Jewel Bulk Samples Collection

The Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC) is recognized both nationally and internationally as a major research collection. It is the world's largest collection of Australian insects and related groups such as mites, spiders, nematodes and centipedes housing over 12 million specimens. Like many entomological collections, not all specimen material at ANIC is registered, sorted or identified to species level, and may sit in ‘bulk’ collections. Examples of bulk collections include malaise trap samples held in jars, taxonomically sorted specimens dried and kept in ‘jewel boxes’ or hundreds of vials of specimens sorted to ordinal level. By mobilising these bulk collection samples, event sampling location information is exposed and searchable. This allows users access to collection recourses, making more Australian collection material available for research and study. The key shared quality is that these bulk collections represent a potential goldmine for taxonomists and other researchers looking for sources of already-collected entomological material to study. We encourage researchers to explore the range of bulk collections we have made available here, and to contact us for further details including how to access any that are of particular interest