Collections & Archives

Indexes to Collections

International Society of Arachnology (ISA) – http://www.arachnology.org/

Insect and Spider Collections of the World -   http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/codens/codens-r-us.html

Iowa State Entomology Index: Collections -   http://www.ent.iastate.edu/list/directory/155/vid/4

U.S. Collections & Museums

Academy of Natural Sciences – http://www.ansp.org/research/biodiv/entomology/

American Museum of Natural History, Entomology -   http://research.amnh.org/entomology/

B.P. Bishop Museum of Cultural and Natural History, Entomology -    http://www.bishopmuseum.org/research/natsci/ento/ento.html

Brigham Young University, Monte L. Bean Museum, Arthropod Collection – http://mlbean.byu.edu/home/page/Arthropods.aspx

California Academy of Sciences, Entomology – http://www.calacademy.org/research/entomology/

California State Collection of Arthropods – http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/ppd/csca.html  

Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Invertebrate Zoology Section – http://iz.carnegiemnh.org/inverts/IZHome.html

Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, Geier Center – http://www.cincymuseum.org/educators_researchers/researchers/geier_center/zoology.asp

Clemson University Arthropod Collection – http://entweb.clemson.edu/database/museum/

Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Department of Invertebrate Zoology -http://www.cmnh.org/site/researchandcollections_InvertebrateZoology.aspx

Colorado State University, C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Biodiversity – http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Entomology/museum/

Cornell University Insect Collection – http://www.entomology.cornell.edu/CUIC/

Florida State Collection of Arthropods, Museum of Entomology - http://www.fsca-dpi.org/OverviewFrame.htm

FMNH arthropod collections - http://emuweb.fieldmuseum.org/arthropod/Query.php

Furman University, Collection of Lepidoptera – http://facweb.furman.edu/~snyderjohn/furmanleps/index.htm

Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Entomology – http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/Departments/Entomology/

Illinois Natural History Survey Insect Collection – http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cbd/collections/insect.html

Kansas State University, Museum of Entomological and Prairie Arthropod Research – http://www.entomology.ksu.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=347

Louisiana State University, Louisiana State Arthropod Museum – http://entomology.lsu.edu/lsam/

Michigan State University, A.J. Cook Arthropod Research Collection – http://www.arc.ent.msu.edu/

Mississippi State University, Mississippi Entomological Museum – http://www.msstate.edu/org/mississippientmuseum/

Montana State University, Montana Entomology Collection – http://virgin.msu.montana.edu/sel.html

Natural History Museum of L.A. County – http://www.nhm.org/research/entomology/collection.html

New Mexico State University, Arthropod Collection – http://cahe.nmsu.edu/academics/arthopods/index.html

North Carolina State University, Insect Collection – http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/entomology/insectmuseum/

Oklahoma State University, K.C. Emerson Entomology Museum – http://www.ento.okstate.edu/museum/museum.htm

Oregon State University, Oregon State Arthropod Collection – http://osac.science.oregonstate.edu/

Penn State University, Frost Entomological Museum – http://www.ento.psu.edu/home/frost/

Rutgers University Entomological Museum – http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~insects/museum.htm

San Diego Natural History Museum, Entomology – http://www.sdnhm.org/research/entomology/index.html

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Invertebrate Zoology: Entomology – http://www.sbnature.org/collections/invert/entom/ent01.htm

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Entomology – http://entomology.si.edu/

South Dakota University, Severin-McDaniel Insect Research Collection – http://nathist.sdstate.edu/SMIRCOL/

Texas A&M University, Digital Dragonfly Museum – http://stephenville.tamu.edu/~fmitchel/dragonfly/

Texas A&M University, Insect Collection – http://insects.tamu.edu/research/systematics/collection.html

The Ohio State University, C.A. Triplehorn Insect Collection – http://hymfiles.biosci.ohio-state.edu/

University of Arkansas Arthropod Museum – http://entomology.uark.edu/museum/overview.html

University of California-Berkeley, Museum of Paleontology, Invertebrate Collection – http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/science/invertebrate_coll.php

University of California-Berkeley, Essig Museum of Entomology – http://essig.berkeley.edu/

University of California-Davis, Bohart Entomology Museum – http://bohart.ucdavis.edu/

University of California-Riverside, Entomology Research Museum – http://entmuseum.ucr.edu/

University of Central Florida Collection of Arthropods – http://biology.cos.ucf.edu/bugs/

University of Colorado Museum, Entomology Collection – http://cumuseum.colorado.edu/Research/Entomology/

University of Connecticut Biological Collections, Insects – http://collections2.eeb.uconn.edu/collections/insects/insects.html

University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History, McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity – http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/mcguire/

University of Georgia Collection of Arthropods – http://www.ent.uga.edu/Collection/collection.html

University of Kansas, Natural History Museum, Snow Entomology Museum – http://www.nhm.ku.edu/ksem/collect/collections.html

