Bug Closet Founder’s Memory Honored

This weekend the College of Sciences lost Stuart Fullerton, the Father of the Bug Closet and a UCF Biology professor, from an apparent heart attack. Stuart believed passionately in documenting the insect biodiversity of Central Florida and in the process built a collection that was widely recognized for its size and quality. Stuart’s enthusiasm for insects was infectious and people all over the country and outside the US approached him for advice. In the tributes below people speak to his cheerful encouragement, advice, and the positive impact he had on their lives. Stuart was a generous man who funded much of the operating expenses of the Bug Closet from his own pocket including supporting the many students he mentored and trained. Many of these students went on to pursue careers in Biology.

Laurence Von Kalm will always remember Stuart as an affable eccentric that he really enjoyed talking to. When Von Kalm first came to Florida Fullerton patiently helped Von Kalm to appreciate the beauty of what he initially thought of as a bug infested hellhole. “I never saw Stuart more excited than when we hired Hojun Song because he knew then that the long term future of the Bug Closet was secure, and I never saw him more proud than when two species of parasitic wasps, Stuart’s favorite insects, were named after him (Dryinus fullertoni Olmi, 1997 and Epsilogaster fullertoni Pitz, 2004),” said Von Kalm. Many heart-felt tributes have come in from professors and students who say Fullerton had a special, positive impact in their lives.

The College of Sciences will miss Stuart but his legacy will live on in the Bug Closet and its impressive collection of insects.

There will be a memorial service on Thursday April 17 at 6:30pm, First United Methodist of Oviedo, Fellowship Hall (corner of King St. and Lake Jessup Ave.). In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to the Bug Closet through this website (http://bugcloset.cos.ucf.edu/2014/04/08/in-remembrance-of-stuart-fullerton/).

Founded in 1993 and officially known as the Stuart M. Fullerton Collection of Arthopods at the University of Central Florida (UCFC), our museum is named after its founder who possessed a lifelong passion for entomology and who could often be found inside working as hard as he did on day one.

UCFC possesses one of the largest completely databased collections in the world with over 500,000 specimen records for insects and other arthropods with more being added daily. Check out the Database and see what entomological wonders reside within Central Florida! We especially pride ourselves on our Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps) and Coleoptera (beetles) holdings.

Below are a few photos of the Bug Closet and its collection. Feel free to visit their website here.

A few photos of the Bug Closet

A view of the Bug Closet

Sample of the Bug Closet collection

Fullerton working with specimens