Overview of the Entomology Collection
The DMNS entomology collection consists of 796,000 specimens
(Oct. 2011). At its current growth rate (~2.2% per year) it is
expected to grow by an average of 15,000 specimens per year. The
unprepared backlog is processed at a rate of 20-30,000 per year.
The collection spans 1880-present. Holdings are worldwide in
coverage and comprise all major insect orders, with a particular
focus on Coleoptera (86%) and Lepidoptera (12%). Only 0.4% of
specimens are currently cataloged in a paper catalog and none are
presently databased.
The collection's primary strength is its worldwide focus (65% of
specimens from Africa, 20% regional, 15% from other regions), which
distinguishes the DMNS entomology collection from other large
insect collections in the region with mainly regional holdings.
Nevertheless, the DMNS regional holdings are also strong,
particularly in the Lepidoptera and in several families of
Coleoptera (e.g., Scarabaeidae and Tenebrionidae). In 2008 Curator
of Entomology, Frank Krell, initiated the creation of a Colorado
State Reference Collection for Coleoptera, based on local holdings
and further developed with an aggressive collecting program across
the state. Since its inception the reference collection has tripled
in size and has resulted in several new state records (currently in
preparation for publication), but is still in need of thorough
curation.
The collection includes 14 name-bearing types and 152 paratypes
described by Museum staff and external researchers between 1882 and
2010 (e.g. Grote 1882, Aaron 1885, French 1884, Cockerell 1905,
1906, Nonveiller 1960, Cross 1937, Peigler 1992, Peigler &
Kendall 1993). An illustrated catalogue of the types specimens in
the entomology collection is in preparation.
History of the Entomology Collection
The growth of the entomology collection began soon after the
incorporation of the Museum in 1900 (then called the Colorado
Museum of Natural History) with the activity of the first
entomology curator, Ernest J. Oslar (1908-1911).
Oslar was a professional insect collector who gifted the Museum
around 10,000 specimens of mainly regional Lepidoptera, but also
some material from Africa. A decade later, John T. Mason, an avid
collector with a wealth of contacts in the lepidopterist community
and Museum manager from 1900-1910, donated a worldwide collection
of 20,000 butterflies and moths to the Museum in 1918. His donation contained important historical
material, types, and many tropical species rare in collections.
Specimens from the Mason collection first went on display in the
Museum from 1929 to 1938. A more extensive exhibit was then
constructed and the Colorado Butterflies and Moths Exhibit opened
in 1940, funded by Mrs. Dora Porter Mason and named after this
benefactress. This exhibit closed in 1986 during Museum
expansion.
Mr. Frank Howland served as caretaker of the
entomology collection from the late 1920s through 1935. From
1936-1938, Frank Clay Cross became the Honorary
Curator of Entomology, and Walker Van Riper served
as Curator of Insects and Spiders from 1943 to 1959, with
W.H. Tyeryar serving as Associate Curator in 1958.
This period of moderate growth was followed by more than a decade
of stagnation.
From 1972 to 1977, Marc E. Epstein was on
contract, extensively collecting and curating butterflies. Epstein
was at the Smithsonian for 15 years and is now a systematist at
California Food and Agriculture. Michael G. Pogue, now at
USDA/Smithsonian, was employed as Curatorial Assistant from
1975-1979, having been responsible for the curation of birds and
insects. He donated his personal collection of butterflies, mostly
from Colorado, when he left. Marc and Michael, with the help of
volunteers, upgraded the collection significantly, particularly by
transferring the Mason collection from cork-bottomed drawers to
modern Cornell drawers. During the following decade, the insect
collection again fell asleep.
From 1990-1997, lepidopterist Richard S. Peigler worked at
the Museum, first as Collections Manager, then as Curator of
Entomology. The collection resumed moderate growth during his
tenure. Peigler's rearing and hybridization experiments on wild
silkmoths are well documented in the collection. Also during this
period, many improvements were made to collection storage
conditions and protocols that positively impacted the entomology
collection. These included improvement of collections care by
increased environmental monitoring and implementation of an
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program in 1988.
From 1998-2006, arachnologist Paula Cushing was the curator
responsible for the entomology collection. Her extensive Colorado
Spider Survey resulted in thousands of non-target insects being
collected in pitfall traps all over the Rocky Mountains and the
western Great Plains. Cushing also accepted a donation of
extraordinarily beautiful specimens (with collection data)
collected by Clarence Riker (inventor of the
"Riker mount", a glass covered shallow box commonly used for
displaying insects) and stored in Riker's original hand-made
cabinet mounts. This collection was accepted for its historical
value as well as its outreach value for behind-the-scenes tours,
art projects, and exhibits.
In January 2007, Frank Krell was hired as the
Curator of Entomology responsible for both the entomology
collection and the herbarium. PI Krell has increased the activity
level of the entomology collection by hiring and training a
substantial volunteer corps and starting regional collecting
activities such as the Colorado Scarab Survey and the Colorado
Beetle Reference Collection, hosting scientific meetings such as
the 20th High Country Lepidopterists' meeting in
2009 and the upcoming international lepidopterists' Conference
in 2012, the Combined Annual
Meeting of the Lepidopterist's Society and the Societas Europaea
Lepidopterologica. Approximately 700,000 newly accessioned
insect specimens have been added over the last five years. This
recent growth was achieved through intensified regional collecting
(10-15,000 specimens/yr), accessioning unprocessed backlog material
from 1990-2006, donation-funded projects, and large donated
collections (Bartell, Bettman,
Fanara, Fisher,
Harp, Johnson,
Krell [225,000 specimens collected between 1977
and 2000, mainly Scarabaeoidea], Mudge,
Opie, Tates,
Vogel, Zeiner, etc.).
Concurrent with this rapid growth, Frank Krell has also
instituted rigorous curatorial procedures; developed an entomology
collections manual and focused accession policies (insects of the
Rocky Mountain/Great Plains ecoregions, North American beetles, and
world scarab beetles, with exceptions only after thorough
consideration by the Collections Manager and Curator); established
a high-throughput team of trained volunteers processing about
30,000 specimens per year from the unmounted backlog; and attracted
a team of department and research associates skilled in Lepidoptera
taxonomy to recurate the extensive butterfly and moth
collection.
Despite its worldwide holdings containing rare material of high
scientific value from both remote tropical areas and from local
ecoregions, the collection has remained underutilized by scientific
and professional communities during most of its history. Based on
loan and data queries, there is a growing interest in the use of
DMNS material, but without online publication of the specimen data,
the visibility and use of the collection will remain limited. We
plan to disseminate insect collection data on the Museum's webpage
via our currently implemented collections management system KE EMu
and through GBIF and further portals will increase accessibility
and extend use and value of the collection significantly.
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