Taxonomy: Taxonomy is the science of defining and naming groups of biological organisms on the basis of shared characteristics. The classification of organisms is according to hierarchal system or in taxonomic ranks (eg; domain, kingdom, phylum class, order, family, genus and species) based on phylogenetic relationship established by genetic analysis. Taxonomic Collection : Biological collection are typically preserved plant or animals specimens along with specimen documentations such as labels and notations. Dry Collection - Dry collections consist of those specimens that are preserved in a dry state. Wet Collection - Wet collections are specimens kept in a liquid preservative to prevent their deterioration.

1. Presented by:-
Kamlesh Patel
MSc Zoology 1st Sem
Submitted to:-
Department of Zoology
St. Aloysius College Jabalpur

2. Synopsis
 Introduction
 Taxonomic Collection
 Mounting insects and Labeling
 Preservation of Collection
 Curation and Storage
 References

3. Introduction
Taxonomy:
 Taxonomy is the science of
defining and naming groups of
biological organisms on the basis of
shared characteristics.
 The classification of organisms is
according to hierarchal system or in
taxonomic ranks (eg;
domain, kingdom, phylum class, or
der, family, genus and species)
based on phylogenetic relationship
established by genetic analysis.
KINGDOM
PHYLUM
CLASS
ORDER
FAMILY
GENUS
SPECIES

4. Taxonomic Collection
 Dry Collection
 Dry collections consist of those
specimens that are preserved in a
dry state.
 Wet Collection
 Wet collections are specimens kept in a
liquid preservative to prevent their
deterioration.
Biological collection are typically preserved plant or animals specimens along
with specimen documentations such as labels and notations.

5. Collection equipment and
methods
 There are various ways to collect animals. These
methods may be from picking up insects flying towards
a torch light in the evening to trawling or dredging for
deep sea animals.
 The later method requires elaborate and specifically
designed equipment operated by a crew of sailors and
scientists on an ocean-going vessel.
 Now collecting is a highly specialized procedure in
which a collector concentrates only on a group of
organisms.

6. (A) Insect Net
 It consists of a wire ring, a bag and a
handle. The ring should be 12-15 cm
in diameter and made of about
3mm iron of steel wire. The end of
the wire is straight which can fit into
the grooves of the handles
 The bag is either of muslin cloth, fine
nylon net or any other material
depending upon the method and
purpose of collection.
 The small insects, lepidopterist can
be removed from the net with a
killing bottle enclosing the end of
the net. Aquatic insects and other
arthropods are best collected by dip
net and plankton net

7. Dip Net Malaise traps
Sweeping net Plankton Net

8. (B) Aspirator
 It is a simple suction apparatus used for
small insects and arachnids. These are of
several designs. Transparent plastic is
commonly used for vial. Vial is sometime
opened at one end only.
 The open ends provided with tightly
fitting rubber stoppers to avoid the
crushing of small insects which otherwise
may crawl between the stopper and the
wall of the vial. Two glass tubes of the
suction tube for sucking through the
mouth.
 Another type of aspirator is the bulb
aspirator, it is quite useful for the
collection of mites, small insects and
spiders.

10. (C) Berlese Funnel
 It is quite useful in extraction and other
small arthropods from organic soils and leaf
liter. It is a simple apparatus consisting of a
metal or plastic funnel having a wire mesh
on its bottom for holding the sample.
 The narrow end of the funnel is received in
a beaker or any other container containing
70% alcohol with a few drops of glycerin to
avoid desiccation in case of the alcohol
evaporates.
 The funnel in than covered with a lid having
a hole in the middle for an electric bulb. As
the upper part of the sample dries up due
to the heat of the bulb, the organism
avoiding heat and start migrating deeper
and deeper into the funnel. They finally fall
at the bottom of sample and collected in a
container kept below.

11. (D) Floatation Method
 This method is simple and also
used to extract insects , mites, and
other arthropods from the soil or
matted vegetation. It is also good
for collecting eggs and pupae of
insects from such materials.
 The sample is thrown up in a basic
solution , containing a mixture of
magnesium sulphate in water in 1:3
ratio. It is then stirred gently after
sometime the organisms start
floating over the surface of water
from where they are collected on a
sieve or filter paper.

12. (E) Killing Agents and Bottles
(i) Cyanide bottle:
 It consists of a wide-mounted bottles with a
well fitted cork or lid. A layer of granulated
potassium cyanide is spread at the bottom
of the bottle then the powdered dry plaster-
of-paris is poured over it till it forms a layer
of 1.5-2 cm thickness and then 4-5 drops of
water is added to it and then it left for
drying upto 20-30 hours.
 A blotting paper is then spread over it for
absorbing moisture given out by the
cyanide and to avoid direct contact of
specimen with killing agent because cyanide
canmake the insects hard and brittle besides
affecting their colors if left in bottle for too
long.

