites! One of my favorite extinct animals. One of my favorite extinct animals. Pinned insect display a bit disappointing since the cicadas (including the Eastern Horse Cicada) are way up high. 

• At the Natural history Hall you can see the natural history of Korean peninsula-land of Korean peninsula and creatures on the land. You can find evidences of the very early life forms on our land. There are rare specimens such as billion years old fossils and 2.5 billion years old rocks. You can also experience virtual reality and specimen making at the Discovery Zone and Natural history laboratory. -- Website

Second floor is human evolution. Nicely done display the seques into tool making and has a nice history of human tools that ends with computers and hi-tech things. Overall, quite nice, and I should add, worth the cost of entry, which was free. 

I skipped the Science Cafe and headed out of the Science Park …

Back to the Gapcheon River

I left the park, walking along some shrubbery by the parking lot and had great iNaturalist finds, including a tree with Eastern Horse Cicada (Cryptotympana atrata) low to the ground. Added a number of observations and then, right in front of me was a large male within reach. Snatched him up and got some good photos. Set him on my hand, but he didn’t want anymore to do we me (doing the cicada danger cry) and with a wobble, flew off. Crossed the big street to avoid the construction and went down to the riverside walkway.

Cryptotympana atrata

First Adult Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) observation of the year

Last year, I made my first adult Lycorma delicatula observation on 6 July 2025. This year, it was 8 days later (14 July 2026). A large stand of mature Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) were cut down in mid- and late June. These trees were were many of the egg masses from the fall were observed and they made for good observation points. 

This observation was on a young Tree-of-Heaven.

With the large number of (visible) egg masses in my neighborhood in the fall and the large number of black and red nymphs, I fear it will be another booming year. 

In 2025, I made 1,519 observations in Arlington, Virginia.

iNaturalist Highlight: 26,000th observation (Leptoglossus oppositus) -- a leaf-footed taxonomic puzzle!

On 28 June 2026 (a while ago now, and the delay in reporting is explained below), I uploaded my 26,000th iNaturalist observation, a Leptoglossus oppositus, a leaf-footed bug, in Colonial Village, Arlington, Virginia. As of this date, I've had 25 observations of the species.

I thought that documenting this species would be easy, since it's quite common, however, once I started digging in, it turned into quite a taxonomic rabbit hole that is not quite fully resolved (from a bibliographic citation trail) in my mind.

First issue, GBIF, via the Catalogue of Life, lists the citation for the species as:

Say, T. (1832) In New species of North American insects found by Joseph Barabino, chiefly in Louisiana. New Harmony, Indiana. 1–16 pp. [1831]

I wasn't able to find a copy of this item on BHL, but HathiTrust did have a copy (see here). I went through this sixteen pages way too many times and found no mention of Leptoglossus oppositus (or Anisoscelis oppositus as first named by Say).

Finally, I went to the collected works of Say (on BHL):

Say,  Thomas, & LeConte,  John Lawrence. (1891). The complete writings of Thomas Say on the entomology of North America (Vol. 1, p. 327). A. E. Foote. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/24631474

And went page by page through the 1830-1832 publications. As I expected, I didn't find anything in New species of North American insects found by Joseph Barabino, chiefly in Louisiana. But, I did find A. oppositus described in:

Say, Thomas. 1831 December. Descriptions of new species of HETEROPTEROUS HEMIPTERA of North America. New Harmony, Indiana. (BHL page link -- see page image below).

So, it looks like GBIF and the Catalogue of Life need to do a bit of cleanup on their citations!

From Wikipedia: Leptoglossus oppositus a species of leaf-footed bug (family Coreidae) found in North America. It resembles Leptoglossus fulvicornis but can be distinguished by the deeper scallops in the leaf-like feature of the hind tibia and the addition of three white spots across the hemelytra. This species is widely dispersed from New York to Florida and as far west as Iowa and Minnesota, as well as the southwest regions of the United States into Mexico.

HISTORIC DOCUMENTATION

Leptoglossus oppositus was first described by Thomas Say in 1831 (December) (as Anisoscelis oppositus):

3. A. oppositus. — Reddish-brown; hemelytra with a white point in the middle of the corium; antennae rufous; head trilineated; posterior tibiae dilated and sinuated. 

Inhabits Indiana.

This is very closely allied to albicinctus nob., but is uniform in its differential characters. It may be known by the small white point of the hemelytra.

Say, Thomas. 1831 December. Descriptions of new species of HETEROPTEROUS HEMIPTERA of North America. New Harmony, Indiana. Reprinted in The complete writings of Thomas Say on the entomology of North America (Vol. 1, p. 327). A. E. Foote. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/24631474.

In the News: "Finding Flora and Fauna" in American Libraries (19 June 2019)

BHL was featured in The Bookend feature of American Libraries in the 3 June 2019 issue. It took a couple of photo shoots to get the picture. Special thanks to (then) Smithsonian Libraries rare book librarian, Allie Alvis (aka Bookhistoria) for helping set up the photoshoot in the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History at the Smithsonian.

