Wankhar Entomology Museum

The Wankhar Entomology Museum in Shillong is a privately owned collection of insects, described as the only museum of its kind in India. Siddharth Kumar Sarkar Wankhar, who took the surname of his Khasi wife, began gathering specimens with her in the 1930s under British rule, and the family has carried the work forward ever since. His granddaughter now manages it.

Over the decades the collection has grown past 10,000 specimens. Butterflies and moths are its strength, with around 1,600 types on show, alongside stick insects and many species of beetle. The exhibits come from several countries rather than only the Indian subcontinent, and the museum also takes part in breeding rare butterflies and moths.