Northern Forestry Centre arthropod collection

The Northern Forestry Centre is home to a large arthropod reference collection. It includes a pinned collection of approximately 150,000 specimens, as well as approximately 25,000 soft-bodied specimens stored in alcohol and 5000 microscope slides of smaller organisms.

Detailed data on host and habitat associations are available for many specimens. The collection houses voucher specimens originating from research projects conducted by the Forest Insect Biodiversity Team and graduate students associated with the Northern Forestry Centre and local universities, as well as from the Forest Insect and Disease Survey and private collectors.

All North American invasive and alien species in the collection have been verified and catalogued. Other groups, including the Coleoptera and Lepidoptera, are currently being verified and catalogued.

The collection contains approximately 80,000 specimens of 1,750 species of Coleoptera, mostly from western Canada, with provincial and territorial occurrences recorded for all species. More detailed databasing has been done on some groups, including the following, the entire holdings of which have been verified and catalogued:

• Coccinellidae (in part) – 1,450 specimens (35 species)
• Curculionidae: Scolytinae – approximately 11,000 pinned specimens from 105 Nearctic species, as well as some specimens of species from other regions of the world
• Cerambycidae – 2,500 specimens (86 species)
• Buprestidae – 1,500 specimens (54 species)
• Silphidae – 96 specimens (15 species).

The collection also contains approximately 50,000 specimens of over 1,850 species of Lepidoptera, mostly from western Canada, with provincial/territorial occurrences recorded for all species.

For more information on the collection or the database, or to request a visit to the collection or a loan of specimens for scientific research, contact Greg Pohl.