Contributions to the The University of Minnesota Insect Collection (coden UMSP) began in 1879 with specimens of insects and spiders from the North Shore of Lake Superior. During the last 130 years, the Collection’s holdings have grown from a regional collection of 3,000 specimens to a major national and international resource of almost 3,600,000 specimens. In the most recent survey (based on 1986 holdings), the Collection ranked as the 8th largest university-affiliated insect collection in North America and 19th overall. Enhancing the Collection's status as an outstanding research facility are 7 resident systematists, computerized inventory management and specimen databases, a large departmental library, and a molecular systematics laboratory. Research projects associated with the Collection have broad taxonomic and geographic scope. Faculty and graduate student research focuses on both aquatic and terrestrial insect groups and includes taxonomic, phylogenetic, and applied questions. The Collection is the mainstay of graduate training in systematic entomology at the University of Minnesota.

HOLDINGS
LOANS

© 2000-2008 by ADCS and the Regents of the University of Minnesota.