Scientists still untangling mystery of butterfly thief

Almost eight decades after Colin Wyatt stole and then vandalised thousands of precious Australian butterfly specimens, scientists are still untangling his web of deception.

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In 1946 and 1947, the British ski champion and acclaimed painter charmed his way into museums in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide and pilfered 3 000 of the insects.

He then painted their wings to make them look like different species and stripped labels to erase vital records about which specimen belonged to which museum.

His motive remains a mystery - Wyatt later blamed the breakdown of his marriage.

Wyatt died in a plane crash in 1975 and most of his collection was sold to museums - sending his mislabelled insects to all corners of the globe.

Decades on, lepidopterists are still struggling to repair the damage.

"He created such a taxonomic mess, it will never really be able to be sorted out," Museums Victoria’s head of strategic collection management Maryanne McCubbin said.

"I just get so angry. It is a despicable criminal act and it has huge scientific consequences," she said.