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Iowa State Insect Collection (ISIC)

Iowa State Insect Collection (ISIC). History. Collection dates back to the 1880s, when Herbert Osborn was on the faculty Collection was originally combined with the ISU vertebrate collection

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Iowa State Insect Collection (ISIC)

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  1. Iowa State Insect Collection (ISIC)

  2. History • Collection dates back to the 1880s, when Herbert Osborn was on the faculty • Collection was originally combined with the ISU vertebrate collection • The first half of the 20thCentury saw a number of renowned Hemipterists in residence: H. H. Knight, J. A. Slater, & H. M. Harris

  3. History (cont.) • In 1972 the insect collection was separated from the rest of the Zoological Collection and moved to its current location • More recent taxonomic foci: • Siphonaptera (R. E. Lewis) • Diptera(J. L. Laffoon, W. A. Rowley, and G. W. Courtney) • Courtney also works on aquatic insects

  4. Facilities • 59 Cabinets containing 2215 Cornell Drawers • Estimated 1,000,000 pinned specimens • Additional slide and alcohol material (>50,000 specimens) • Existing work indatabasing and photomicroscopy

  5. Collection Strenths • Dipterawith 796 Drawers, including 76 of Mycetophilidaes.l! • Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Siphonaptera • Larval Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and Diptera • Aquatic Insects • Large amounts of historicmaterial, dating back to the 1880s

  6. Recent Work • 2010 initiative to catalog specimens in the museum • Databasing project started shortly thereafter, focused on aquatic Diptera and Mycetophilidaes.l. • Current database includes 5935 specimens and 326 taxa

  7. Recent Work (cont.) • Working with specimen imaging • Focused on groups under active research • Experimenting with detailed images of taxonomically informative structures

  8. Synergistic activities: MIDGEPEET • NSF-funded “PEET” grant • Focus on selected aquatic Diptera(e.g., Blephariceridae, Chironomidae, Dixidae, Psychodidae, Ptychopteridae, Simuliidae, Thaumaleidae) • Collaboration of several institutions

  9. Synergistic activities: BugGuide.net • BugGuide.net hosted & administered by ISU • Provides a forum for professional and amateur entomologists to cooperate • Looking for avenues of integration

  10. Synergistic activities: Insect Zoo • Established in 1997 • Outreach & in-house programming • Average annual activity (past 10 years): ≈250 programs to >17,000 participants • Focus on arthropod biodiversity & includes links to ISIC

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