Recipient Organization
COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
FORT COLLINS,CO 80523
Performing Department
Agricultural Biology
Non Technical Summary
Natural history collections are the major source of baseline (historical) diversity information. The C. P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity, Colorado State University is one of the major repositories of the biodiversity of insects in space and time of the southern Rocky Mountain region. Properly preserved and labeled specimens are the ultimate physical database for verification of reported data that are based on them and the populations from which they were sampled. They are vouchers for species identity and other specimen-specific information. The continued objective of the proposal is to provide a collection and database for the use of state and Federal agencies (Cooperative Extension Specialists and agents, Colorado State Forest Service, Colorado Department of Agriculture, USGS BRD, USDA, US Park Service), and pest management specialists, students, and national and international scientists.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
80%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
20%
Goals / Objectives
The objectives areassisting in the taxonomic determination of arthropod species that are considered concerns of human health, agriculture, horticulture, and recent or potential invasive species, making identifications and other information available by using databasing protocols,public awareness of nature and biodiversity,providing broad support for public education programs, andtraining both undergraduate and graduate student in systematics.
Project Methods
We will continue to process the approximately, 45,000 specimens that are added annually to the collection using standard methods and protocols (Steyskal et al. 1986). These include specimens submitted by the USDA, Colorado Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension and research efforts of the staff of the museum. Recently, approximately 150,000 specimens of Lepidoptera were donated, and these specimens have been identified and sorted into the collection. CSUC has about 250,000 of its four million specimens databased.) and available on the worldwide web using the Symbiota Collections Arthropods Network (SCAN) ((https://www.idigbio.org/wiki/index.php/Symbiota_Collections_of_Arthropods_Network; http://symbiota4.acis.ufl.edu/scan/portal/collections/index.php; CSUC http://symbiota4.acis.ufl.edu/scan/portal/collections/misc/collprofiles.php?collid=4 (SCAN) and LepNet http://www.lep-net.org/.) and the National Park Service (https://rediscoverysoftware.com/). An additional 50,000 insect specimens were databased for contract work for the Center for Environmental Management of Military and (http://www.cemml.colostate.edu/), are in a dBase database. There will be a continuation of this database effort.Bark beetles are the most important of all wood destroying insect, killing trees by direct feeding and introducing fungal pathogens, which has been a serious concern to the ecosystem health of Colorado forests. Since joining the museum staff, the international bark beetle expert, Dr. Donald Bright has identified the CSUC bark beetle specimens (40 Cornell drawers) resulting in one the most important holding in this region, including most of the genera and species. These specimens have been recently used for the production of crucial identification tools, images, and diagnostic information to aid identification of bark beetles, (http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/BBGNA/BBGNA.htm), a major contribution to an effort provide rapid identifications. Additionally, detection efforts are being continued two other insects having great potential impact on health of Colorado forests, the Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire; Coleoptera: Buprestidae) and the European Wood Wasp (Sirex noctilio Fabricius; Hymenoptera: Siricidae). Routinely, hundreds of specimens of putative Emerald Ash Borers are screened for positive identification. All Sirex spp. specimens trapped in Colorado by state and Federal surveillance programs are housed in the collection and have been examined for an identification guide to these species by the national experts. Additionally, a new effort has been undertaken to provide voucher material for potentially invasive moth species (e. g. Light Brown Apple Moth [Epiphyas postvittana (Walker); Lepidoptera: Torticidae]) that pose a risk to fruit and ornamental plants in Colorado. Material is now deposited in the collection that was used in the production of LBAM ID lucid CD including DNA barcodes for identifiers of the USDA-APHIS. Currently, "Coleoptera Screening Aids" for CAPs are being developed.CSUC is the fourteenth largest collection affiliated with a university in the United States. This repository represents a baseline of (historical) diversity information, in which species and genetic diversity are catalogued and stored. The CSUC serves as the window to the past and vistas on the future, especially being important in the rapid changing landscapes of Colorado. Collections like the CSUC are also irreplaceable reservoir of untapped information for future studies. For example, more than 20,000 selected specimens in the collection have been DNA barcoded for the DNA barcode library for eukaryotic life (iBOL, https://ibol.org/). The CSUC is considered one of the most valuable resources for DNA material by the primary institution involved in the establishment of a DNA barcode library, the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada because of the large amount of recently collected material and the fact that a large percentage of it has been expertly identified.As one of the oldest established collections, the native and introduced insects and other arthropods are documented in the CSUC since the 1870's. This information is crucial for efforts directly related to Colorado agricultural including identification of pests (e.g. historically, Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Kurdjumov); Hemiptera: Aphididae), identification of emerging pests (e.g. European paper wasp, Polistes dominula (Christ); Hymenoptera: Vespidae), and biocontrol releases and successes. Recently, for example, CSUC provided some of the first records regionally for four invasive Eurasian insect species, the scentless plant bug Rhopalus tigrinus Schilling, the noctuid moth Noctua pronuba (L.), the elm flea weevil Orchestes alni (L.), and the Splendid Tamarisk Weevil", Coniatus splendidulus (F.).The CSUC serves as the focus for the general public interested in insects and other arthropods, serving annually more than 3,000 K-12 students and parents and this service will be continued with enthusiasm. The Museum directly facilitates teaching both undergraduate and graduate students as an extension of the classroom and a facility for independent studies. The Museum has initiated a successful endowment program to support high quality museum and outreach activities. The CSUC makes available its collections and libraries to Colorado Heritage Program and other biodiversity concern state agencies on a routine basis.Objective 4: Currently there is a master's student and a PhD student that are engaged in taxonomic revisions. This will continue annually. The PI will continue to provide direction in these studies, using museum resources. Additionally, 4,000 specimens from the CSUC are loaned to researchers throughout the world.