Essig Museum of Entomology facts for kids
The Essig Museum of Entomology is a special museum at the University of California at Berkeley. It's a place where scientists study land-dwelling arthropods. Think of arthropods as creatures with exoskeletons, like insects, spiders, and crabs. This museum has one of the biggest collections of California insects in the world! It's also known as one of the best university museums in North America. You can visit the museum twice a year during special events called Cal Day and Darwin Day.
Contents
A Look Back: How the Museum Started
The Essig Museum has a long history! It began way back in the 1880s. This was when the university first started collecting insects for teaching.
Edward Oliver Essig's Role
A scientist named Edward Oliver Essig joined the university in 1914. He loved insects and started making the collection much bigger. In 1939, this growing collection became an official research collection. It started with about 10,000 to 15,000 insect samples. In 1972, the museum was officially named the Essig Museum of Entomology, honoring Edward Essig.
Where They Look for Insects
For a long time, the museum mostly focused on insects from western North America. They especially looked for insects in California. More recently, their focus has grown. Now, they also study insects from places around the eastern Pacific Rim. This includes countries like Mexico, Costa Rica, and Chile. They also study insects from islands in the Pacific Ocean.
What's Inside: The Collections
The Essig Museum holds over 5 million insect specimens! Most of these are "pinned specimens." This means the insects are carefully pinned and displayed.
Different Ways Insects Are Stored
Besides pinned insects, the museum also has other types of collections:
- Microscope slides: Tiny insects or parts of insects are placed on slides. Scientists can then look at them closely under a microscope.
- Alcohol-preserved collections: Some insects are kept in special alcohol. This helps to preserve them for a very long time.
- Envelopes and Riker mounts: Thousands of other specimens are stored in envelopes or special display cases called Riker mounts.
Special Insect Collections
The museum has many unique collections. Each one focuses on a specific type of insect or a particular scientist's work. Some of these special collections include:
- H. Edwin Cott's collection of Thysanoptera (tiny insects called thrips).
- Edward O. Essig's collection of Aphididae (small plant-eating insects called aphids).
- Gordon F. Ferris's collections of Anoplura (sucking lice) and ectoparasitic Diptera (flies that live on the outside of other animals).
- Deane P. Furman's collection of parasitic Acari (mites and ticks that live on other creatures).
- Dilworth D. Jensen's collection of Psyllidae (jumping plant lice).
- Vernon L. Kellogg's collection of Mallophaga (chewing lice).
- A. Earl Pritchard's collection of Acari (mites and ticks).
- Evert I. Schlinger's collection of Aphid Parasitoids (insects that lay eggs inside aphids).
- Morris A. Stewart's collection of Siphonaptera (fleas).
- Robert L. Usinger's collection of Heteroptera (true bugs).
- Collections from the Hastings Natural History Reservation.
Digital Cataloging Project
Museum scientists are also working on a cool project. They are digitally cataloging eight major insect collections. This means they are putting all the information about these insects into a computer database. They are doing this with help from "citizen-scientists." These are people who help with scientific research, often by sharing their observations or data.
