The Natural World: Birds, Bugs, Beasts and Blossoms

At age seven, while playing on his family’s property near Tarrytown, New York, David found a specimen of the long-horned Parandra brunnea, a discovery that fueled his lifelong passion for beetles. He amassed at least 2,000 species and 150,000 specimens during his lifetime and even discovered a rare Mexican scarab subsequently named Diplotaxis rockefelleri. While these have been generously donated to the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, Peggy and David’s interest in the natural world is evident through their drive to protect marine and agricultural environments and commitment to conservation. Elements of the natural world appear across their Collection, from butterflies and botanicals on the ‘Marly Rouge’ Sevrès porcelain dessert service made for Napoleon I (circa 1807–09).