Dr. Richard Brown . . . Some Thoughts on Insect Collections

The gathering of an insect collection can be an enjoyable educational experience. I started collecting insects as a 4-H project when I was 10 years old, and I have been collecting now for almost 40 years. However, most of my non-entomologist friends look back on their high school biology "bug collections" as something other than enjoyable. Some students are not oriented towards collecting, and some are not as interested in nature and biology as others. In some cases, unfortunately, students were given requirements or expectations that were impossible to meet.

One such requirement often given to students is a collection of "identified species." After gathering and pinning the specimens, the student (or the student's parents) spend much time in vain attempts to obtain a species name, not realizing that this is an impossible quest. There is not a single entomologist in the world who would be able to identify all the species that can be collected in one square mile of natural habitat. During the last few years, I have collected at least 80 species of insects that have no scientific name because they have never been described and given a species name. In some areas of the world, it is possible that 25% or more of the insect species are undescribed and have no species name. For most groups of insects, there is no single publication that treats all the named species.

In contrast to birds, large animals, and plants, most species of insects can only be identfied to the species level, if at all, by various taxonomic specialists who use microscopic characters. In graduate-level insect taxonomy courses in Entomology throughout the United States, identifications are made only to the family level, and identifications to genus or species are restricted to a few pests or beneficial predators. Most people can confidently identify only a few species such as butterflies and large moths, the honey bee, and perhaps a few distinctively colored beetles and other insects.

The name of the insect order is the appropriate level of identification that should be expected at secondary schools. And even then, some insects and life stages in the 30 orders are difficult to identify. If more refined levels of identification are desired, it should be a "common name." A common name can refer to a single species, as with the "Monarch Butterfly," or it may refer to an entire group of species, as with "Ladybird Beetle." This is comparable to using common names for trees such as "Box Elder," which is Acer negundo, or "Maple" which includes about 200 species of Acer.

One of the goals of making insect collections should be to learn about the diversity that insects have in their anatomy, ecology, and behavior--to see insects when alive, where they live, and behaving as they normally do. Students can empty the lampshades and scrape their automobile radiators to get their required number of specimens and learn very little about insects!

The following are offered as ideas for collections or field work assignments:

1. A collection of orders (perhaps combined with one of the items below)

2. A collection that emphasizes the modifications in insect legs, wings, and mouthparts with labels denoting the purpose of the structural modifications
   • Wingless insects
   • Insects whose wings have scales
   • Insects with digging legs
   • Insects with jumping legs
   • Insects with raptorial legs
   • Insects with two wings
   • Insects without wings
   • Insects with chewing mouthparts

3. A collection of insects from different ecological habitats or displaying different behaviors and appropriately labeled
   • "Found under bark on a tree"
   • "Found in a pond"
   • "Found in decaying fruit"
   • "Found chewing on a leaf"
   • "Found in a flower"
   • "Found at light"
   • "A predatory insect"
   • "A burrowing insect"
   • "A garden pest"

4. A small collection of insects with a written report on the behavior each insect was exhibiting before being collected and/or with one or more drawings or photographs of the insects

Students should be reminded that in all cases of required insect collections, a dead insect on a pin is of little value, either scientifically or educationally, unless it carries a label that gives some information about where and when the insect was collected and what the insect was doing when it was first observed.

Richard L. Brown, Ph.D
Mississippi Entomological Museum
Post Office Box 9775
Mississippi State, MS 39762