Idea for rarities collectors??

[Chuck]

In the bowels of many institutional collections lie tens or hundreds of thousands of papered specimens up to a century old. Rarely do these ever get set and collated, the exception is when someone (usually a specialist) is looking for specific taxa.

Institutions don't have the manpower to set and ID all these specimens. Undoubtedly, many will still be papered when mankind disappears. Yet, when at times I open a box of these specimens (usually kept by collector/donor and location) I see specimens that spike my interest- but only a little, because I know that others are studying/ interested in them, but they're not my specialty.

So how to get those specimens out of boxes and into the collections?

My solution suggestion is for armchair collectors to cut a deal with institutions: you set all the specimens in box X, and you can keep a duplicate of any taxon in the box. That way BOTH parties get specimens collated that are otherwise going to sit useless.

What do you think? I've not asked any institutions yet if they'd be interested.

[jhyatt]

It's been done, Chuck. The late Paul Opler and I had an arrangement whereby I would spread material (mostly skippers and Lycaenids) for the Gillette Museum at Colorado State. The deal was that, of any lot sent to me to spread, I could keep about 25% of the lot. But I could keep no more than 50% of any series, and no singletons. Since much of this material dated back to the 1950's and came from localities no longer available for collecting, I was happy to handle the material and add some neat old things o my collection. We kept this up for about 8-10 years; I finally stopped when I realized I wasn't making much progress on reducing the backlog of papered material in my own bug freezer.

I have no idea whether other museums would be open to such arrangements.

[daveuk]

I think in theory that's a good idea Chuck. In practice here in the U.K. I doubt any museum would be at all comfortable with handing over boxes of papered specimens in their possession to members of the public/private collectors. I just don't see that happening. I don't think there would be enough trust on the part of any museum here to be honest.

[Papilio_indra]

The institutions that I'm involved with would be glad to have amateur entomologists and citizen scientists spread material for them and provide excess specimens as an incentive however they don't have the space to store additional prepared material. Most of their storage drawers and cabinets are already filled to the brim.

[Trehopr1]

I agree with daveUK. I don't think for one moment you could trust handing over any specimens to outsiders and hope to get them back. At the museum where I worked for 8 years we had (outstanding loans) from researchers that were over 30 years old and they had pretty much been written off as losses.

About the only way we ever recovered some of those excessively long loans was when the researcher (died) and the family members or the institution where they had worked was going through their stuff and found the loans; only to return them to us then !

But this happened very infrequently and more often than not any loans that old were probably LOST FOR GOOD.

So, if one cannot depend on PhD researchers to return loans in a timely manner then how can one propose to a museum that they loan out their unprepared material to "average Joe" nobodies whose skills at preparation (in the first place) are unknown.

The fact is, much of what remains at museums as unprepared insect material will likely remain that way.

I personally think the most proactive thing that any collector can do is ONLY collect what you can prepare in a timely manner. And by this, I mean what you CAN PREPARE within two or three days time (after capture).

I have for the last 15 years done things this way so that I never have anything papered in reserve (for any reason).
If I make a trade with someone they're getting a prepared specimen on a pin that I have taken from my collection.

I don't want anybody or any institution down the road to be unloaded with my collecting excesses..... Collecting is the easy part and the fun part but, it is the preparation and the transference of accompanying data that is much more time consuming and ----- yet far more important !!
That is where the real science (of this hobby) lies; a properly prepared (usable) research specimen with good data attached to it.

I cannot imagine anyone having a freezer full of paper stock. If you cannot prepare it up yourself then don't expect anyone else to after you're gone.

[eurytides]

To each their own, but I also do not keep what I cannot spread. In my freezer, I have 3 specimens from this month and that’s it.

[Chris Grinter]

It depends on the person and the institution. Generally any collection would prefer work happen in the museum, so that's where you can start if you have the time to go in 1-2 days a week to prep specimens. Once you're a trusted volunteer then I think many institutions would let you take stuff home to work on. I also think collections need to re-frame how they think of these backlogs. The specimens are in the collection, they just need better curation. Most butterflies do not require spreading to be identified, they should be rehoused in clear plastic odonata envelopes or something similar, not glassine. And most moths do not need to be spread for ID either, rather just pinned and labeled (unless they were in envelopes with wings up). Space is always at a premium in every collection, papered leps just need to be differently curated so they are accessible to the research community. I would gladly give a trusted volunteer 25% of the papered leps to take home for ID and rehousing!

[Chuck]

I agree with daveUK. I don't think for one moment you could trust handing over any specimens to outsiders and hope to get them back.

While history has demonstrated that there are those willing to steal from museums, I believe the majority of serious collectors can be trusted to honor whatever deal is cut.

In my case, I've been offered many rare, expensive specimens by institutions, both as permanent transfers and loans. I have declined them all, as I don't want any more specimens. That said, some of these specimens I have photos of so that's sufficient for my research. That doesn't mean it will always be this way, I may well need specimens at some point in my studies- but I assure you, they will be going back!

As far as loaned specimens not being returned, that is a commonly voiced issue by both institutions and private researchers. Note I did not say it's a "concern", as those who've noted such failure haven't really expressed great concern about it. After all, most have plenty of specimens, it's not like their prized possession has gone missing.

For me, I don't loan: not cash, not specimens. It's a permanent transfer, and if it comes back, then it's a bonus. That way I don't get all wrung up about loans and time periods and paperwork and such.

