Adding High Resolution Images to the Online Database of Insect Primary Types in the Museum of Comparative Zoology

一笔赠款已授予哈佛大学在布赖恩D。法雷尔提供高分辨率图像的模式标本在昆虫收藏的比较动物学博物馆。模式标本是它们所代表的物种名称的客观载体，并用于比较其他标本以进行鉴定。对于昆虫和非常不同的群体，分类学家和其他生物多样性使用者的类型是至关重要的，因为描述性文献不足以达到这一目的。哈佛大学比较动物学博物馆的昆虫学系拥有一个由国家科学基金会支持的在线数据库，其中包含大约28,000种昆虫的主要类型。 这种类型的收集是第二次在美国仅次于国家博物馆。其中50%以上来自发展中国家，那里的昆虫多样性最高，但分类研究的资源最有限。在技术支持人员的协助下，我们在两年内建立了三个最先进的摄像机/计算机站和一个有效的协议，并将其中2，500个类型的高分辨率图像放在网上，并将其存档以供长期储存。我们现在建议通过雇用额外的技术人员和采购相关的摄像设备来加快在线制作我们主要类型的高分辨率图像的过程，以便在未来三年内完成五个最大昆虫订单的成像，在线上传和存档。 拟议活动的智力价值在于加强分类学的科学实践。在物种的描述中，类型的检查是一个瓶颈，通过在互联网上即时访问高质量的图像将大大缓解。 拟议的活动产生的更广泛的影响包括新的获取模式标本的关键信息的渠道，特别是高质量的图像，提供给这些标本的原产地发展中国家的科学家和有关的外行观众，从而使信息返回。这将加快这些国家生物多样性的记录工作，并培养当地的专门知识。

A grant has been awarded to Harvard University under the direction of Brian D. Farrell to provide high-resolution images of type specimens in the insect collections of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Type specimens are the objective bearers of the names of the species they represent, and serve in comparing other specimens for identifications. For insects and there very diverse groups, the types are crucial for identifications by taxonomists and other users of biodiversity because the descriptive literature is inadequate for this purpose. The Department of Entomology of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University has an NSF-supported online database of the approximately 28,000 insect primary types in it's holdings. This collection of types is second in the United States only to the National Museum. Over 50 percent of these types are from developing countries, where insect diversity is highest, yet resources for taxonomic studies are most limiting. With the assistance of technical support personnel we have, in two years time, have established three state-of-the-art camera/computer stations and an efficient protocol and placed high resolution images for 2,500 of these types online and archived them for long term storage. We now propose to accelerate the process of producing high resolution images of our primary types online by hiring additional technicians and procuring associated camera equipment to complete the imaging, uploading online and archiving of the five largest insect orders over the next three years time. The intellectual merit of the proposed activity lies in the enhancement to the scientificpractice of taxonomy. Examination of types is a bottleneck in the description of speciesthat will be much alleviated by instantaneous access to high quality images on theinternet. The broader impact resulting from the proposed activity consists of the newaccess to crucial information on type specimens, specifically the high quality images, given to an audience of scientists and concerned laypersons in the developing countries from which these specimens originated, thus repatriating the information. This will speed the documentation of biodiversity in such countries and foster local expertise.