The NCSU Insect Museum is the center for research and training in insect systematics and

biodiversity informatics Biodiversity informatics is the application of informatics techniques to biodiversity information, such as taxonomy, biogeography or ecology. Modern computer techniques can yield new ways to view and analyze existing information, as well as predict ...

at North Carolina State University. The Museum's collections hold more than 1.5 million specimens, with major emphases on the insects of North Carolina and on the

Auchenorrhyncha The Auchenorrhyncha suborder of the Hemiptera contains most of the familiar members of what was called the "Homoptera" – groups such as cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, planthoppers, and spittlebugs. The aphids and scale insects are the othe ...

and

Aphididae The Aphididae are a very large insect family in the aphid superfamily ( Aphidoidea), of the order Hemiptera. These insects suck the sap from plant leaves. Several thousand species are placed in this family, many of which are considered plant/crop ...

( Hemiptera) of the world. A smaller but historically important part of the collection (especially for bees of the eastern USA) is dedicated to Hymenoptera.

History

Deitz (1983a and 1983b) provides the most comprehensive reviews of the history of the NCSU Insect Museum. Insect reference collections started growing soon after the foundation of NC State University in 1889, with each individual collection being cared for by one curator. These multiple independent collections across campus were then collated into a single resource in 1952, then referred to as the Entomology Museum. This effort was organized by Zeno P. Metcalf, an Auchenorrhyncha systematist who served as the Insect Museum's first director. This museum has since been referred to as the NCSU Insect Museum, and it continues to serve as a resource for entomologists who need to identify specimens, for researchers attempting to understand more about species distributions through time, for students learning insect taxonomy, and as a repository for vouchers that reference entomological research.

References

External resources

North Carolina State University

North Carolina State University Entomology Department and graduate program

NCSU Insect Museum website

Guide to the North Carolina State University, Department of Entomology Drawings and Papers 1926-2000

NCSU LSID - urn:lsid:biocol.org:col:1024

Guide to the North Carolina State University, Department of Entomology Film Collection 1980

Zoomable image of pinned insects from the NCSU Insect Museum
{{authority control North Carolina State University Museums in Raleigh, North Carolina Natural history museums in North Carolina University museums in North Carolina Entomological organizations 1952 establishments in North Carolina Museums established in 1952