Canadian National Collection
Planetary Biodiversity Inventory: Plant Bugs
Canadian National Collection Canadian National Collection

960 Carling Avenue
K. W. Neatby Building
Central Experimental Farm
Ottawa ON Canada K1A 0C6

www.canacoll.org/index.htm

About the Organization

The Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes (CNC) along with the Canadian Museum of Nature (http://www.nature.ca/nature_e.cfm) are the centers of taxonomy and systematics of invertebrates in Canada. In terms of size, species representation, and level of curation the CNC is considered one of the best collections of its kind in the world. It is maintained and developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) as part of its systematics research program, and is housed in the K.W. Neatby Building in the Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa. The origins of the CNC date to 1883 when the Department of Agriculture recognized the value of having well-informed entomologists on staff and in 1897 a Dominion Entomologist was appointed. The CNC has been developed primarily by systematists in AAFC as a database supporting agricultural research in a broad sense. The collection benefits the research programs of many agencies outside the agricultural sector and serves as a national repository for voucher specimens collected during research studies conducted by other government agencies and universities. Over 110 scientists and biologists have worked in systematics or related areas documenting the fauna of Canada. The collection is estimated to contain approximately 16 million specimens systematically arranged in 1400 steel cabinets. Specimens are stored mostly as dry-mounted pinned specimens, but certain groups (e.g. larvae, aquatic insects, spiders, mites, aphids, midges, fleas, etc) are stored in liquid preservative or mounted on slides. The majority of specimens are from localities throughout Canada and North America, but significant holdings are present from other biogeographic regions.

PBI senior research scientist Michael Schwartz is an adjunct member of the scientific staff of the CNC and is responsible for Heteroptera identifications for the National Identification Service.


Contribution to the Project

Collections: The Heteroptera collections have their strongest representation the family Miridae, with many series of pinned material collected from identified plant hosts. The plant bug holdings are primarily as a result of the long career of Leonard A. Kelton and his extensive field work in Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

Imaging: A modern digital Philips XL30 ESEM scanning electron microscope facility augments other PBI resources for documentation of morphological structures and the preparation of publications.


Individual at the Canadian National Collection

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