Collections & Archives

Indexes to Collections

• International Society of Arachnology (ISA)
• Insect and Spider Collections of the World
• Iowa State Entomology Index: Collections

U.S. Collections & Museums

• Academy of Natural Sciences
• American Museum of Natural History, Entomology
• B.P. Bishop Museum of Cultural and Natural History, Entomology
• Brigham Young University, Monte L. Bean Museum, Arthropod Collection
• California Academy of Sciences, Entomology
• California State Collection of Arthropods
• Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Invertebrate Zoology Section
• Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, Geier Center
• Clemson University Arthropod Collection
• Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Department of Invertebrate Zoology
• Colorado State University, C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Biodiversity
• Cornell University Insect Collection
• Florida State Collection of Arthropods, Museum of Entomology
• Furman University, Collection of Lepidoptera
• Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Entomology
• Illinois Natural History Survey Insect Collection
• Kansas State University, Museum of Entomological and Prairie Arthropod Research
• Louisiana State University, Louisiana State Arthropod Museum
• Michigan State University, A.J. Cook Arthropod Research Collection
• Mississippi State University, Mississippi Entomological Museum
• Natural History Museum of L.A. County
• New Mexico State University, Arthropod Collection
• North Carolina State University, Insect Museum
• Oklahoma State University, K.C. Emerson Entomology Museum
• Oregon State University, Oregon State Arthropod Collection
• Penn State University, Frost Entomological Museum
• Purdue University’s Entomological Research Collections (PERC)
• Rutgers University Entomological Museum
• San Diego Natural History Museum, Entomology
• Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Invertebrate Zoology: Entomology
• Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Entomology
• South Dakota University, Severin-McDaniel Insect Research Collection
• Texas A&M University, Digital Dragonfly Museum
• Texas A&M University, Insect Collection
• The Ohio State University, C.A. Triplehorn Insect Collection
• University of Arkansas Arthropod Museum
• University of California-Berkeley, Museum of Paleontology, Invertebrate Collection
• University of California-Berkeley, Essig Museum of Entomology
• University of California-Davis, Bohart Entomology Museum
• University of California-Riverside, Entomology Research Museum
• University of Central Florida Collection of Arthropods (The Bug Closet)
• University of Colorado Museum, Entomology Collection
• University of Connecticut Biological Collections, Insects
• University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History, McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity
• University of Georgia Collection of Arthropods
• University of Kansas, Natural History Museum, Snow Entomology Museum
• University of Michigan, Museum of Zoology, Insect Division
• University of Minnesota, Insect Collection
• University of Missouri, Wilbur R. Enns Entomology Museum
• University of Nebraska State Museum, Entomology
• University of New Hampshire, Insect and Arachnid Collections
• University of New Mexico, Museum of Southwestern Biology, Division of Arthropods
• University of Puget Sound, D.R. Paulson Odonata Collection
• University of South Carolina, Dominick Moth and Butterfly Collection
• Washington State University, M.T. James Entomological Collection
• University of Wisconsin-Madison, Insect Research Collection
• University of Wyoming Insect Museum
• Utah State University Insect Collection
• Yale University, Peabody Museum, Entomology

International Collections & Museums

• Australian Museum
• Australian National Insect Collection
• British Museum of Natural History, Entomology Department
• Canadian Museum of Nature
• Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes
• Deutsches Entomologisches Institut
• Lund University, Museum of Zoology, Entomological Collections
• McGill University, Lyman Entomological Museum
• Museu Goeldi
• Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle
• Museum Victoria
• Museum Wiesbaden
• Naturalis Biodiversity Center
• New South Wales Agricultural Scientific Collections
• New Zealand Arthropod Collection
• Queensland Museum
• Slovenian Museum of Natural History
• Swedish Museum of Natural History
• University of Alberta, E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum
• University of Copenhagen
• University of Guelph, Insect Collection
• University of Manitoba, J.B. Wallis Museum of Entomology
• University of Queensland, Insect Collection
• University of Sydney, Macleay Museum, Invertebrate Collection
• Western Australian Department of Agriculture, Insect Reference Collection
• Zoologische Staatssammlung Munchen

Scientific Illustration Archives/Image Galleries

• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Insect Illustrations
• Iowa State University Index of Image Galleries (by taxon)

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.

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 (352-372-3505 x187)
• National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution: Department of Entomology backlog (contact: David G. Furth, 202-633-0990). Research material of Terry L. Erwin form Ecoador and Peru (Contact: Terry L. Erwin 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
• American Museum of Natural History: Miscellaneous Policies
• Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University: Loan Policy
• The Natural History Museum, London: Curatorial Policies and Collections Management Procedures, 2003, Appendix 2 is for Entomology (pp. 23-24).
• California Academy of Sciences, Department of Entomology: Acquisition and Collection Development and Maintenance Policy (2000)

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

• American Museum of Natural History Frozen Tissue Collection
• Smithsonian Institution Collection Management Policy

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
• 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)

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.