Parasite Collection

The parasite collection was formally established in 2016 and grew out of a concerted effort to survey and collect parasites from vertebrate specimen deposited into the Museum’s amphibian, bird, mammal, and reptile collections. The collection consists of about 10,000 specimens or specimen lots mostly housed in small vials (70%–95% ethanol) and several hundred fleas and lice mounted on slides. Specimen records are available in Arctos and also, through SCAN, GBIF, iDigBio, BISON, and GenBank. The geographic focus of the collection parallels that of the vertebrate hosts across western North America. Taxonomic coverage includes ectoparasites such as insects (fleas, lice, streblids, and oestrids), arachnids (ticks and mites), and endoparasites, including representation from Nematoda and Cestoda. Many of the sucking lice, fleas, and nematodes have been identified to species-level by experts and are captured in recent peer-reviewed publications (Google Scholar).