Frost Curators' Blog

Musings and miscellanea from the Frost Entomological Museum

Header cards

We’ve been exploring the research collection more deeply this spring, looking for sections that should be prioritized for digitization, for taxa that should be targeted for growth and curation, and to get a better feel for our holdings more generally. We’re also identifying curatorial issues.

As is the case with most insect collections ours is uneven in its strengths. Lice (Phthiraptera), aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae), dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata)—as you’ll hear about ad nauseum on this blog—and local butterflies (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) are quite strong. Hymenoptera, on the other hand … well, let’s just say there is room for growth. The good news is that the collection appears to be well-curated and pest free. Whew. That means we can focus on the little things.

Up first => standardized header cards. Not the most exciting topic, I’m sure, but here’s what we have in the collection right now:

Exhibit A. No header cards To understand which taxa are represented in the unit trays one must read the determination labels, which is awkward.
Exhibit B. Adhesive labels combined with cards. Lots of edits, annotations, misspellings, and outdated information.
Exhibit C. horizontal labels pinned into the top of the unit tray. These are easy to read, especially in whole drawer scans, but take up room that could be used for yet more specimens. (Also, these are gorgeous noctuids! Wow!)
Exhibit D. Another hodgepodge of header cards, colored this time, sandwiched between unit trays with adhesive labels.

There are many other examples of disparate header card styles in this collection, each with its own issues. It’s time to standardize. As tempted as I am by horizontal labels, mainly for their readability in images, I think we’re leaning towards a system of vertical cards, similar to this:

Our candidate header card. Vertical, tucks into the space between the foam and unit tray wall, includes species name and author/year, simple to print from word processor. Ideally we’d print these in a sans serif font, like Arial.

Anyone have strong opinions about what works for header cards? We’d love feedback! Up next in our curation blitz: dealing with blend of Cornell and USNM cabinets (argh!) and finding expansion room for the impending growth of hymenopterans.

Bizarre Collecting Events

After profiling the George and Alice Beatty Odonata collection (which will be the subject of a future post), I’ve come across some unique specimens as well as collecting event information. This Tachopteryx thoreyi may just be my favorite:

IMG_1326

The label reads, “ovipositing in a teacupful of water in cow’s footprint covered over by grass in little grassy swale at junction of two little brooks”.

Has anyone encountered strange label data that they’d like to share?

Bed bugs in Old Main!

Bed bugs (Hemiptera: Cimicidae: Cimex lectularius) collected from Old Main in 1924. Frost Entomological Museum (CC BY-SA 2.0) [click for original]
I came across a series of Riker mounts in the Frost collection that I think are quite interesting. Each one has a smattering of bed bug specimens and a fouled swatch of wood that must’ve formed part of their daily retreat. The label indicates that they were collected in Old Main on December 8, 1924. Our Old Main? The offices, at that time (like now), of the president and his staff?! It’s not inconceivable, given the date. As the Riker’s label alludes, bed bugs were pervasive in the days “before DDT”.

And 89 years later, bed bugs are back—just look at our own University Housing website. Natural selection has taken care of the bed bugs’ DDT (and other insecticides) problem, and they’re resurging just about everywhere. Controlling bedbugs is now a rich area of research again, including in our own Department of Entomology. Maybe we’ll be able to sample these critters from Old Main again!

Re-envisioning the public face of the Frost

We’re back to a blank canvas.

Yesterday we officially closed the public wing of the Frost so that we can begin the process of re-envisioning the way we inform people about the world of arthropod biology. This timely hiatus also allows us to address a few infrastructure problems and to develop a structured docent program and more effective outreach curricula. We have some great ideas but it’ll take time to implement them! We anticipate re-opening next fallspring and will provide periodic updates here on our blog. Exciting times! Stay tuned …

Update: It’ll probably be awhile before we reopen. As always, renovations and exhibit design take longer than originally anticipated.