University of Michigan, Museum of Zoology, Insect Division – http://www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/insects/index.html

University of Minnesota, Insect Collection – http://www.entomology.umn.edu/museum/

University of Missouri, Wilbur R. Enns Entomology Museum – http://www.museum.insecta.missouri.edu/

University of Nebraska State Museum, Entomology - http://www-museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/index.htm

University of New Hampshire, Insect and Arachnid Collections – http://insectcoll.unh.edu

University of New Mexico, Museum of Southwestern Biology, Division of Arthropods – http://www.msb.unm.edu/arthropods/

University of Puget Sound, D.R. Paulson Odonata Collection – http://www.ups.edu/x6330.xml

University of South Carolina, Dominick Moth and Butterfly Collection – http://zebra.biol.sc.edu/moth.html

University of Washington, M.T. James Entomological Collection – http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~zack/JEM.html

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Insect Research Collection – http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/irc/ircpage.html#

University of Wyoming Insect Museum – http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/RenewableResources/entomology/Entomology%20Museum%20Homepage.htm

Utah State University Insect Collection - http://www.biology.usu.edu/labsites/Insect%5FCollection/

Yale University, Peabody Museum, Entomology – http://www.peabody.yale.edu/collections/ent

International Collections & Museums

Australian Museum – http://amonline.net.au/insects/research/index.htm

Australian National Insect Collection – http://www.csiro.au/places/ANIC.html

British Museum of Natural History, Entomology Department – http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/departments/entomology/

Canadian Museum of Nature – http://nature.ca/collections/collections_e.cfm 

Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes – http://canacoll.org/

Deutsche Entomologishes Institut – http://www.zalf.de/home_zalf/institute/dei/dei_e/

Lund University, Museum of Zoology, Entomological Collections – http://130.235.149.100/zoomus/ZooDoc/VetSam/ZooEnt/EntMus.html

McGill University, Lyman Entomological Museum – http://www.agrenv.mcgill.ca/FACILITY/LYMAN.HTM

Museu Goeldi - http://www.museu-goeldi.br/pesquisa/zoologia/index.htm

Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle – http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/foffice/science/science/ColEtBd/collectionsMuseum/collectionSci.xsp ?i=1&i=1&cl=fr

Museum Victoria – http://museumvictoria.com.au/Collections-Research/Our-Collections/Science-Collections/Entomology-amp-Arachnology/

Museum Wiesbaden – http://www.nws-wiesbaden.de/coll12.html

New South Wales Agricultural Scientific Collections – http://www.agric.nsw.gov.au/Hort/ascu/

New Zealand Arthropod Collection – http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/databases/db_details.asp?Database_Collection_ID=11

Queensland Museum – http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/organisation/sections/insects/

Siberian Zoological Museum – http://szmn.sbras.ru/

Slovenian Museum of Natural History – http://www2.pms-lj.si/staff/entomology/entomology.html

Swedish Museum of Natural History – http://www.nrm.se/theswedishmuseumofnaturalhistory/researchandcollections/zoology/entomology.40_en.html

Universidad de Guadalajara, Colección Entomologica – http://mx.geocities.com/hugofierros/

University of Alberta, E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum – http://www.entomology.ualberta.ca/  

University of Amsterdam, Zoological Museum Amsterdam, Entomology – http://www.science.uva.nl/entomology/

University of Copenhagen – http://www.zmuc.dk/EntoWeb/collections.htm

University of Guelph, Insect Collection – http://www.uoguelph.ca/debu/ 

University of Manitoba, J.B. Wallis Museum of Entomology – http://www.umanitoba.ca/afs/entomology/jbwallis.html

University of Queensland, Insect Collection – http://www.sols.uq.edu.au/university-of-queensland-insect-collection

University of Sydney, Macleay Museum, Invertebrate Collection – http://www.usyd.edu.au/museums/collections/macleay/invertebrates.shtml

Western Australian Department of Agriculture, Insect Reference Collection – http://agspsrv34.agric.wa.gov.au/ento/icdb/icdb1.htm

Zoologische Staatssammlung Munchen – http://www.zsm.mwn.de/sections.htm

Scientific Illustration Archives/Image Galleries

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Insect Illustrations – http://www.life.uiuc.edu/entomology/illustrations.html   

Iowa State University Index of Image Galleries (by taxon) – http://www.ent.iastate.edu/list/directory/92/vid/4

Collection Size Rankings

The Department of Entomology, Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University under Historical Collections lists some 1986 collection size numbers for the major North American collections. – http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/Departments/Entomology/hist_coll.cfm

Useful References

1971. The systematic Biology collections of the United States: An essential resource. Part 1. The great collections: Their nature, importance condition, and future. A report to the National Science Foundation by the Conference of Directors of Systematic Collections. 33 pp.

