Primarily derived from Malaise traps deployed at OKEON field network sites since 2015, ESI's specimen collection consists of more than 60 thousand hand curated and mounted individuals from varied taxonomic groups including Formicidae, Coleoptera, Orthoptera, Hymenoptera, Araneae, and Curculionoidae. There are also accompanying z-stack micro imagery and CT scans for a limited number of specimens. Some specimens have had DNA extracted for analysis as well. The bulk of largely unsorted wet specimens are stored in vials of high concentration ethanol in -20 (C) freezers for DNA preservation. ESI's collection is an ideal place to research systematics, evolution, taxonomy, ecology and genomics across a large time-series that includes seasonal variations, COVID-19 lockdowns, and a changing environment.
Specimens & Collection
Collection
Our in house collection consists of more than 60 thousand specimens mostly collected from the OKEON field sites. Specimens collected from 2015-2016 OKEON field sites have been sorted at least to Order, with some taxa sorted further to Family (Curculionoidae, Cerambycidae, Staphylinidate, Formicidae, Hemorobiidae and from those many dry mounted specimens with species identified. OKEON collections in 2017 have had Odonata and Strepsiptera Orders extracted, and Formicidae sorted to species. A host of collected specimens remain unidentified and unsorted, with many opportunities for research. ESI is working in collaboration with Arctos Collaborative Collection Management Solution to bring our database of collected specimens into an easily accessible online format. In future ESI will assist units at OIST with the Arctos platform to upload and track their own specimens.
Specimens
Dry mounted specimens contain many samples identified to the species level. Our specimen collection is primarily made up of mounted Formicidae (~24,000) and Coleoptera (~25,000 with Curculionidae, Mordellidae, Cerambycidae, and Chrysomelidae families well represented).
Consultation
Our expert consultation can assist with insect identification and dissection, z-stack micro imaging, and insect specific preparations for X-ray micro-CT scanning. Contact ESI to see how we can help you in your research.