Orofino Chamber of Commerce
Whitten presents arthropod collection
Biologist, entomologist Richard Whitten presented the Orofino Chamber of Commerce program July 2. He and his wife Margaret have the largest collection of arthropods in the world. Much of the collection is housed in museums in Costa Rica, where the Whittens lived for 15 years before their move to Orofino.
Whitten’s interest in bugs started at a young age. He has well over a million specimens in his collection and over 600 hours of video to.
Costa Rica is a country the size of W. Virginia, only 75 miles across, filled with waterways and mountain ranges. “It is a remarkable place for a biologist,” Whitten said. A single tree there in the rain forest might have more species of beetles than are found in the entire eastern United States.
About 95% of the life in the rain forest is not on the ground, but in the trees. Eco-tourism is popular there.
Because there is “so much to talk about and not enough time,” Whitten showed slides as he shared, to give a simple overview of his life’s work with bugs.
He searches for creatures that are so tiny most people don’t know of their existence. He might spend an entire day covering an area of the forest not more than 15 feet long. Many of his slides show insects that have been greatly magnified to show detail.
Whitten spent a good share of his time answering audience questions as well.
The Chamber of Commerce meets every first and third Wed. from noon to 1 p.m. at the Ponderosa Restaurant banquet room.