The CUIC websites have been updated - January 2003.
The Asilidae (Diptera) holdings are now available online (Search Holdings) and the type database has been updated, too (Search Types). October 2002
Recent curation of Laverne L. Pechuman horse fly collection -- We recently completed renovation of the holdings in the Tabanidae, incorporating many specimens held by the late L.L. Pechuman into the main collection. The holdings comprise representatives of 1759 species of horse flies, roughly half of the 3500+ World species. This immense representation of horse fly biodiversity was built over the length of Professor Pechuman's career, and also incorporates vouchers from student dissertation projects conducted under his guidance.
The curatorial work was supported by the J.Chester Bradley and Ruth Stephens Bradley Fund for the advancement of Zoology, an endowment left to the Cornell University Insect Collection by the late J. Chester Bradley and his wife Ruth. The curatorial work was completed by Mr. Kris Anderson (Cornell, 1998),
who worked most of his senior year on this project. Kris also developed a species-level database, including species and subspecific taxa from our holdings. This information is available under the "Search our Holdings" section of the homepage. We encourage use of this collection, and will welcome requests for loans.
John G. Franclemont moth collection -- Dr. Tim L. McCabe, New York State Museum at Albany, finished 3-months' curatorial activities as a J.C. Bradley Collection Fellow, having sorted all of Professor Franclemont's principal collection of Noctuidae to subfamily, genus, and species where determinable. This activity transformed the collection organization from one of trips and localities, to one based on noctuid subfamilial classification. Thus we are now able to retrieve material from the Franclemont collection, and make it available to interested noctuid systematists. Included in the collection is extensive reared material, representing many cryptic species in poorly understood species complexes, often with associated larval material. Tim also oversaw the integration of material from other families, including Notodontidae, Arctiidae, Lasiocampidae, and Lymantriidae, to name a few, such that specimens of these families are now housed with our other holdings in the main W.T.M. Forbes-based Lepidoptera collection. Therefore, we are now much better able to offer access to this incomparable collection of North American macrolepidoptera. During this curatorial overhaul, we also organized extensive collections of exchanged material from Asia, received by Dr. Franclemont prior to World War II, as well as material sent home by Dr. Franclemont during his service in the U.S. Army mosquito corps in the South Pacific. These collections range from the Solomon Islands to the Philippines.
Recent field trips and associated collections ...
Australia -- Both Bryan Danforth (Bees), and Jim Liebherr (Carabid beetles) visited southeastern Australia in winter of 1999, enhancing the CUIC's holdings of taxa from that area. Historically the CUIC has had the least development in holdings for the Australian region. The results from these trips will begin to address that weakness, adding taxa for comparative studies, as well as determined species for identification purposes.
Japan and Taiwan -- Rick Hoebeke has continued his studies of the Asian longhorned beetle and associated Anoplophora cerambycids, in collaboration with Dr. Steve Lingafelter, USDA-SEL, Smithsonian Institution. This work has included field stints in Japan and Taiwan, with Rick adding substantial amounts of East Asian Coleoptera in phytophagous groups. These activities complement our relatively good representation of Chinese species in the Coleoptera, bolstering our ability to identify Asian taxa to species, when the need should arise.
Hawaii --Biotic survey of Hawaiian insects continues via the efforts of Maurice and Cady Tauber (Neuroptera), Curtis Ewing (nitidulid sap beetles), Karl Magnacca (colletid bees), and Jim Liebherr (carabid beetles in particular, and beetles and Hemiptera in general). Sampling has recently focused on leeward mesic to drier forest and savannah formations, especially on Maui. Anyone desiring information on our holdings of particular Hawaiian insect taxa should contact Dr. Liebherr (JKL5@cornell.edu).
New York State -- In conjunction with Dr. Bernd Blossey, Dept. of Natural Resources, the CUIC is supporting taxonomic characterization of the leaf litter insect fauna of forest floor biotopes. Numerous sites are being sampled through Berlese extraction of leaf and litter samples. Sites include those invaded by garlic mustard, non-native earthworms, and control sites not yet colonized by weeds nor worms. These surveys have already turned up an undescribed aleocharine staphylinid and hormiine braconid from a site 11 km from Comstock Hall. Should you wish us to look for a particular taxon likely to occur in forest floor communities in New York State, please contact Dr. Liebherr, and we can add your request as a focus for sample sorting.
