Immature insects are not accepted as part of your ENTM 4500/7200 collection.

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1 ENTM 4500/7200 Collection Guidelines (2013): READ CAREFULLY AND THOROUGHLY Guidelines The specimens in your collection must be acquired for this class. Specimens collected during other periods of your life and/or for other purposes (e.g., other classes, lab cultures) are not eligible for credit. Starting early is recommended but not necessary to complete the course. Collection equipment can be signed out for a fee which will be returned upon receipt of equipment. Immature insects are not accepted as part of your ENTM 4500/7200 collection. You may trade specimens with your fellow students, but they must be UNIDENTIFIED; you cannot offer specimens you determined already (e.g., I ll give you a dryinid for your lucanid ). You are only allowed to trade specimens if you have been to that collecting locality. Your student collection becomes property of the Wallis-Roughley Museum of Entomology upon completion of the course. All specimens must be obtained legally. Collecting in national and provincial parks requires a permit. Obtain written permission to collect. Collecting on private land (if you have the owner s permission) generally does not require a permit. The instructor has a permit for provincial parks, and a copy can be issued to students for collections. NO SPECIMENS ARE TO BE REMOVED FROM THE TEACHING COLLECTIONS. REMOVAL OF SPECIMENS FROM THE TEACHING OR MUSEUM COLLECTION IS CONSIDERED ACADEMIC FRAUD. Equipment Students must complete and sign a loan card for equipment and supplies and will be charged a deposit for these items. All equipment must be returned before or during the last laboratory period and your deposit will be returned. A separate handout describes equipment issues. Accuracy of Data Data labels, like all other scientific data, must be accurate (locality, date, collector, etc.) An erroneous label, if quoted in print, may have serious consequences that will forever reflect on the scientific integrity of the collector. The discovery of such erroneous labels in an ENTM 4500/7200 collection could result in a grade of zero for the entire collection. Preparation of Specimens Specimens and labels prepared for the collection must conform to the instructions provided in the lab and this document; check with your instructor regarding label format variations and alternative preservation or pinning techniques. Slightly damaged specimens are acceptable, especially if the damage is indicative of a biological event (e.g., being fed upon by birds) or research (e.g., leg pulled for DNA extraction). 1

2 Collection Arrangement Arrange the specimens phylogenetically by order and then alphabetically by family within each order. All orders and families should get header labels (see examples shown in class) and all determinations below family should have det labels. All specimen boxes and vial boxes submitted must bear your name. Write your name on the label tape on the box. Print out a copy of your database sheet and also hand it in electronically via . Please sort the database sheet phylogentically, as your collection is arranged. Collection Database example Make yourself an excel spreadsheet with the following fields. Note that the fields have to be identical to this example. You can enter in notes if you wish, but every other field is mandatory. The identifier is the JBWM barcode label number. Enter latitude and longitude in decimal form. A double vertical bar ( ) is equivalent to a new line on the label. More information on databasing your specimens will be covered in class. OUT (or operational taxonomic unit) should eb the lowest level of identification. identifier verbatim_label latitude longitude otu_name determiner data_entry_by notes JBWM Prov. Pk.; Falcon Lake Trails, 20.JUN.2011, Sweep net, Coll: J. B. Student Libellulidae J. B. Student J. B. Student Collecting, Preserving, and labeling Hexapods Collecting Equipment Most of the equipment needed to collect, preserve, and observe insects can be provided by the instructor as loans (you must fill out a form) or as lab supplies: sweep net aspirator kill jar 25 vials 2 glassine envelopes 70% ethanol Gelva glue size 3 pins points and card stock for making additional points (the point punches must stay in the lab) label paper (card stock) A Specimen box (must be returned when you hand in your collection) JBWM barcode labels clay block (cannot be removed from the lab) stereo- and compound microscopes (cannot leave the lab) spreading board (cannot be removed from the lab) 2

3 We have other kinds of collecting equipment that students can check out for short periods of time. Sharing is encouraged with this equipment: UV light(s) with white sheet Malaise trap Litter sifters Berlese funnel (in lab) And we'll have some of these available for you to borrow and return: soft-tipped forceps (cannot be removed from the lab) pinning block (cannot be removed from the lab) waterproof pen for labels; (cannot be removed from the lab) Preserving Insects Pinning. Pinning is the best way to preserve hard-bodied, medium to large hexapods. You must use specially made insect pins, rather than common pins used in sewing and other crafts. Insect pins range in size from 000 (VERY thin and almost unmanageable) to 7 (very thick and longer than most pins). We recommend sizes 2 and 3 for use in this class. The best way to pin an insect is to: 1. hold the dead insect between your index finger and thumb 2. pass the pin vertically through the mesonotum, slightly to the right of center (except in Lepidoptera, which gets the pin through the center of the mesonotum), such that it emerges near the right mid coxa 3. slide the pin far enough through the body such that approximately 1 cm of pin is left between the insect and the pin head this forms the handle for manipulating specimens. Pin placement often varies slightly by taxon: 3

