Insect Collections

Question 1

Musée National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN)

Answer 1

• Largest insect collection in the world
• Located in Paris
• 40 million species

Question 2

National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) (or USNM)

Answer 2

• Largest insect collection in North America
• Washington, D.C.
• 35 million specimens

Question 3

Canadian National Collection of Insects (CNC)

Answer 3

• Largest insect collection in Canada
• Ottawa
• 17 million specimen’s

Question 4

Lyman Entomological Museum (LEM) (LEMQ)

Answer 4

• Largest university insect collection
• Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue
• 3 million specimens

Question 5

Importance of insect collections

Answer 5

• Long-term data accumulation
• Specimens are available to other researchers
• Collection data used in many different studies

Question 6

Minimum information required

Answer 6

• Locality of capture
• Date of capture

Question 7

Other valuable (optional) information

Answer 7

• Name of collector
• Collecting method
• Ecological data

Question 8

Additional labels

Answer 8

• Identification label
• Type label
• Museum label
• Special code

Question 9

Economic value of insect specimens

Answer 9

• Pinned: $1.50
• Pointed: $2.50
• Exotic: + $0.50
• Dissected: + $3.00
• With biological data: + $0.75
• Identified to genus: + $0.75
• Identified to species: + $1.50

Question 10

Threats to insect specimens

Answer 10

• Museum pests
• Mold
• Fading
• Dust and damage
• Natural disasters