Uniqueness Of The Collection

The entomological collection of the California Academy of Sciences is unique in several ways. Among the five largest collections in North America and one of the two largest west of the East Coast, it is the only major collection in the West that is worldwide in scope.

Heavily used as a research resource both nationally and internationally, the department and its collection have a unique role as a resource center for worldwide research materials both regionally and locally. Regionally, the department serves as the headquarters for the Pacific Coast Entomological Society. The collection serves as a depository for primary type specimens for several western institutions and as the main resource for material from all faunal regions that is convenient for western researchers to visit routinely. Locally, it serves as the main worldwide research resource for entomologists and arachnologists in the scientific community of northern California. Ours is a particularly diverse community, including professionals and students from more than two dozen major colleges and universities in the area, professionals from state and federal government agencies (including, among others, researchers from California State Deparments of Food and Agriculture and of Public Health and from various federal agencies, such as the National Park Service), professionals from major conservation organizations (several of which have their headquarters or major offices in the area), and an exceptionally active, informed, and interested general public, which includes hundreds of individuals with at least avocational interests in entomology.

With the possible exception of primary type specimens, it is probably inaccurate to describe any particular taxonomic or geographical holdings in one collection as truly "unique" within the international, or even national, community of collections. Perhaps our holdings for the order Embiidina come closest to being unique on a worldwide basis. Certainly, however, the collection is unique in the strength of certain of its holdings, both taxonomically and geographically, as discussed above under description of the collection. Among our taxonomic strengths, the most exceptional are the Emdiidina, Thysanoptera, and Scorpiones. The most exceptional geographical strengths, at least among North American collections, are probably our holdings for western North America, western South America (especially the Galapagos Islands), and tropical Africa, perhaps also for Australia and the Indo-Australian Archipelago (especially the Philippines).

Last Update: 7 April 2000