Dr Duncan Sivell

Do juveniles have enough alcohol?

Recurating a spirit collection to meet modern taxonomic demands

Outline

The NHM Diptera spirit collection Diptera life cycles and ecology Existing curation: Notton protocol New curation and enhancement What for the future?

Waterhouse Building 1881

New Extensions 2001-2005

Darwin Centre 1

Steel fire resistant cabinets

Adjustable wooden shelves

Standardised plastic trays

Environmental control

Lab area for curation work

Diptera Spirit Collection

Represents 3% of species housed in dry collections

Collection Global; British and Irish material not separated.

Families of medical importance well represented (eg Simuliidae, Culiciidae)

Spirit is default preservation method for Diptera larvae

New spirit building; Darwin Centre 1; collection rehoused in 2005. Eighteen cabinets of Diptera material.

Specimen containers

Diptera

160 000 species globally (an underestimate!)

> 7000 species in Britain (well studied fauna)

Diptera spend majority of their life as juveniles

< 2% of Diptera are known as larvae

~ 4% of British species known as larvae

A juvenile existence?

Calliphora vicina

Ecological diversity

Ecological diversity

Phoenix fly

Dorycera graminum

The Spirit Collection

The Angels' Share

Spirit jars and parfaits need checking and topping-up; a ongoing task (Notton Protocol)

New Curation Tasks

Create a collection of British and Irish material (to coincide with the dry collections)

Emphasis on DNA and larvae: influence research by creating an appropriate resource

Spirit Curation

Topping-up: Notton Protocol

Notton, D.G., 2011. A new practical method for profiling and topping up alcohol preserved entomology collections. NatSCA News 21(August): 44-98

Notton Protocol

Parfait gaskets

Spirit jars and parfaits need checking and topping-up; a ongoing task (Notton Protocol)

New Curation Tasks

Create a collection of British and Irish material (to coincide with the dry collections)

Emphasis on DNA and larvae: influence research by creating an appropriate resource

Spirit Curation

Spirit jars and parfaits need checking and topping-up; a ongoing task (Notton Protocol)

New Curation Tasks

Emphasis on DNA and larvae: influence research by creating an appropriate resource

Create a collection of British and Irish material (to coincide with the dry collections)

Spirit Curation

Collection enhancement

2012 fieldwork

Adults and larvae

Absolute ethanol

Melanostoma spp.

Other projects

Summary

Do juveniles have enough alcohol?

No! But curation must be fit for purpose.

What are the implications of preserving material in absolute ethanol?

Evaporation rates?Less damaging to seal than IMS?Potential problems with osmotic stress?These factors need investigation

Summary

Do juveniles have enough alcohol?

No! But curation must be fit for purpose.

What are the implications of preserving material in absolute ethanol?

Evaporation rates?Less damaging to seal than IMS?Potential problems with osmotic stress?These factors need investigation

Questions?