NSF Scale Insect Project
In 1998 the Museum was awarded a grant from the National ScienceFoundation to re-curate
the scale insect (Coccoidea) collection. This is one of the largest scale insect
collections in the world, rivaling those of the Smithsonian Institution and the
Natural History Museum, London. A large part of the Bohart collection isfrom China
and Southeast Asia, and represents the world’s largest collection of scale insects
and host plants from these regions. The collection consists of 50,000 glass slide-mounted
specimens, 200 primary types, 13,324 samples of dried plant material, with scale
insects in situ, and line drawings, correspondence, and field notebooks from the
original collectors. All of the scale insects and host plants are identified to
genus, and in most cases, species. This collection is of unique scientific value
asthe specimens are from regions that are now difficult or impossible to collect;
both the scale insects and the plant hosts are identified; often all developmental
stages and parasites are present; and the dried specimens make ideal material for
molecular systematic studies.
Before this project was undertaken much of the collection was inaccessible –species
and individual specimens could not be easily located and the entire collection needed
to be reorganized. For long-term safekeeping of this invaluable resource, four major
curatorial needs were addressed: 1. Placement of dried specimensinto buffered tissue
in acid-free boxes, 2. Protection from insect pests by sealing samples in heavy
mil plastic tube bags, 3. Updating specimen taxonomy, and 4. Making collection data
accessible and retrievable.
The field notes and correspondence of E. Ferris, G. Compereand TDA Cockerell were
scanned and copies are available on request. See Scale Insect World. All specimen
data has been databased and can be searched here.