Insect Biodiversity Internships at the Frost Entomological Museum

We're looking for a few good interns! Photo by Gilles San Martin. (CC BY-SA 2.0).
We’re looking for a few good interns! Photo by Gilles San Martin. (CC BY-SA 2.0).

The Frost Entomological Museum seeks 4 undergraduate summer interns to assist with research projects related to insect biodiversity and evolution. Current projects include:

  • Discovering the dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) of the world. The Frost houses a historically valuable and relatively extensive collection of dragonflies and damselflies, collected primarily by George and Alice Beatty (1950s-1970s). Many specimens remain unprocessed, however, and almost all of their associated data are unavailable to researchers and other people interested in Odonata biology. An intern will help us prepare and image specimens, digitize collecting event data, and organize the collection. Lab work will be supplemented by regular field trips to local collecting sites.
    Helpful skills to have: attention to detail (this is critical!), a passion for natural history, excellent oral and written communication skills (this is critical!), basic computer skills (especially with spreadsheets), sense of adventure.
    Training the intern will receive: insect collecting and preparation methods, specimen handling, natural history collection informatics, nature photography.
  • Curating the Frost insect collection. We’ve recently initiated a total re-curation of the roughly two million insects housed in the Frost research collection. An intern will help us assess the condition of the collection (a process called “profiling”) and improve their storage environment. Lab work will be supplemented by regular field trips to local collecting sites, where a broad spectrum of collecting methods will be used to help us grow the collection.
    Helpful skills to have: attention to detail (this is critical!), a passion for natural history, excellent oral and written communication skills (this is critical!), basic computer skills (especially with spreadsheets), sense of adventure.
    Training the intern will receive: insect collecting and preparation methods, specimen handling, natural history collection informatics.
  • Evolution of cockroach predation. The Frost currently holds the world’s largest collection of ensign wasps (Evaniidae), which are charismatic predators of cockroach eggs. We are currently in the process of documenting the world biodiversity of these wasps – currently unknown for a vast majority of the world – and describing/naming many new species. An intern will help sort these specimens and move them into proper storage units and will photograph specimens under high resolution. Lab work will be supplemented by regular field trips to local sites to collect and rear ensign wasps.
    Helpful skills to have: attention to detail (this is critical!), a passion for natural history, excellent oral and written communication skills (this is critical!), basic computer skills (especially with spreadsheets), library research techniques (finding papers, interlibrary loan requests, etc.), sense of adventure.
    Training the intern will receive: insect collecting and preparation methods, specimen handling, taxonomy, natural history collection informatics.
  • Changing the way we describe biodiversity. Our lab group is developing a new method for documenting biodiversity and describing new species and anatomical systems. An intern will help us refine the approach by linking biodiversity data through a new set of informatics tools. The intern will also help curate voucher specimens, collect specimens for future research, and image specimens under high resolution. The intern will also have an opportunity to learn aspects of 3-dimensional reconstruction.
    Helpful skills to have: attention to detail (this is critical!), excellent oral and written communication skills (this is critical!), basic computer skills (especially with Web tools), a passion for natural history, library research techniques (finding papers, interlibrary loan requests, etc.), sense of adventure, understanding of logic/reasoning/Semantic Web.
    Training the intern will receive: data mining, insect anatomy, insect collecting and preparation methods, specimen handling, taxonomy, natural history collection informatics, nature photography.

Funding is available for part- and full-time employment, depending on the project. Interns can also opt to receive research credit (1 credit for 3 research hours/week; up to 3 credits). These opportunities are available for PSU students as well as those from other institutions.

To apply, please send the following information by March 20 31, 2013:

  1. Your résumé, including relevant courses
  2. Cover letter describing your research experience, current research interests, and career goals
  3. Number of hours you are available to work weekly

Contact info:
Andrew R. Deans, director
Frost Entomological Museum
Department of Entomology
127 Headhouse III
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802 USA
adeans@psu.edu

Phone: +1 814 863 2863
FAX: +1 814 865 3048

Department of Entomology, in the College of Agricultural Sciences, at Penn State

Visit our Frost Museum facility website for more information

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