Texas A&M University Insect Collection

The collection is located in several spaces in the Minnie Belle Heep Building. The primary collection room is Heep 216, which also houses the offices of its curators.

The collection contains more that 3.1 million fully-curated specimens, and several million additional specimens as bulk samples. Over the past 30 years the collection has grown at an average rate of more than 50,000 specimens per year. While the taxonomic focus of the collection is primarily on insects, it also contains good representation of most other terrestrial and freshwater arthropod groups – including, particularly, important collections of spiders and scorpions.

The collection’s holdings are preserved using a variety methods – including specimens on pins, on points, in alcohol, on microscope slides, in envelopes, and in -20ºC and -80ºC freezers – depending on the taxonomic group, curatorial status, and intended research use of the specimens.

The collection serves Texans in a number of important ways. It is an archive for historically important specimens and is an important teaching and research tool for undergraduate and graduate studies in insect biodiversity. Many undergraduate entomology students work as part-time curatorial assistants in the collection, a truly unique learning experience!

One of the most immediate and practical uses of the insect collection is its role as an extensive reference collection that can be consulted to help ensure accurate insect identifications. Specimens housed in the collection that have been identified by experts across the United States and around the world serve as reference materials that help state entomologists answer that inevitable first question of entomology – what is it?

A simple question, but not a simple one to answer, given that there are more than 1 million different named species of insects – and probably more than 30,000 of these occur in Texas! The collection also serves as a source of high-quality specimens that are available for off-site loan by qualified researchers. The collection annually mails around 10,000 specimens to researchers in Texas, across the U.S., and around the world, in support of an exceptionally wide variety of research projects relating to insect biodiversity.

Specimens housed in the collection that have been accurately identified by experts across the United States and around the world serve as reference materials that enable state entomologists to answer that inevitable first question of entomology: what is it?

A simple question, but not simple to answer given that there are more than 1 million different named species of insects – and probably more than 30,000 of these occur in Texas!

Due to the fragile nature of the collection’s specimens, the collection is not open for general public browsing; but, a limited number of tours of the collection are given each year. To view or utilize any of the collection’s holdings, please contact one of the collection’s curators.