1. KASHMEERA N.A.
I SEM. MSc.ZOOLOGY
ROLL NO: 37
CHRIST COLLEGE, IJK

2. TAXONOMIC COLLECTIONS
Biological 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 or
microscopy 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) or
artificially with sufficient rigidity to accommodate normal handling. Such specimens
often are suitable for dry preservation.
· Specific characteristics. Drying may provide the best available means
to preserve natural colors (for example, butterflies) or distinguishing
features (such as skeletal parts or surface details). Such specimens in a
dry state may have great potential for interpretation and research.

3. WET COLLECTIONS
Wet 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 uses
When color preservation is not critical and dry preservation sacrifices
qualities needed for other intended uses, fluid preservation is beneficial.
BIOLOGICAL LOW-TEMPERATURE COLLECTIONS
Specimens 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 are
some insects.

4. BIOLOGICAL MICROSCOPY COLLECTIONS
Scientists preserve certain specimens as microscope preparations to
preserve 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 biological
collections, but are most common in these collections:
· entomology
· mycology
· parasitology
It’s also common for microscopy collections to be ancillary to more
traditional collections. Examples of such ancillary collections include:
· histology
· karyology
· scales
· some gentalia

5. 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.

6. METHODS OF COLLECTON
Mist net
Arctic tern caught in mist net

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. Insects are collected mainly by beating and sweeping
beating sweeping

10. Plankton net
Aquatic insects and other arthropods are collected by using dipnets & plankton
nets
Dip net

11. Trawling and dredging for collecting deepsea animals
Trawling Dredging

12. Collecting net

13. Aspirator

14. Berlese funnel

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

16. Killing bottles
Cyanide bottle Killing tube
POISON

17. RECORDING DATA
•Geographic locality
•Stratiographic position(for fossils only)
•Date
•Stage(adult male,female or immature form)
•Altitude or depth.
•Host
•Name of collector

23. Genitalia preserved in tiny glass vial along with specimen.

34. 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.

36. 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.

37. Museum number
Original field number
Scientific name
Locality
Date
Collector
remarks