Information on Large, Unsorted Holdings Available for Study

DPI, Gainesville, Florida. Contact M.C. Thomas (thomasm@doacs.state.fl.us 352-372-3505 x187)

National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution: Department of Entomology backlog (contact: David G. Furth, furths@si.edu 202-633-0990).  Research material of Terry L. Erwin form Ecoador and Peru (Contact: Terry L. Erwin erwint@si.edu 202-633-1022)

Orphaned Collections

Recent North American Examples of Orphaned Institutional Collections [very incomplete]:

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History (adopting collection): Brown University; Amherst Collection, Indiana University; Dartmouth College

 NMNH (adopting collection): Townson Univ (partial); Univ. Massachusetts (types).

California Academy of Sciences (adopting collection):  Stanford University

Useful References

Horn, W. and I. Kahle. 1935. Ueber Entomologische Sammlungen, Part 1. Ent. Beihefte aus Berlin-Dahlem 2:1-160. Part 2: ibid. 1936. 3:161-292. Part 3: ibid. 1937. 4:297-536. [Lists destinations of many private and public collections, including sample handwriting of various historical entomologists]

Horn, W., I. Kahle, G. Friese, and R. Gaedike. 1990. Collectiones Entomologicae. Akademie der Landwirtschaftswissenschaften der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, 2 parts, 573pp. [basically a reprint of Horn & Kahle with some embellishments]

Sachtleben, H. 1961. Beitraege zur Entomologie 11(5/6):481-540.Nachtraege zu “Walter Horn & Ilse Kahle: Ueber entomologische Sammlungen”

Sherborn, C. D. 1940. Where is the ___ Collections: An account of the various natural history collections which have come under the notice of the compiler Charles Davies Sherborn between 1880 and 1939. Cambridge University Press, 148pp.

Management, Policies and Techniques

General Collection Management Policies (web sites, books, manuals, sample collection policies, etc.)

Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Entomology’s Collections Management Policy (1998) – http://www.entomology.si.edu (under Other Resources)

American Museum of Natural History: Loan Policy – http://research.amnh.org/amcc/Loan.html

American Museum of Natural History: Miscellaneous Policies – http://research.amnh.org/amcc/collections.html

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University: Loan Policy – http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/Departments/Entomology/ent_loan_policy.cfm

The Natural History Museum, London: Curatorial Policies and Collections Management Procedures, 2003, Appendix 2 is for Entomology (pp. 23-24). – http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/science-directorate/science-policies-strategy/assets/collectionpolpdf.pdf

California Academy of Sciences, Department of Entomology: Acquisition and Collection Development and Maintenance Policy (2000) – http://www.calacademy.org/research/entomology/general_collections/entpolic.htm

Collection Management Policies for dry, alcohol, slide, frozen and DNA tissue collections

American Museum of Natural History Frozen Tissue Collection – http://research.amnh.org/amcc/coll_pol.html

Smithsonian Institution Collection Management Policy – http://www.entomology.si.edu/Collections/CMP98.pdf

Smithsonian Institution DNA Collection – www.entomology.si.edu/Entomology/Policy/colmgtpolicy.html#APP

Valuation of Collections

(Papers, IRS)

Smithsonian Institution policy on valuation of collections: Institutional staff are forbidden from providing potential donors with a valuation of collections (i.e., conflict of interest). Institutional staff can only acknowledge the receipt of such donations/gifts and may be asked by a donor to complete Part IV (Donee Acknowledgement) section of an IRS Form 8283 indicating the institution’s tax ID number and signature/date. Donations of over $5000 in value must be accompanied by this IRS 8283 Form (Noncash Charitable Contributions) with a professional appraisal. Donations of natural history specimens/objects are generally included as items similar to art objects. The IRS considers the “fair market value” of items to be documented by similar amounts of money exchanged for similar objects, e.g., similar objects sold at an auction or in a commercial catalog.

Techniques for Collection & Preservation

Collecting and Preserving Insects and Mites – http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/site_main.htm?docid=10141&page=1
Electronic, updated version of Steyskal, G. C., W. L. Murphy and E. M. Hoover (Eds.). 1986. Insects and Mites: Techniques for Collection and Preservation. USDA ARS Misc. Publ. No. 1443, 103 pp.

Specimen Preparation Guidelines (by taxon) – http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=9766

Miscellaneous Collecting/Collection Literature

Duckworth, W.D., H.H. Genoways, C.L. Rose 1993. Preserving natural science collections: Chronicle of our environmental heritage. NSF, National Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Property. 140 pp.

Zycherman, L.A. and J.R. Schrock (Eds.). 1988. A guide to museum pest control. Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artisitic Works and the Association of Systematics Collections. 205 pp.

Gibb, T. and C. OSETO.  2005. Arthropod Collection and Identification: Laboratory and Field Techniques.  Academic Press. 336, 400 illus.

Triplehorn, C. A. and N. F. Johnson. 2004. Borror and DeLong’s Introduction to the Study of Insects. Seventh edition. Thomson Brooks/Cole, Belmont, CA. 864 pp.