13. (ii) Ethyl acetate killing bottle or Tube:
 Ethyl acetate is also an effective killing agent for insects, especially
hymenopterans etc.
 Killing bottle is made up of glass having cotton at the base soaked
with killing agent and then a blotting paper is placed over it. Then
the insects are collected in this bottle and the bottle is corked
tightly.

14. (iii) Benzene killing bottle
 The method of killing insects and their
preservation depends upon the kind of
insects involved. No one method is
satisfactory for all specimens.
1. Benzene killing bottles can be used to
randomly collect insects in at road side
areas.
2. For the preparation of the killing bottle a
layer of cotton was placed at the bottom
of a bottle .
3. Then a thin filter paper was kept over the
cotton
4. Then 3-4 drops of benzene was added
on top of the filter paper to narcotize the
insects .
5. 3-4 drops of benzene was added after
every 15 minutes of collection of insects
for effective results

15. Sorting
 Insects collected were sorted according to their orders. Envelope were
made up of butter papers in which the insects sorted were kept.
 Date of collection, day or night collection, area name and orders were
written with pencil on the envelope.
 Envelopes containing insects of different orders were kept together for
further process.

16. Relaxation
 While insects should be pinned on the
same day they were collected, this is
not always possible. So before pinning
these specimens left in the killing jar too
long, to restore their flexibility, it is
necessary to "relax" them.
 By placing them in a relaxing jar at high
humidity for a few days we can restore
their flexibility enough to allow pinning
without damage to the specimens.

17. Pinning
 Rest the specimen on a pinning block and steady the insect by either holding
it with your fingers or holding it in place with a forceps. Place the insect pin
into the insect body. Insects are generally pinned through the thorax on the
right side.
 Approximately 3/8 inch of the pin should be showing above the insect body,
enough so you can comfortably hold the pin with little risk of accidentally
touching the specimen.
 Once the insect is pinned you can
spread the wings by placing it on
the spreading board so the wings
are level with the top of the board.
Mounting

18. (i) Direct pinning (ii) Double mounting and
pointing

19. (iii) Carding (iv) Spreading

20. Drying
 After the process of pinning the pinning board were kept in
oven for 3 days at 37 degree Celsius.

21. Preservation of Collection
 Your collection should be stored in wooden storage boxes
or cabinets with trays. Boxes and trays are lined with cork or
foam. Wooden cigar boxes may also be used in which to
store your collection.
 Your collection must be sealed tightly with a fumigant in
order to keep pests from destroying it. A fumigant such as
naphthalene (mothballs) or paradichlorobenzene* will deter
most pests, but your collection should be checked monthly
for damage.

22. Dry Preservation Wet Preservation

23. Labeling
An unlabeled specimen is incomplete and unacceptable. Labels
should not be larger than 6x16 mm. Labels should be written in
pencil, or computer-generated. Every specimen must have the
following information on the label:
 Specimen number and order
 Geographic locality
 Date
 Stage (adult male, female or immature form)
 Altitude or Depth
 Host
 Habitat
 Name of collector

24. Labeling

25. Curation
 Once the animals are collected, labelled and preserved, the
next important job is of their safe custody, cataloguing, etc.
This is the work of a curator. Curating is a very important task
of a taxonomist, especially when one day he is likely to
become the in-charge of a museum to look after the whole
collection. Curating is an extreme varied business that takes a
lot of time of most taxonomists. A curator then needs to have
an expert knowledge of his collection, the groups of animals
in which collections are needed, areas which need to be
urgently sampled , and the various policies with regard to the
use of such collections. His primary responsibility is to
preserve the collection, to accumulate, maintain and conserve
a documented record of his collection.

26. Storage
 Storage building should be:-
 Fireproof, Dustproof, Earthquake
resistant, Air-conditioned.
 Special care for type specimens:-
 Type specimens should not be
allowed to be handled frequently.
 They should only be examined by
experts.
 Avoid their transport as far as
possible.
 They should be stored separately
from general collection.
 They should be clearly labelled in
distinct colours.

27. Storage

28. Reference
 Goswami S.C. 2004, Methedology Of Collection And
Identification, pp 55-67
 Dalella And Sharma, Text Book Of Taxonomy, pp25-48
 https://www.google.co.in
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_collecting
 https://www.Slideshare.Net/Taxonomic-procedures