4 Pointing. Smaller insects are usually pointed on a piece of card stock or Bristol board. Place a very small drop of alcohol-soluble glue, such as Gelva (PVA) or shellac, on the tip of a point that s already been pinned. Touch the point tip to the mesosternum of the insect, usually between the fore and mid coxae, on the right side of the specimen. The pointed insect should be oriented in a similar position to that of a pinned insect: Double mounts. Microlepidopterans need to be double mounted using minuten pins. Essentially this is the same as pinning, except one uses a very small pin (the minuten) to mount the lepidopteran. That mount is then affixed to a normal-sized insect pin via a small piece of foam (see above, right). Lepidopterans, especially the larger species, need to have their wings spread by using a spreading board. There is a good tutorial at this site. 4

5 Pinching Lepidopterans after netting: Large moths and butterflies should be pinched after catching in your net. This site discusses the method for pinching. Place the specimen in an envelope (and then preferably ziplock bag until you return to lab). You can freeze the specimen in the envelope until you re ready to spread it. You can also trap your Lepidopterans in your kill jar, let them die and then place them carefully in an envelope. Try not to handle the wings to much or the scales will rub off. Alcohol. Hexapods preserved in >95% alcohol are best for DNA extraction, especially if they are kept cold. Unfortunately, high concentrations of alcohol also tend to make specimens a bit fragile (by dehydrating them) legs, antennae, setae, etc. tend to break off. Concentrations below 70% are generally not recommended, as specimens have a better chance of rotting. We use 70% ethanol in the lab, which works well for nearly any kind of hexapod. Soft-bodied hexapods must always be preserved in alcohol, rather than being pinned or pointed. Adult Lepidoptera should never be preserved in ethanol, as the scales will detach. Locality Labels Labels can take many forms, but you generally want to adhere to the following formats: Pinned Specimens A B C Prov. Pk.; Falcon Lake Trail, Jack Pine Forest 20.JUN.2011, S. Student leg. Prov. Pk.; Falcon Lake Trail, 20.JUN.2011, Sweep net, Coll: S. Student & O. Student Prov. Pk.; Falcon Lake Trail, Malaise Trap, 200m 20.JUN.2011, S. Student ex: Spodoptera sp. on Digitaria sp. (Poaceae) eclosed 5.JUL.2007 Labels always begin with the country (sometimes in bold or ALL CAPS) and continue with finer scale details of the locality: Prov. Pk.: etc. One should always include the lat/long, which can now be estimated in programs like Google Earth. Using decimal based degrees is preferred over minutes and/or seconds, as they are easier to database. The date should be formatted such that the first three letters of the month are all in CAPS in between the day and the year, separated by periods: 12.AUG You may also see many lables with the month as lower case roman numnerals (E.g. 12.viii.2011). A date range can easily be added for traps that sat out for a week or a couple days. E.g AUG

6 The collector s name(s) should also be included, as should the collecting method. Common abbreviations include: MT=Malaise trap, YPT=yellow pan trap, FIT=flight intercept trap, SS=screen sweep. Collectors names are sometimes followed by leg., which is short for the Latin lego, to gather or collect. Use Arial 4 pt for the font size. The finished label should be informative, with a minimal amount of abbreviations, but also reasonably small in size. The information should also be presented in a symmetrical label (i.e., minimize white space). Labels that seem to be excessively large (label B) can be cut into two labels. Specimens are prone to multiple labeling from future studies (voucher label, determination label, accession numbers, barcodes, etc.), so it s desirable to keep the label number to a minimum. Use cotton rag, acid free card stock for printing labels. Actual size Label: Prov. Pk.; Falcon Lake Trail, 20.JUN.2011, Sweep net, Coll: S. Student & O. Student Fluid-preserved Specimens Prov. Pk.; Falcon Lake Trail, , , SS 20.JUN.2011, Coll: S. Student & O. Student D E F Prov. Pk.; Falcon Lk. Trail, Jack Pine For., , , YPT, 20.JUN.2011, Coll: S. Student ex: Spodoptera sp. on Digitaria sp. (Poaceae) eclosed 5.MAY.2007 Prov. Pk.; Falcon Lake Trail, MT, 200m 20.JUN.2011, S. Student Same suggestions apply to labels for fluid-preserved specimens, but one can and should make his/her labels slightly larger (5 or 6 pt) and more elongate. Small labels act like blades and chop up wet-preserved specimens, which are usually relatively soft-bodied. Determination Labels Determination ( det ) labels can also vary in their appearance, but it s important that they include the taxon name(s), the name of the determiner, and the year (or date) the determination was made. Again, det labels for fluid preserved specimens (label H) should be slightly larger and more elongate: G H I Braconidae(Hymenoptera) det. B. Sharanowski 2010 Eubazus semirugosis (Say) det. B. Sharanowski 201 Leptinotarsa sp. Det. B. Sharanowski 2011 Often taxonomists will print out bunch of det labels with their name and year typed, and then will handwrite the determination in waterproof ink (use a size 005 Pigma pen or equivalent). I will accept det labels produced in this manner for the class, but handwriting must be legible and all locality labels must be typed. 6