Curation status of beetle specimens at the Invertebrate Collection of the Charles Darwin Research Station (ICCDRS), Galápagos Islands

Abstract

The importance of a scientific collection is related to the preservation quality of its specimens. Specimens that have been properly preserved may contain more quantity and quality of data than neglected specimens. The objective of this study was to determine the curation status of the specimens of the order Coleoptera in the Invertebrate Collection of the Charles Darwin Research Station (ICCDRS) of the Charles Darwin Foundation, Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos, Ecuador. Our diagnostics of the collection included the analysis of ten metrics of 9201 dry-pinned beetles. We found that 8612 specimens are in optimal conditions, and damaged specimens are randomly distributed in the collection, indicating that handling and storage are appropriate. 83% of the beetles are identified as species, and 85% of the specimens have been assigned a catalog number. These results indicate a very good curation status of this growing collection. Additionally, we discuss future directions to improve the curatorial process of this collection and incentivize its scientific use.