Entomology Research Museum
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[[Image:UCR Entomology Building.JPG|thumb|220px|left|Entomology Building]]
The UCR '''Entomology Research Museum''' is the insect collection of the Department of Entomology of the [[University of California, Riverside]]. It contains approximately 3 million total [[insect]] specimens, 2.2 million of which are pinned, roughly 350,000 mounted on slides, the remainder preserved in ethanol (including most of the non-insect [[arthropod]]s, and some [[snail]]s). Of the 2.6 million curated holdings, approximately 75% of are identified to genus level or better. An estimated 25% of the entire collection are [[Hymenoptera]], 21% are [[Coleoptera]], 18% [[Diptera]], and 18% [[Lepidoptera]].
This is the second oldest of the [[University of California]] entomological collections. The first specimens were transferred from the [[California State Insectary]] at [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]] by [[Harry Smith (entomologist)|Harry Smith]] in 1923. Other sizable personal collections were added by [[P.H. Timberlake]] in 1924 and [[L.D. Anderson]] in 1948, and the [[G.P. McKenzie]] collection of North American Coleoptera was purchased in 1965. The division of Entomology museum was formalized by [[E.I. Schlinger]] in 1962, and is now one of the 20 largest insect collections in the [[United States]], and one of the 10 largest strictly University-based collections. For many of the special taxonomic collections, such as specimens from [[southern California]], the effective rank is considerably higher.
The UCR collection of [[Chalcidoidea]] (Hymenoptera) is one of the world's largest of this group, and the slide collection of Chalcidoidea has no comparison in the world (more than 100,000 slides, primarily [[Trichogrammatidae]], [[Aphelinidae]], [[Mymaridae]], [[Eulophidae]], and [[Encyrtidae]]). Additional specialty taxa represented are [[Apoidea]], [[Asiloidea]] (esp. [[Bombyliidae]], [[Therevidae]], [[Asilidae]]), [[Meloidae]], [[Thysanoptera]], [[Staphylinidae]], [[Melyridae]], [[Coccinellidae]], [[Sciomyzidae]], [[Tephritidae]], [[Aphididae]], [[Coccoidea]], and various selected genera (e.g., the scarab genera ''[[Pleocoma]]'' and ''[[Chrysina]]''). The holdings include over 1,100 primary types and many thousands of paratypes of the preceding taxa (the majority attributable to [[P.H. Timberlake]]).
The vast majority of material is from southern California, [[Arizona]], and the [[Baja California Peninsula]], including one of the most extensive collections of insects from the [[Sonoran Desert]] (esp. Colorado Delta and Mojave components), and Coastal Sage Scrub ecological zones. In addition to substantial northern California holdings and other U.S. and Mexican material, there are also significant amounts of material from [[Central America|Central]] and [[South America]], the [[Russian Far East]] and its European part, [[India]], [[Australia]], [[South Africa]], and [[Thailand]]. The [[parasitic wasp]] collection is the most geographically diverse, with material from all biogeographic regions, and dating back to the early 1900's.
==External links==
*[http://entmuseum.ucr.edu/ Entomology Research Museum, University of California, Riverside], [[Riverside, California|Riverside, CA]]
{{University of California, Riverside}}
[[Category:University of California, Riverside]]
[[Category:Natural history museums in the United States]]
[[Category:Museums in California]]
[[Category:University museums in the United States]]
[[Category:Research museums]]