Hymenoptera Type Material from the National Museum of Costa Rica II: Paratypes

Marcela Sánchez-Ocampo¹, Andrés Herrera²

¹Department of Natural History, Entomology, Costa Rica National Museum, San José, Costa Rica.
²Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany.

DOI: 10.4236/oalib.1110416                

Abstract

Through the physical review of the Hymenoptera collection of the National Museum of Costa Rica and 53 articles associated with the description of species, we found a total of 4218 paratype specimens, representing 17 families, 41 subfamilies, 47 tribes and 143 genera. Some of them belonging to the genus Heterospilus were damaged during a return of material by mail, and others have genetic sequencing available for research. The possibility that many other paratypes are found in other collections is not ruled out, since there is a large amount of material borrowed that was never returned.

Keywords

Ants, Bees, Type Catalogue, Voucher Specimen, Wasps

1. Introduction

The National Museum of Costa Rica (MNCR) houses a patrimonial collection of Hymenoptera of more than 475,000 specimens acquired in 2015, when the MNCR received the collection from the National Institute of Biodiversity (INBio).

This collection contains a significant amount of type material corresponding to species described between the years 1901 and 2021. However, many of the paratypes from these publications were deposited in the Museum, but they were not systematized when incorporating the database system, therefore that there was not a complete inventory, until now.

The objective of this research was to generate the final inventory of the paratypes of the hymenoptera collection, through an exhaustive physical and literature review, in order to know the species and volume of specimens that are kept.

2. Methodology

2.1. National Museum Insect Collection

The MNCR paratype collection is found together with the general collection, along with the regular specimens. Although some of them held a label that identifies them as paratypes, they were not included in the digital database, so we proceeded to assign a code and enter their data into the system.

2.2. Paratype Inventory

By reviewing the literature, it was possible to build an inventory of specimens that was later confirmed by means of a physical search to count and confirm their presence in the collection. It was also necessary to have the documents inherited by the National Institute of Biodiversity (INBio) on the loans made, in order to locate the missing specimens in the collection.

2.3. Literature Review

We proceeded to carry out a review of the literature in order to avoid that some paratypes without a type label were not counted and identified in the database. For this we reviewed the following articles: Arcterberg et al. (2002) [1] , Aranguren (1999) [2] , Areekul and Quicke (2006) [3] , Braet and Quicke (2004) [4] , Briceño (2003) [5] , Campra and Wahis (2018) [6] , Carpenter and Kojima (2002) [7] , Engel (2009) [8] , Feitosa and Brandão (2008) [9] , Fortier and Nishida (2004) [10] , Gauld and Janzen (2004) [11] , Gauld et al. (1997) [12] , Gauld et al. (2000) [13] , Gauld et al. (2002) [14] , Gauld et al. (1998) [15] , Gates and Hanson (2009) [16] , Gibson (2003) [17] , Gibson (2004) [18] , Hansson (2005) [19] , Hansson (2010) [20] , Hansson (2011) [21] , Hansson (2012) [22] , Hansson and LaSalle (2003) [23] , Heydon and Hanson (2005) [24] , Leathers et al. (2003) [25] , Lindsay and Sharkey (2006) [26] , Longino (2006) [27] , Macedo (2011) [28] , Marsh (2002) [29] , Marsh et al. (2013) [30] , Michener et al. (2003) [31] , Noyes (2004) [32] , Noyes (2000) [33] , Noyes and Hanson (1996) [34] , Noyes and Ren (1995) [35] , Noyes and Shauff (2003) [36] , Roubik et al. (1997) [37] , Sarmiento-Monroy (2006) [38] , Schauff and Janzen (2001) [39] , Sharkov and Wooley (1997) [40] , Shaw et al. (1997) [41] , Smith (2003) [42] , Smith and Janzen (2003) [43] , Smith (2008) [44] , Smith (2012) [45] , Starr (1991) [46] , Twones (1992) [47] , Valerio and Whitefield (2015) [48] , Valerio and Whitefield (2003) [49] , Valerio et al. (2009) [50] , Vardy (2000) [51] , Viereck (1920) [52] , West-Eberhard et al. (2010) [53] .

3. Results

The literature indicates that at least 4.218 paratypes are deposited in the MNCR and all of them were found (Table 1), and 65 have barcoding sequencing (Table 2). Unfortunately, some specimens returned damaged from a loan (Table 3), so

Table 1. Paratype without barcoding sequences.

a. According to zoological nomenclature, when a species changes gender, the author’s reference is placed in parentheses.

Table 2. Paratypes with barcoding sequences.

Table 3. Damaged specimens with only labels present.

that only the pin with the labels remained, both specimens were glued directly to the pin. The paratypes represent 17 families, 41 subfamilies, 47 tribes and 143 genera.

4. Discussion

The paratype collection presents a significant loss of specimens, mostly due to old loans that were never returned, as well that 10 specimens of Heterospilus were lost during a loan process, only the empty pins with the labels arriving.

In the same way, some specimens were subjected to barcoding that were initially stored with the general collection, but because they now represent an additional resource, they are stored in a special collection of specimens with the same condition.

Museums usually represent a very important edge in scientific research, which not only has a merely taxonomic character of only naming new animal or plant species, but this knowledge impacts all other areas such as education [54] , economy [55] and health [56] . This is why the maintenance of standard collections is vital, since technologies such as genome-wide sequencing require correctly identified specimens based on which to generate new information using their genetic material [57] , and thus improve identification methods, and are the type specimens are those that will precisely be in the first row because they are the specimens from which a species is described.

Hence the need to improve the specimen loan processes, and the application of the laws on the deposit of duplicates and type specimens.

5. Conclusion

We conclude that all the specimens in the paratype collection are in perfect condition, with the exception of the Heterospilus specimens that were damaged during the return of material by mail. Likewise, the possibility of other paratypes re-entering loans that were never repaid remains on the table.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all colleagues who shared their publications or provided information to make this work possible. Likewise, thanks in advance to the research community, we are requesting their collaboration with the MNCR to locate the lost specimens, emphasizing that the collection that previously belonged to INBio is now in the MNCR, and the return of everything is required. The material is on loan, as many of the paratypes are found within that material and other colleagues need it for their research.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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