In nature, like in everyday life, patience is a virtue and time is invaluable. In fact, the complete transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly is not a hurried process. It requires an unwavering investment in growth, developing within the chrysalis during intervals that can span from a few days to a few weeks. As an adult, a butterfly may wait motionless for hours, anticipating the perfect moment to take flight.

In the world of research, time also provides a significant advantage to the scientists who devote a lifelong curiosity to studying these magnificent organisms. One such researcher and curator at the McGuire Center, Keith Willmott, turned his own fascination with butterflies into not only a career, but a calling. His secret? For him, studying butterflies is not a purely scientific matter; his work reflects a broad respect and appreciation for Lepidoptera, promoting the inherent beauty of biodiversity through discovery, collaboration, and a holistic approach to research.

Willmott’s interest in butterflies developed over time, through hands-on experiences. He grew up in the United Kingdom, but his interests in butterflies began during trips to the tropics in the 1990s with a friend, Jason Hall. On an early visit to Venezuela, despite knowing almost nothing about butterflies, he was captivated to observe some of the most spectacular, iconic Neotropical species.

“The sheer diversity of species in Venezuela was incredible. I was kind of overwhelmed—the number of butterflies, the variety of species; the very first time we put out some fruit bait butterflies appeared out of nowhere,” Willmott describes. “It just seemed like magic, what were these butterflies, why were they invisible to us? We had some guidebooks with us, but they weren’t comprehensive, and it felt like there was so much new information to discover.”

Willmott’s longstanding collaboration with Jason Hall has been a hallmark of his career. Though they initially worked closely together, their Ph.D. dissertations marked a divergence in focus: Willmott concentrated on revising the genus Adelpha (Nymphalidae), resulting in a number of publications on this group, while Hall specialized in metalmarks (Riodinidae). Despite this divergence, their collaboration remains strong, with complementary expertise that has enriched butterfly research in the Neotropics. They continue to work together on the broader butterfly fauna of Ecuador, a long-term project that has evolved from faunistic surveys into extensive taxonomic explorations. Willmott has also played a role in helping to organize training courses and events, such as the recent Encuentro Sobre Lepidópteros Neotropicales (ELEN) meeting in Ecuador in summer 2024, which foster collaboration and knowledge exchange among students and researchers in the region.

As he progressed from research as a student with a friend to organizing more extensive expeditions in South America, an ongoing motivation was the creation of a field guide, or a way for scientists, researchers, and nature enthusiasts to identify the butterflies common to their area. This is a constant thread running through Willmott’s research, from field exploration to the day-to-day tasks of documenting and organizing collections to naming species.

Willmott’s scientific contributions include co-authoring over 100 peer-reviewed papers and describing numerous new Neotropical butterfly species. His collaboration with Hall is characterized by a complementary division of focus, with Willmott focusing on Papilionidae, Pieridae, and Nymphalidae, and Hall on Riodinidae and Lycaenidae. Collaboration with numerous other Neotropical butterfly researchers has also been central to advancing knowledge of butterfly diversity and relationships. Willmott has been involved in efforts to clarify evolutionary relationships in several complex butterfly groups, such as the tribe Ithomiini, the subtribe Euptychiina, and the genus Adelpha, most recently with the description of a new genus Adelphina.

Willmott has also contributed to advancing butterfly research infrastructure in South America by working with local collaborators, organizations and institutions. The Tropical Andean Butterfly Diversity Project helped to build a network of butterfly researchers in five Andean countries, and more recent initiatives involve working with park rangers in Ecuador to document long-term trends in butterfly communities.

During his research, Willmott has also had the opportunity to support and work with the next generation of lepidopterists. He has advised several graduate students from South America, including María Fernanda Checa, Pablo Sebastián Padrón, Elena Ortiz-Acevedo, and Sofia Nogales. Except for Nogales, who is still completing her studies, all have returned to South America to continue their work in biodiversity research and conservation.

As Willmott continued to study the fascinating world of Lepidoptera, he developed a steadfast admiration for the organisms fluttering around him, reflecting that each species is distinct, some exhibiting “fascinating traits”, such as rapid life cycles that span just three weeks from egg to adult, or strong sexual dimorphism, with profound differences in appearance and behavior between males and females of the same species. Ultimately, though, Willmott elaborates that what specifically draws him to butterflies, time and time again, is their elegance and mystery.

“Butterflies have so many interesting qualities. They’re diverse, they’re beautiful, and there’s an endless curiosity about them. Why is one species here and another there? Why do they prefer such specific habitats? Observing their behavior and activity patterns is incredibly rewarding. You feel like you discover something new almost every day,” Willmott says.

As far as habitats are concerned, a key study by George Beccaloni in 1997 explored the vertical stratification of ithomiine butterflies in rainforests, revealing that different mimicry complexes tend to occupy distinct forest layers, such as ground level versus higher canopy levels. This stratification is closely linked to the height of their larval host plants, meaning that butterflies in the same mimicry complex typically use host plants that grow at similar heights. Vertical separation helps maintain diversity by reducing overlap and competition among species, a result that likely applies to most Neotropical butterfly groups.

Another study, co-authored by Willmott, found that though mimicry is often observed in adult butterflies, based on factors like stratification in the study above, caterpillars may less commonly exhibit such mimicry overall, perhaps because of the difficulty in overcoming selective pressure to remain inconspicuous. And yet, there are cases when caterpillars of Ithomiines become mimetic, as was described in one of the studies led by Keith.

Willmott’s interest in butterflies is apparent through the work that he does; as a curator at the McGuire Center, Willmott spends most of his days researching, teaching students, and designing educational experiences at the museum to showcase the butterflies that he is passionate about. He has mentored over 100 students, taught university courses on entomology and systematics, and helped develop public outreach programs that engaged diverse audiences in butterfly conservation.

Beyond research, teaching, and curation, Willmott contributes to the scientific community as Editor of Tropical Lepidoptera Research and one of the Directors of the Association for Tropical Lepidoptera (ATL). These roles encompass editing, management, leadership, design, website maintenance, and much more. One of the unique aspects of lepidopterology as a scientific discipline is that there are numerous citizen scientists engaged in Lepidoptera exploration as a hobby. Scientific societies such as ATL help integrate the knowledge from professional and amateur lepidopterists. Willmott also devotes time to identifying images of Neotropical butterflies on iNaturalist.org, helping to enhance the value of these data.

In the same way that butterflies have evolved and diversified over time, Willmott’s research thrives on constant adaptation and curiosity, with a strong focus in systematics, the study of biological diversity through the lens of evolutionary history and classifications. His approach typically combines molecular tools, such as DNA ‘barcoding’, with traditional morphological study, synthesizing data and historical literature to form a more complete picture. Some student systematics projects are focused on integrating both DNA sequences and morphological characters to study cryptic species, while others employ a more exploratory approach, barcoding many species to see which ones might require further research.

“Each piece seems like a part of a larger puzzle, revealing the broader picture of butterfly communities. Initially, we planned to simply write a book about the butterfly fauna of Ecuador.

But what started as a faunistic project quickly became a series of broader taxonomic investigations. Over time, we realized there was a huge need for basic systematics work,” Willmott commented. “The initial few new species became apparent as just the tip of the iceberg; there are hundreds still waiting to be described.”

As a mentor, Keith places great emphasis on not only teaching his students skills or knowledge, but also on values such as an appreciation for nature itself, underscoring the significance of biodiversity and the beauty it brings to the world. For Keith Willmott, it’s personal; it’s not just about butterflies, but about inspiring others to understand their value in a personal way, hopefully instilling a “curiosity and an appreciation for the intrinsic value of biodiversity.”