KASHMEERA N.A.I SEM. MSc.ZOOLOGYROLL NO: 37CHRIST COLLEGE, IJK

TAXONOMIC COLLECTIONSBiological collections are typically preserved plant or animal specimens along with specimen documentation such as labels and notations.

TYPES OF COLLECTIONS Most biological collections are either dry collections or wet collections.They also may include collections preserved at low temperatures ormicroscopy collections.

DRY COLLECTION

Dry collections consist of those specimens that are preserved in a dry state.

Two factors influence decisions about preserving specimens this way:· Rigidity. Some specimens can be preserved naturally (starfish) orartificially with sufficient rigidity to accommodate normal handling. Such specimens often are suitable for dry preservation.· Specific characteristics. Drying may provide the best available meansto preserve natural colors (for example, butterflies) or distinguishingfeatures (such as skeletal parts or surface details). Such specimens in adry state may have great potential for interpretation and research.

WET COLLECTIONSWet collections are specimens kept in a liquid preservative to prevent their

deterioration.Certain biological specimens are preserved in a wet form due to:

· convenience· an intent to preserve body form and soft parts for a variety of usesWhen color preservation is not critical and dry preservation sacrificesqualities needed for other intended uses, fluid preservation is beneficial.

BIOLOGICAL LOW-TEMPERATURE COLLECTIONSSpecimens are maintained at low temperatures to preserve:

· soft parts for various biochemical analyses· whole organisms in a viable (able to live and grow) state.

specimens preserved at low temperatures- Some algae,Protozoa (especially parasitic strains), Viruses,Cloned viral genomes, Bacteria,Bacteriophages,Plasmids· Animal tissues (dissected organs, muscles),Cell lines- Blood and blood components (whole blood, serum, plasma,antisera)- Semen,Venom- Other samples (cloned probes, isolated proteins and nucleic acids,cell suspensions)Note: The largest organisms that can be preserved in a viable state aresome insects.

BIOLOGICAL MICROSCOPY COLLECTIONS

Scientists preserve certain specimens as microscope preparations topreserve whole or partial organisms for:· various kinds of microscopic examination· some kinds of biochemical analyses, including extraction of DNA.

Specimens prepared for microscopy may be found in all biologicalcollections, but are most common in these collections:· entomology· mycology· parasitology

It’s also common for microscopy collections to be ancillary to moretraditional collections. Examples of such ancillary collections include:· histology· karyology· scales· some gentalia

Value of biological collections

Most biological collections are highly valuable for the following reasons.

Museums are only place where extinct species are preserved.

specimens of special historical value.

specimens rarely found in any collections.

Many areas in world are geographically inaccessible.Material from such area are invaluable & are preserved at all costs

A material is of unique value if it forms the basis of published research.It may be needed again for verification of original data or for renewed study in the light of more recent knowledge or by new techniques.

METHODS OF COLLECTON

Mist net

Arctic tern caught in mist net

Attracting Nocturnal Insects With UV Light

Many insects can see ultraviolet light, which has shorter wavelengths than light visible to the human eye. For this reason, a black light will attract different insects than a regular incandescent light.

. The black light can be suspended in front of a white sheet, giving flying insects a surface on which to land. You can then observe the insects on the sheet, and collect any interesting specimens by hand. A black light trap is constructed by suspending a black light over a bucket or other container, usually with a funnel inside. Insects fly to the light, fall down through the funnel into the bucket, and are then trapped inside the container. Black light traps sometimes contain a killing agent, but can also be used without one to collect live specimens.

Malaise traps

A Malaise trap is a large, tent-like structure used for trapping flies and wasps. Insects fly into the tent wall and are funnelled into a collecting vessel attached to highest point.

Insects are collected mainly by beating and sweeping

beating sweeping

Plankton net

Aquatic insects and other arthropods are collected by using dipnets & plankton nets

Dip net

Trawling and dredging for collecting deepsea animals

Trawling Dredging

Collecting net

Aspirator

Berlese funnel

Floatation method

Used to collect arthropods,eggs and pupae of insects from soil or matted vegetation.

Killing bottles

Cyanide bottle Killing tube

POISON

RECORDING DATA

•Geographic locality

•Stratiographic position(for fossils only)

•Date

•Stage(adult male,female or immature form)

•Altitude or depth.

•Host

•Name of collector

Genitalia preserved in tiny glass vial along with specimen.

Storage building should be

Fireproof

Dustproof

Earthquake resistant

Air-conditioned.

Special care for type specimens

Type specimens should not be allowed to be handled frequently.

They should only be examined by experts.

Avoid their transport as far as possible.

They should be stored separately from general collection.

They should be clearly labelled in distinct colours.

Method of cataloguing is different from group to group.

In higher vertebrates each specimen is given separate number and catalogued separately.In case of insects this is not done due to their large number.

All specimens from one locality are catalogued together.

Only type specimens are unusually catalogued.In large museums type catalogues are bound in book in which types are serially numbered.

There are various ways in using filing cards of collections:

Some museums have elaborate card filing system which help in easy colllection of information about specimen.

Some large museums place all information about each specimen on separate IBM card.

Museum number

Original field number

Scientific name

Locality

Date

Collector

remarks