Enhancement of the Academy of Natural Sciences Orthoptera and Diptera Collections

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This project proposes an international collaborative effort by systematists focusing on the unstudied, undetermined holdings of Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, mantids, roaches walking sticks and related insects) and Diptera (flies) at The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. ANSP holds the largest collection of Orthoptera in the world, comprising more than a million specimens from all regions, over 4000 primary types, and an associated collection of insect songs and library of published research. The use of the collection by scientists worldwide through collection visits and loans of specimens confirms it as a worldwide, scientific resource. It is the only collection in North Amer ica to have supported active research on systematics of Orthoptera by a continuum of curators for most of this century. The Diptera collection (flies) contains impressive collections in aquatic fly groups, such as the Chironomidae (aquatic midges), Ephydridae (shore flies) and Tipulidae (crane flies) assembled through active research by curators for well over fifty years. Both collections continue active development through strategic collecting and collection-based research by resident curators and other scientific researchers. Large numbers of specimens (estimated in excess of 170,000) in both collections remain unstudied taxonmically even some years after specimen preparation. In many cases, these insects cannot be recollected due to subsequent habitat destruction, logistical difficulties and other factors, and, in effect, the data carried by these specimens are now unavailable to science and society. These specimens are unidentified to taxonomic levels that would allow retrieval to fulfill loan requests for further scientific study and fall outside the specific taxonomic expertise represented by the resident curators. In addition, many of the scientists potentially interested in studying these insects work overseas and find it difficult to visit the collections. The specimens themselves are too fragile, bulky and numerous to efficiently ship to researchers in the numbers needed to allow taxonomic sorting by specialists and subsequent inclusion in research. This project represents the first such focused effort at reducing the number of undetermined specimens for any Orthoptera collection. Support will catalyze the process by facilitation short-term intensively-focused visits by national and international specialists to sort the undetermined backlog of specimens in their area of expertise to taxonomic levels (generally genus) useful for loan retrieval and study. These visiting curators will also provide valuable advice toward upgrading the classification of the collection in their area of expertise, and in directing us to scientists whose studies might benefit from these newly sorted specimens. These efforts will result in an increase in loans and study of the collection materials for Orthoptera and Diptera, and a reduction of the undetermined specimens to minimal, manageable amounts. In particular, the newly sorted specimens will not only supplement existing research projects, but their availability should provide the impetus for initiation of new lines of research. Additional components of this project focus on readying the specimens in anticipation of the visiting curators and organization and upgrading of the collection curation following their work. This project will complete the rehousing of all specimens of Orthoptera and Diptera from substandard units or vials to safe modern storage. Unprepared specimens in both orders, representing the first collections for these orders in geographic region or life stage, will be prepared and sorted taxonomically. Recuration, including an update of classification, will follow visits of specialists in both orders. The Orthoptera Species File, a computerized taxonomic authority file developed at ANSP, will be used for the first time in any Orthoptera collection to verify and update scientific names, allowing staff and other collection users to work more efficiently and accurately, and serving as a model project for curation of other Orthoptera collections. All completed aspects of this project will be publicized through targeted letters, newsletters, electronic listing services and scientific meetings to reach a wide variety of collection users.