Brou page

Vernon and Charlotte Brou preparing for an evening of light trapping, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, 16 October 2004 and 21 Ocober 2002, respectively.

Vernon Antoine Brou Jr. may be regarded as one of America's preeminent private Lepidopterists. Vernon began his unofficial career as an insect collector as a young child over 50 years ago, and in 1969 began continuous operation of ultraviolet light insect traps (i.e., every night of every year) since then, with only a 30-day interruption without electricity following the passage of Hurricane Katrina. The eye wall of Katrina passed over his property, causing much destruction and a small distraction from the valuable work of insect collecting and research. These light traps and numerous other types of insect traps: flight traps, bait traps, pitfall traps, pheromone traps, etc have been operated during the past 40 years across Louisiana.. Vernon and his wife Charlotte reside near Abita Springs, LA, where they maintain a personal collection of over 350,000 specimens, mostly moths. Vernon's seasonal data for moths at his property in Abita Springs is one of the most comprehensive data sets on seasonality of these insects available anywhere in the world. In addition to his personal collection, he and Charlotte have donated in excess of 343,000 archival quality specimens, including long series of newly described and rare species, to various institutions over the years, including 209,640 insects to the LSAM. Vernon is also an accomplished photographer, and one of the most prolific specimen processors of anyone we are aware of. Publications by the Brou's feature such Louisiana honorific new species names as Automeris louisiana Ferguson & Brou, Baileya ellessyoo Brou, Baileya acadiana Brou, Lithophane abita Brou & Lafontaine, and Catocala charlottae Brou, named after Charlotte. Five species of moths described by colleagues honor Vernon with variations of Brou as the specific epithet (patronyms). Vernon and Charlotte assist with displays and outreach for organizations, including the Audubon Institute in New Orleans, and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Vernon is the winner of the prestigious John Abbot award for the year 2000 presented by the Southern Lepidopterists Society. An exhibit dedicated to Vernon's accomplishments is on public display at the Audubon Insectarium in New Orleans. The display uses Vernon's passion for moths to highlight the contributions of private collectors to the science of entomology and taxonomy worldwide. Likewise, we at the LSAM appreciate and acknowledge Vernon's and Charlotte's valuable contributions to our museum holdings and to the knowledge of Louisiana's Lepidoptera fauna. The Brou's have published 207 articles and investigations mostly on Louisiana Lepidoptera. Vernon and Charlotte welcome contact and collaboration with residents of all parishes interested in discovering and expanding the knowledge base of Louisiana Lepidopterology. Contact them at: vabrou@bellsouth.net

The following is a list of Brou publications, including links for downloading PDFs of the publications. To easily download these pdf files, in WINDOWS, right click on document and "save target as," In Mozilla FIREFOX, right click on document and "save link as."