Diptera. There is a long, rich history of Diptera holdings at Cornell University, including notable contributions by C.O. Berg, O.A. Johannsen, L. L. Pechuman, and many others. The Diptera are housed in 980 drawers (= 9% of total pinned collection drawer-count). It is worldwide in scope, and is particularly strong for eastern North America. A recent inventory revealed over 700 primary types, and over 1100 secondary types (Search Types). Many former graduate students specializing in Diptera have made significant contributions to the collection. A list of these students includes many professional dipterists, such as L. Knutson (Sciomyzidae, etc.), B.A. Foote (Sciomyzidae, etc.), S.E. Neff (Sciomyzidae, etc.), H.C. Hallock (Sarcophagidae), K. Valley (Sciomyzidae and Acalypteratae), V.T. Phillips (Tephritidae), H.J. Teskey (Tabanidae and immatures), J.J.S. Burton (Tabanidae), C.P. Alexander (Tipulidae), A. Stone (Tabanidae), and others.

The Cornell University holdings of Sciomyzidae are the finest of their kind among university collections in North America. Professor Clifford O. Berg and his students built a collection comprising 63 drawers of pinned/identified specimens, over 1950 microscope slide mounts of larval and pupal structures, and approximately 360 vials of determined larval stages (stored in 56 canning jars). Associations of immature stages and detailed ecological data make this collection particularly important.

Professor L.L. Pechuman amassed a collection of Tabanidae at Cornell that ranks among the best horse fly (see the Horse Flies first album cover for a specimen from our holdings) collections in North America. The collection is global in scope, with particularly strong holdings for the following regions: Nearctic (107 drawers), Palearctic (27 dr.), Neotropical (33 dr.), and Oriental (45 dr.). The above count includes 22 drawers of Tabanidae from Thailand, included in the J.J.S. Burton collection.

Other families particularly well represented in the collection include Tipulidae (17 drawers), Culicidae (80 drawers + large collection of larvae on slides), Chironomidae (21 drawers), Mycetophilidae and Sciaridae (21 dr.), Bombyliidae (22 dr.), Asilidae (39 dr.), Dolichopodidae (24 dr.), Syrphidae (40 dr.), and Tachinidae (46 dr.). Sciarids, mycetophilids, syrphids, and tachinids are especially rich in type materials.

Professor O.A. Johannsen built up an extensive slide collection of imagines, larvae and pupae from rearings, and parts there-of. This collection is now databased and can be easily searched (Johannsen slide collection - link will follow soon).