The collection's holdings consist of 3,565,200 specimens (including 2,027 primary and 37,293 secondary types) representing 48,416 described species. Over the last 5 years, an average of 67,000 new specimen accessions have been added to the collection. Holdings of special taxonomic or historical importance include:

• Insects (especially Coleoptera) collected by Otto Luger
• C.E. Mickel Mutillidae collection, one of the best in the world, consisting of 27,000 specimens and 282 primary types
• J.E. Guthrie collection of Collembola
• O.W. Oestlund and A.A. Granovsky collections of Aphididae
• Noctuidae collection of A.G. Richards
• R.D. Price collection of Mallophaga, containing more than 220,000 slide mounted specimens
• T.N. Ananthakrishnan collection of thrips
• The St. Cloud State University donated collection, amassed largely by Dr. Ralph Gunderson, of some 100,000 specimens, primarily of aquatic Coleoptera and Hemiptera
• One of the world's largest collections of Trichoptera, with over 550,000 bar-coded and fully databased specimens
• The Dr. James E. and Mary F. Sublette Collection of Chironomidae, one of the best chironomid collections in the world and containing some 87,000 slide mounted specimens, including scores of new species awaiting description
  

In addition to these historically important taxonomic holdings, the collection houses material from throughout Minnesota, the Upper Midwest, and the United States. Much exotic material has been added from research expeditions abroad, including material from Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Mexico, Nicarague, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago, and Venezuela in the New World and Australia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, and South Africa in the Old World.

For detailed information on collection holdings by order, choose from the links below. Selection of a taxon link will open a PDF file listing, for each included family, numbers of determined (DET) and undetermined (UNDET) specimens, number of primary (TY) and secondary (2T) types, total number of specimens (TOT), and number of species (SPEC) in the collection. Lists are updated at the beginning of each calendar year.

Note: Taxonomy is according to Brues, Melander, and Carpenter 1954.

INSECTA

ANOPLURA
COLEOPTERA
COLLEMBOLA
CORRODENTIA
DERMAPTERA
DIPTERA
EMBIODEA
ENTOTROPHI
EPHEMEROPTERA
HEMIPTERA
HOMOPTERA
HYMENOPTERA
ISOPTERA
LEPIDOPTERA
MALLOPHAGA
MECOPTERA
NEUROPTERA
ODONATA
ORTHOPTERA
PLECOPTERA
PROTURA
SIPHONAPTERA
STREPSIPTERA
THYSANOPTERA
THYSANURA
TRICHOPTERA
ZORAPTERA

NON-INSECTA

ACARINA
ARANEIDA
CHELONETHIDA
PEDIPALIDA
PHALANGIDA
SCORPIONIDA
SOLPUGIDA

CHILOPODA
GEOPHILOMORPHA
LITHOBIOMORPHA
SCOLOPENDROMORPHA
SCUTIGEROMORPHA

AMPHIPODA
BRANCHIURA
CYCLOPOIDA
DECAPODA
ISOPODA
OSTRACODA

DIPLOPODA
CHORDEUMIDEA
JULIDA
PARAIULIDEA
POLYDESMIDA
POLYXENIDA
SPIROBOLIDA

TETRAMEROCERATA
PAUROPODA