Most curators have expressed disappointment that their predecessors were lax in tracking loans in the first place. As a researcher, THIS is what's frustrating to me- we all know where the world's most significant collections wound up, and it's not hard to track down others (e.g., Holland, Franclemont). However, loaned specimens from those collections have gone MIA. I need to track down a big chunk of specimens for my research that are not where they should be (I suspect I know where they are, just have to do the leg work.) Really though, who cares if a series is Cal Academy or Cornell, so long as they are cared for and tracked down?

Back on topic though, and my position again is that some people can be thoroughly trusted, the papered specimens (some papered in, well, paper) aren't as readily employed for research because they're not as accessible. Chris makes a good point that moving them to clear envelopes would be helpful, but who's going to move 200,000 papered specimens? Nobody. As well, in researching there's a tiered multi-location search even within a given institution: the collated primary collection, the "specialized" collections (typically by collector) that are housed separately, Pro Tem, and finally the mass boxes of papered material which is poorly sorted.

By getting some of those papered specimens set and under glass it would make research (at least my research) significantly easier.

[Cabintom]

I personally think the most proactive thing that any collector can do is ONLY collect what you can prepare in a timely manner. And by this, I mean what you CAN PREPARE within two or three days time (after capture).

Clearly you aren't collecting in the tropics!

I've learned that, around here, for many, many genera, until a specimen is spread you can't be certain of it's ID.
Robert Ducarme (a very well known collector from Kivu) on two occasions gave me small cardboard boxes full of papered material he'd already sorted through. Even still, I found some very interesting specimens, including what is likely an example of Hypolycaena schubotzi.

Right now in my own collection, I have several hundred papered specimens from a couple of different trips to Bas-Uele (incredibly understudied region), and from a couple different trips to locations near the Uganda/S. Sudan border. I won't be surprised to find at least 10 "new-to-me" species in the lot, once I get them spread, and some of those will likely be significant records. I also know a fair number are 2nd or 3rd examples of species for which I presently only have a singleton set.
At the moment, I have ~835 species/subspecies from DRC collected and set. Adding ~10 more to that number is significant and wouldn't be possible if I just kept the specimens I could "prepare within two or three days time."

That all said, if I were back in Canada, where there is a much, much, much lower likelihood of collecting something scientifically "exciting", then I think I would prescribe to your rule.

[Trehopr1]

Indeed Cabintom,
I cannot argue about that. I live amongst the Great Lakes States so, catching a few things here or there is about all you do.

The tropics are a whole nother' situation. I have collected in the tropics of Ecuador and Bolivia and I picked up as much as I could during my brief stay there.
However, within three or four months I had what I picked up all prepared up.

Yours, is a unique situation and you are very fortunate to have such an extended stay in a tropical zone so --- I get where you're coming from.

[Cassidinae]

There may be a problem with legislation in some countries. I think state museums sometimes cannot officially donate material. But as far as I know, there are various grants from which museums pay preparators.

[Jshuey]

There may be a problem with legislation in some countries. I think state museums sometimes cannot officially donate material. But as far as I know, there are various grants from which museums pay preparators.

Indeed. If they are an non-profit (501c3) in the US, there is a prohibition about using assets to "benefit" private individuals (in this case - the asset would be dead bugs). That said - if most of the bugs came back as spread or mounted it could be a wash I suppose. This rule is really about money but extends to anything with value. An easy example - A non-profit can't give cash directly to a homeless person, but it can support a food bank or homeless shelter.

But here is an example that comes up all the time at the little non-profit I work at. A land owner wants to see us purchase their land to protect it.
But they also want the "right" to hunt or fish on the land for the rest of their lives. We can't give them that right (it has value), but we can sell it to them by discounting the purchase price of the land, based on their life expectancy times the annual value of the rights they are seeking. They usually decide that they would rather pay an annual fee to hunt, just like everyone else (FYI - we only hunt deer because population densities are much higher than they would be if we still had predators, and overgrazing by deer really impacts forest succession).

john

[Chuck]

There may be a problem with legislation in some countries. I think state museums sometimes cannot officially donate material. But as far as I know, there are various grants from which museums pay preparators.

Indeed. If they are an non-profit (501c3) in the US, there is a prohibition about using assets to "benefit" private individuals (in this case - the asset would be dead bugs). That said - if most of the bugs came back as spread or mounted it could be a wash I suppose. This rule is really about money but extends to anything with value. An easy example - A non-profit can't give cash directly to a homeless person, but it can support a food bank or homeless shelter.

But here is an example that comes up all the time at the little non-profit I work at. A land owner wants to see us purchase their land to protect it.
But they also want the "right" to hunt or fish on the land for the rest of their lives. We can't give them that right (it has value), but we can sell it to them by discounting the purchase price of the land, based on their life expectancy times the annual value of the rights they are seeking. They usually decide that they would rather pay an annual fee to hunt, just like everyone else (FYI - we only hunt deer because population densities are much higher than they would be if we still had predators, and overgrazing by deer really impacts forest succession).

john

Interesting, the means by which one must get things done. Laws are so convoluted.

Ultimately, I presented an idea, I suppose it's up to the collector to motivate themselves, and up to the institution if so inclined to figure out how to do it.

The idea should work reasonably well between two private parties as well; if one has boxes and boxes of papered specimens they can't get through, a trade for services would benefit two reliable parties.