ADELAIDE.- As part of the Mid Year Budget Review, the Government has allocated $2.7 million to the South Australian Museum, to stop a recurring infestation of beetles that could threaten its world-class insect collection. Anthrenus verbasci, also known as carpet beetles, are highly destructive, difficult to control and could threaten the irreplaceable specimens within the museum. In the most recent outbreak in early September, some holotype specimens – the original physical example of a species – were infested. Dr Jane Lomax-Smith, the Chair of the Board of the South Australian Museum, said the museum houses more than two million insect specimens, collected and described over the last 150 years. “This funding will help to preserve our unique collection for local and international research. “The collection is irreplaceable and its loss would cause a gap in our ability to understand Australian and glo