His hobby is aflutter

As a little boy growing up in Lima, Ohio, Scott Wehrly enjoyed spending time outdoors. However, he was not always playing football or baseball with the neighborhood kids.

Instead, he would watch in amazement as colorful butterflies flew near him, gracefully fluttering their wings and flying freely through the air.

“When I was a boy I always had a fascination with insects, especially butterflies,” he says. “To me, butterflies are like little pieces of art because they are so interesting and beautiful.”

At age three, he began collecting these winged beauties. He hasn’t stopped since.

Today, his home in Tavares is lined with nine cabinets and 225 drawers that house thousands of mounted butterflies and moths. His impressive collection features specimens from around the world and sparkles with an amazing assortment of colors, including bright blues, vibrant yellows, and grassy greens. An untold number of species are represented in his collection, although Wehrly stopped keeping track years ago. Nobody could blame him, as being an ophthalmologist at Lake Eye consumes much of his time.

“I strongly considered a career in entomology and actually earned a degree in zoology,” he says. “However, I became drawn to medicine and truly enjoy being able to help improve the vision of my patients. Butterflies and moths are delicate, and so are eyes. The same type of respect translates in both fields.”

Certainly, his skilled surgical hands come in handy when mounting butterflies and moths, which he describes as a “very delicate” process. This process includes relaxing the specimen so it does not stiffen after being killed, and then successfully flattening the butterfly so its wings can be displayed. Butterflies and moths then must be dried for several weeks before they can be mounted. Once they are mounted, he labels when and where a butterfly was captured. oes stiffen killed, ngs s must for e ted, aptured. he ging collection, and he has to draw erous to the wooded nd his home. He some specimens gh other avid orld, here is a network of collectors who trade se butterflies in the United States,” he “I

“The basic goal is to preserve them without damaging them,” he says.

Dr. Wehrly has caught many of the butterflies in his collection, and he has ways to draw numerous species to the wooded property behind his home. He acquires some specimens through other avid butterfly collectors throughout the world, including Spain and Germany.

“There is a large network of collectors who trade or raise butterflies in the United States,” he says. “I know what region they live in and what I might be able to acquire from them. I particularly enjoy collecting specimens from South America and Central America because those regions have the greatest diversity of moths and butterflies in the world.” mens from South America and Central America use have moths and rflies the mazingly, ting“You’llendupwithamuchmorediversecollectionif

Amazingly, there is not one particular species that he prefers collecting. “You’ll end up with a much more diverse collection if you don’t simply hone in on one or two species,” he says.

Of course, Dr. Wehrly has already resigned himself to the fact he will never have a complete set. “There is so much diversity, and therefore, you cannot collect everything. There are 18,000 species of butterflies in the world and 180 species right here in Florida. And in each location around the world there are ten times as many moths.”

Whether he has a complete set or not is irrelevant. It is what Dr. Wehrly plans to do with his collection once he is gone that will enable future generations to admire these amazing creatures. “I’ll likely pass some down to my wife and children, but others will definitely go to a museum or university,” he says.