Find the full issue here: "Bookend: Finding Flora and Fauna" by George M. Eberhart. American Libraries | June 3, 2019.

iNaturalist Observations: In and Around the Netherlands (30 May - 7 June 2026)

Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil

This trip to the Netherlands was quite productive from an observation standpoint. I was able to visit Leiden (great observations in the Hortus Botanicus), Delft (again, the visit to the TU Delft Hortus Botanicus was great), Amsterdam, Den Haag, and Scheveningen (mollusks!).

Total: 30 May - 7 June (as of 7 June 2026)

• Observations: 242

• Species: 110

• Netherlands: My Observations (All Time)

Notables

• Top Species: Eurasian Coot (19)

• Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil

• Zebra Jumping Spider (Salticus scenicus)

• Hollyhock Weevil

• Azure Damselfly

iNaturalist Observations: In and Around Helsinki (26-30 May 2026)

Mordellochroa abdominalis

Total: 25-30 May 2026 (as of 7 June 2026)

• Observations: 158

• Species: 72

• Finland: All My Observations (All Time)

Here are my iNaturalist observations on a trip to the Helsinki area, 26-30 May 2026.

Notables

• Top Species: Barnacle Goose (15 observations)

• Mordellochroa abdominalis

• Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

• Fourteen-spotted Lady Beetle (Propylea quatuordecimpunctata)

• Subgenus Nabis

New to the Merlin Life List

1. Willo Warbler

2. Barnacle Goose

3. Eurasian Oystercatcher

4. Red Crossbill

5. Common Eider

iNaturalist Highlight: 25,000th observation (Podisus maculiventris, the spined soldier bug)

On 21 May 2026, I uploaded my 25,000th iNaturalist observation, a nymph of the Podisus maculiventris, the spined soldier bug spotted in Hillside Park, Arlington, Virginia. 

As of this date, I've had 11 observations of the species (with some additional observations from the genus Podisus). A few days before this observation, I had another observation of a P. maculiventris attacking a much larger Nearctic Carpenter Ant (Camponotus nearcticus)

"Podisus maculiventris, the spined soldier bug, is a medium-sized predatory shield bug common in North America. It has prominent spines on each "shoulder" and preys on a wide variety of arthropods, particularly the larval forms of Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. As a generalist predator of many agricultural pests, P. maculiventris is generally considered a beneficial insect in gardens and crop fields." -- Wikipedia

P. maculiventris was first described by Thomas Say in 1831:

P. maculiventris, Hemelytra with a line at tip ; venter with five series of black points.

Inhab. U. S.

Body yellowish or pale brownish, with dense, rather large punctures : thorax acutely angulated each side behind the middle ; edge granulated before the middle : hemelytra having an abbreviated fuscous line at tip of the membranous portion : antennae, first joint short ; 2d longer than the third : tergum on the lateral margin with a blackish dot on each incisure : beneath yellowish : feet immaculate ; thighs sometimes having numerous minute blackish points ; anterior tibiae with an obvious spine over the slight emargination : venter with five obvious series of small black dots.

Say, Thomas. 1831 March. Descriptions of new species of North American insects, found in Louisiana by Joseph Barabino. New Harmony, Indiana. [page image from the HathiTrust].

A Visit to the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (Paris) in April 2026

While on a work trip to Paris, I had some time and after strolling along the Seine, thought I would take a wander through the Jardin des Plantes and make a visit to the one of the world's greatest natural history museums, none other than the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN).

I was last at the MNHN in 2023 for that year's BHL Annual Meeting. That visit was bittersweet as it was the first BHL meeting without Constance Rinaldo. We had lost her the previous year (in October 2022). At the Paris meeting, however, we were able to celebrate her life and accomplishments along with members of her family.

So, this visit was a bit different (and as a side note, the 2026 BHL Annual meeting was taking place this very same week, but, as in 2016, in London at the Natural History Museum  and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. But I digress. 

Grande Galerie de l'Évolution

On this visit (27 April 2026), I went to hit a few highlights -- chief among them the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution (above). The dodo exhibit was a bit disappointing. Seems the "disparues" animal exhibit was being redone, so there was no grand dodo on display this time.

I wandered around a bit more (lots of stairs, but in a nice open plan). Headed out and went across the way to pay respects at the House of Buffon, that would be Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. The building is now the offices of the scientific publishing wing of the MNHN (back in 2018, at my first visit to the MNHN we had some meetings with Laurence Bénichou (Head of Publishing and a longtime and strong supporter of BHL). 

Time to move on. Decided to look for lunch, but can't decide where, almost go to the cafe at the Grande Mosquée de Paris but realize I can't get a beer there so move on. None of the lunch spots are hitting what I’m looking for. Finally, decide to go to Place de la Contrescarpe which seems packed with eateries. I get there and there are throngs of people in cafes. I choose, the Cafe La Contrescarpe, almost get mussels, but choose steak and frites which includes 3 deviled eggs and a salad. Very good. I add a beer, but just one! Food and service are very good. My table overlooks the Place, so good people watching options.

