Invertebrates at NSRL
The NSRL’s Invertebrate Zoology Collection: Waking up the Sleeping Giant
The Invertebrate Zoology Collection at the NSRL is the largest collection (in number of specimens) of the Museum of Texas Tech. It is estimated to contain approximately 4.6 million specimens of spiders, ants, beetles, flies, butterflies, parasites, mollusks, and many others.
The Invertebrate Zoology Collection adheres to the mission of the NSRL; it is a repository to collect, document, preserve, archive, interpret, and disseminate knowledge about the fauna of the southwestern United States and other geographic regions related by natural history, geography, ecology, climate, human welfare, and the needs of the state of Texas. Although the majority of specimens were collected locally, throughout Texas, and in the southwestern United States, the collection has specimens from across the world, featuring several exotic and very showy species.
Background and Brief History
The Invertebrate Zoology collection is comprised of several elements:
The former Entomology Collection: This collection is focused primarily on agricultural studies and is used for research and teaching. The collection was originally established at the Department of Entomology, but was permanently transferred to the NSRL in 1996.
The former Medical Zoology Collection: This collection was established at the Museum in 1973 and was curated by Dr. Danny B. Pence, Curator of Medical Zoology. The collection was moved for some time to the TTU Health Sciences Center, Department of Pathology, before being transferred back to the Museum in 2003.
Specimens confiscated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS): During 2001 and 2002, more than 40,000 illegally collected or improperly imported specimens were confiscated by the USFWS and entrusted to the Museum. This confiscated collection contains multiple rare species and potentially includes endangered species.
Specimens collected for a wide range of research and survey projects: including noxious brush and weed control (1970s); Texas Tech Boll Weevil Project (1970s); ants of western Texas survey (1978–1981); mites from Mexico and Central America (2003); aquatic invertebrates from Texas playa lakes (more than one million specimens, 2004-2005); and various other field collections.
The specimens are preserved following standard museum practices by various methods, depending on the features of the specimens. For example, most of the arachnids are preserved in glass vials and jars with ethanol, most insects are dry-mounted on pins, and most of the medically important specimens are mounted on microscope slides.
In 1996, upon accession of the Entomology Collection, Dr. Marilyn A. Houck, a faculty member in the Department of Biological Sciences, was named as the NSRL’s Curator of Invertebrates; she served as such until her retirement in August 2003. Upon Dr. Houck’s retirement, James C. Cokendolpher, a Research Associate of the NSRL, was placed in charge of the Invertebrate Collection. In 2007, he was hired as a part-time Research Scientist and Assistant Curator.
In 2012, Cokendolpher began to digitize and barcode the collection’s holdings with the assistance of numerous undergraduate and graduate students. The students cataloged and barcoded more than 170,000 specimens and took nearly 2,000 high resolution photographs. The database containing the invertebrate collection specimen data and photographs is accessible online via the SCAN portal (Symbiota Collections of Arthropods Network). Barcoding and data entry for the millions of specimens in the collection is a continuing project, with no end in sight any time soon!
The Value of the Invertebrate Zoology Collection
The Invertebrate Zoology Collection is a product of the time and effort of many people over the course of five decades. It has been fundamental for teaching, for scientific research, and for the professional development of many TTU faculty members and students. At least 50 TTU students have received experience and training in collections care by sorting, mounting, labeling, entering data, and taking photos of specimens. Texas Tech Master’s students and PhD students also have utilized the collection for their thesis and dissertation research. Beyond TTU, specimens housed in the collection have been studied by a number of specialists and students from more than 30 institutions over the years, including foreign institutions such as the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
But the value of the collection lies not only in the number of specimens that are kept by the collection. Value is added during each curatorial step, including collecting of specimens in the field, sorting specimens at the lab, pinning every single bug or beetle, making and placing the labels, organizing and identifying the processed specimens, and making the data available via a searchable public database.
The specimens harbored in a collection contain many kinds of data that can be used by scientists and the public in many ways. Traditionally, museum specimens are studied by taxonomists, who can discover and describe new species that have never been described before. These descriptions often are based on the morphological features that are preserved in the specimens. These discoveries are possible given that specialists can borrow specimens from different collections for their studies. Once the studies are concluded, the specimens are returned to the collections of origin, with the added value of being cited in a scientific publication and having the most accurate and up to date identification of the specimens.
DNA is also preserved in museum specimens, and it can be used for learning about biodiversity and its origins. Only recently have molecular techniques been developed that allow the extraction and amplification of DNA from invertebrate museum specimens. Over fifty years ago, when our collection started, the use of DNA from museum specimens was not in the research landscape, but it is now a reality. Museum specimens hold potential unforeseen uses that will become evident as new tools and procedures are available.
The information about the place and time where a specimen was collected is also useful in several kinds of studies. It allows us to learn about the geographic distribution of a group, or to check when a species has been collected at a region. This is important, for example, in species of medical and agricultural importance, as museum specimens and their associated data allow us to monitor their presence through space and time.
Further, the public availability of databases of specimens deposited in collections offers a unique opportunity for education and engagement of the public in citizen science activities.
Waking up the Sleeping Giant
The value of a collection increases when it is actively curated and studied. Unfortunately, the retirement of Assistant Curator James Cokendolpher in 2016 coincided with a substantial cut to the NSRL’s budget, which prevented that vacant position from being filled. This resulted in the Invertebrate Zoology Collection being closed to the academic and scientific community.
Last fall, I joined the NSRL as a Research Associate, volunteering to reactivate the Invertebrate Zoology Collection. I announced in November 2018, at the annual meeting of the Entomological Collections Network that the NSRL’s collection is now open for scientific visits and loans of specimens. This announcement is also available on the NSRL’s website: http://www.depts.ttu.edu/nsrl/collections/invertebrate.php
Currently, and now as Acting Collections Manager (still on a volunteer basis), I'm focusing is on reorganizing the collection and updating the existing database by adding identification information for specimens that are missing this piece of information. TTU undergraduate students and external volunteers that would like to learn about and gain hands-on experience with the activities involved in managing a collection are welcome to contact me at Jennifer.Giron@ttu.edu if interested in volunteering in the Invertebrate Zoology Collection at the NSRL.