The document summarizes the history and transition of the Frost Entomological Museum at Pennsylvania State University. It details the museum's origins in the 1850s, growth of the collection over time, and current renovations to expand and modernize the facility. The summary highlights the museum's diverse insect collection of over 2 million specimens, efforts to digitize records and make the collection accessible online, and ongoing research collaborations.

1. Transition and rebirth at the Frost Entomological
Museum (PSUC)
Andy Deans & István Mikó
Frost Entomological Museum
Pennsylvania State University

2. History

3. 1850s
“an institution for the education of youth in the various
branches of science, learning and practical
agriculture”
Penn State Libraries

5. Google
Stuart W. Frost
1927

6. retirement, 1957

7. Patterson Building
Penn State Libraries

8. W. Wayne Boyle
curator,
1957–1967
Arthur Chapman

9. Ke Chung “K.C.” Kim
curator, 1968–2008
Sandy_R
Derek Sikes

10. Today

12. public
collection
office
office
office
prep rooms
storage
library
Museum has >3600 ft2 (>335 m2). Systematics program has >5600 ft2 (>520 m2).

13. public
A bit dated.

14. Penn State
Location, location, location
Glenda Sims

15. Expansion, renovation, redesign. Reopen fall 2014!

16. The collection ≈ 2,000,000 specimens
Anoplura*
15,000 slides
Kim collection; 300 spp.
Araneae
30,000 specimens
many paratypes
Coleoptera
160,000 specimens
5,500 spp.
Collembola**
>650,000 specimens
Diptera
100,000 specimens
2,000 spp.
Hemiptera***
160,000 specimens
Pepper aphid collection
Hymenoptera****
150,000 specimens
1,700 spp.
Lepidoptera
70,000 specimens
Patterson butterflies
Odonata*****
64,111 specimens
>1,000 spp.; Beatty collection
remainder
600,000 specimens
many in project cabinets

17. ** 508,852 collembolans in these six vials.

18. Unconventional strengths
●
Nicholas A. Tonelli
Insects of Pennsylvania

19. Unconventional strengths
●
Insects of Archbold
Bug G. Membracid

20. Unconventional strengths
●
light-trapped insects

21. Unconventional strengths
●
leaf miners
Rylee Isitt

22. Unconventional strengths
●
Ophiocordyceps-infected insects
link

23. Pinned insects:
●
●
●
●
USNM-style storage
1,668 drawers
130 Lane/Ward’s
cabinets
no fumigants
●
plus some non-standard cabinets

24. Wet specimens:
●
●
●
Shell vials in non-archival glass jars
Glass vials without polyseal gaskets
728 metal drawers

25. Odonata:
●
●
Cellophane envelopes or paper triangles
1,100 Kraft boxes on open shelves

27. Slides:
●
●
●
Canada balsam
standard slide boxes
slides stored horizontally on
open shelves

28. Recent activities

29. Curation
Treat / re-house exposed specimens,
rescue specimens from Riker mounts

30. Curation and rebuilding
teaching collection!
(we need Grylloblattodea)

31. Inventory and profiling
first since 1990
http://bit.ly/PSUCinventory
http://bit.ly/FrostSOPs

32. Loans audit

33. Training
Summer intern program
We are looking for grad students!

34. Digitizing and databasing
Species File / mx (TaxonWorks)
http://taxonworks.org/
identifiers/barcodes
images
●
PSUC_FEM 70710

35. Mexican Odonata:
http://volunteer.ala.org.au/project/index/2677524
Eastern U.S. Odonata:
http://volunteer.ala.org.au/project/index/2816097
Eastern U.S. Bombus:
http://volunteer.ala.org.au/project/index/2812917

36. Volunteer:
1.
2.
3.
transcribe
copy and paste
use mapping tool for lat/long
PSUC:
4.
5.
6.
verify
export
import into DB

37. http://gigamacro.com/
Collaboration with Powdermill Nature Reserve,
Carnegie Museum of Natural History

40. See it at GigaPan:
http://bit.ly/PSUCslides

42. Ongoing research
systematics: taxonomy,
faunistics, phylogenomics
DNA: functional genomics,
evolutionary developmental
biology
museology: effective exhibits,
curation practices
informatics: ontologies, semantic
phenotype representation

43. Collaborations
imaging: CLSM, in vivo SR-µCT (van de
Kamp talk!), laser ablation tomography
Benjamin Hall
morphology: biomechanics, finite
element, nanoindentation analyses

44. knock-down in Drosophila
genotype-phenotype
quantify w/rigor
Santhosh Girirajan, Janani Iyer
neuroanatomy

46. Outreach
Friends of the Frost Museum
PSU Master Gardeners
Great Insect Fair
EGSA

47. @FrostMuseum
Curators' blog
Facebook
flickr

48. James L. Monroe
Butterflies (and other insects) of Pennsylvania (and elsewhere)

49. Jana Scott
http://www.janascottfineart.com/

50. Sarah Swist
http://www.saraheswist.com/
More than you can chew. Sarah Swist, 2013.

51. Hard to swallow. Sarah Swist, 2013.
The physical possibility of gravity in the mind of someone standing right here.
Sarah Swist, 2013.

52. Oil and age. Sarah Swist, 2013.

53. Acknowledgments
K.C. Kim, “Butterfly” Bob Snetsinger, Bob Foottit, Hal White, Justin Schmidt, Nick Sloff
Entomology graduate students, Friends of the Frost Entomological Museum
2013 Frost Biodiversity Interns: Sal, Angela, Karah, Brian
Gary Felton, Dave Love, CAS administration
Jim Monroe, Jana Scott, Sarah Swist
Janani Iyer

54. http://bit.ly/PSUCrebirth
(this slide show)
http://sites.psu.edu/frost/
(Frost Curators’ Blog)
http://psuc.speciesfile.org/
(PSUC database)
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