Celebration: Official Launch of the BHL Portal, 9 May 2007

May 2007 was an important time for BHL. All the work done by Tom Garnett to integrate BHL into the funding streams for the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) was coming together. 9 May was selected as the official launch date for EOL and the event would take place in Washington, DC.

The day started with a press conference held at the National Press Club. After that, participants regrouped back at the Smithsonian's Natural History museum to (well, you know), do more work. A bunch of us hung out in the digitization space (where the Smithsonian's Scribe machine had been delivered a few days earlier, on 5 May 2007). We'd decorated the room with some print on demand books from the Internet Archive and a Mold-a-Rama dinosaur from The Field Museum.

Cathy Norton and Brewster Kahle between events at the Smithsonian's Scribe digitization room

National Academies of Sciences

Installations: The Internet Archive Scribe machine arrives at the Smithsonian

To ramp up digitization of content, BHL partnered with the Internet Archive. In addition to using the large scale digitization centers the Internet Archive had set up in other parts of the country (Boston, San Francisco, New York), the Smithsonian partnered with the Library of Congress to set up a digitization center on Capitol Hill. To supplement the mass digitization center, the Smithsonian also hosted a single Scribe machine in the natural history building that that would focus on rare and fragile materials. 

On Saturday, 5 May 2007, the Scribe machine was delivered to the Smithsonian. Along with Tom Garnett, we were there to meet the delivery truck and help the movers transport the Scribe into the building. 

The Natural History museum is across the street from the Department of Justice and the Attorney General's office. A large, unmarked truck arriving on a weekend and turning around in the middle of Constitution Avenue drew the attention of law enforcement. We were able to explain what was going on and allowed to proceed with the unloading.

The Scribe, operated by Internet Archive and Smithsonian staff would go on to digitize hundreds of thousands of pages of biodiversity literature for BHL until it was removed in 2025.

Publication: The Biodiversity Heritage Library: Advancing Metadata Practices in a Collaborative Digital Library (Journal of Library Metadata, April 2010)

Along with a number of BHL colleague, I was a co-author of Suzanne Pilsk's article on BHL metadata that was published in late April in the Journal of Library Metadata.

Pilsk, S. C., Person, M. A., Deveer, J. M., Furfey, J. F., & Kalfatovic, M. R. (2010). The Biodiversity Heritage Library: Advancing Metadata Practices in a Collaborative Digital Library. Journal of Library Metadata, 10(2–3), 136–155. https://doi.org/10.1080/19386389.2010.506400 | Handle Open Access

Meeting: 2015 CNI Spring Membership Meeting (13-14 April 2015, Seattle, WA)

The 2015 CNI Spring Membership Meeting took place 13-14 April 2015 in Seattle, Washington. It was a busy meeting for me as I had two presentations. One, obviously, on BHL (along with Smithsonian Libraries' Director and BHL Chair, Nancy E. Gwinn) and another on the scholarly communications program at Smithsonian Libraries (see below).

Brewster Kahle delivered the opening plenary, "Providing Universal Access to Modern Materials—and Living to Tell the Tale."

Brewster Kahle

Nancy E. Gwinn

• Kalfatovic, M., & Gwinn, N. E. (2015, April 14). Building a Vast Library of Life: The Biodiversity Heritage Library Looks to the Future. CNI Spring 2015 Membership Meeting (CNI), Seattle, WA. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19741065. (abstract)

As a bonus, I gave a second presentation at the meeting that year (that wasn't about BHL):

• Kalfatovic, M. (2015, April 13). For the Increase and Diffusion of Knowledge: The Smithsonian's Research Online (SRO), Supporting Smithsonian Institution's Plan to Provide Increased Public Access to Federally Funded Publications and Digital Research Materials. CNI Spring 2015 Membership Meeting (CNI), Seattle, WA. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19741382. 

Abstract: Smithsonian Research Online (SRO) is a key tool in the Smithsonian's goal to implement the White House's "Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research" mandate. A pan-Smithsonian team developed the Smithsonian Institution plan and draft Implementation Manual that will meet the requirement laid out in by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). The existing SRO platform (and associated digital repository) will serve as key components of the Smithsonian's plan which will also user additional tools and resources being developed by the wider ARL and publishers' community. The Smithsonian OSTP Plan was a cooperative response developed by Smithsonian Libraries, Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, Smithsonian researchers, the Office of General Counsel, and the Office of the Chief Information Officer, under the guidance of the Smithsonian's Deputy Under Secretary for Collections and Interdisciplinary Support. This session will outline the interactions of the various portions of the draft plan and its manifestation in a non-university environment.

See also "Sleepless in Seattle - CNI’s Spring Conference 2015" (April 29, 2015) by Keith Webster