Importance of building a digital species index (spindex) for entomology collections: A case study, results and recommendations

Abstract

The Entomology Collection at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (ANSP) contains approximately four million insect specimens including some of the oldest in the Western Hemisphere. Like most large entomology collections, no complete inventory of the species represented in the collection was available and even a physical search for a species could not ensure that all available specimens would be recovered for study. Between 2010 and 2014, we created a species-level index (called here spindex) of all species and their specimen counts at ANSP, along with each species' location in the collection. Additional data captured during the project included the higher level classification of each species and type of specimen preparation. The spindex is searchable online: http://symbiont.ansp.org/entomology/. The spindex project documented 96,126 species in the ANSP Entomology Collection, representing about 10% of the described insect fauna. Additionally, over 900 putative primary types were discovered outside the Primary Type Collection. The completion of this project has improved access to the collection by enabling scientists and other users worldwide to search these collection holdings remotely and has facilitated staff in curation, research, collection management and funding proposals. A spindex is an important tool that is overlooked for planning and carrying out specimen level digitisation. This project is a case study for building a species-level index. A detailed protocol is provided, along with recommendations for other collections, including cost estimates and strategies for tracking progress and avoiding common obstacles.

Keywords: collection management; collections; curation; entomology; natural history; species index.

Figure 1.

A schematic of the organisation of the Entomology Collection at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.

Figure 2.

Each unique identifier placed on an ANSP Drawer (container) has a human-readable number and a barcode. The red check mark indicates that the contents have been spindexed.

Figure 3.

Prior to spindexing, a retrofitted food-tray cart was filled with 20-40 ANSP drawers to bring to a work space for labelling the drawers with the unique identifier. This method kept the aisles of compactorised storage cabinets free for others to use.

Figure 4.

Example of a “catch-all” drawer with potentially dozens of different species. An effort was made to integrate specimens to their proper locations in the curated Main Collection before spindexing occurred.

Figure 5.

Cumulative numbers of spindexed containers over time. The pink line represents the number of containers needing to be spindexed to complete the spindex project by the deadline. The blue line represents the cumulative number of containers that were actually spindexed by month. After the initial start, the spindexing was ahead of the projected goals and completed by the project deadline.

Figure 6.

Progress in databasing specimens for the spindex project during the period of March 2011 through to the end of data capture in March 2014. The total number of identified specimens was 1,822,264 specimens.

Figure 7.

Progress in databasing species for the spindex project during the period of March 2011 through to the end of data capture in March 2014. The total number of species was 96,126 species, which represents approximately 10% of the world’s known insect fauna.

Figure 8.

Number of species per order in the ANSP Entomology Collection. Even though Orthoptera is not part of the “big five” insect orders in terms of number of world species, it samples the order’s total richness greater than much more species-rich orders like Lepidoptera and Coleoptera.

Figure 9.

Number of specimens per order in the ANSP Entomology Collection. Orthoptera is the most abundant, which shows the strength of this group in the collection. Although the Coleoptera collection represents far more species in our collection than any other order, the number of specimens is approximately half that of Orthoptera and similar to that in Diptera, indicating an average of a few specimens per species.

Figure 10.

Total number of determined specimens curated by storage container. Nearly 75% of curated specimens are on pins and housed in ANSP-style drawers. Odonata Box refers to Odonata specimens preserved in envelopes. Specimens (mostly Coccoidea) that were preserved on their host plant are represented by “On Plant.” Peale Box refers to the historic specimen boxes housing the Peale Lepidoptera Collection.

Figure 11.

Species index (spindex) online database showing the “Browse” section. The taxonomy of a given group can easily be seen. In this example, families of true flies (Diptera) and genera within one family (Asilidae) are displayed.

Figure 12.

Species index (spindex) online database showing the “Search” section. By searching, the user can input the specific taxonomic name or part of the name to retrieve records for the pertinent group. In this example, the genus Tipula was searched and 516 records were recovered, including links to the Type Database with complete specimen label information (see Tipula conspicua entry).