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Primary types in the Ohio State University Insect Collection

Introduction

We believe that the establishment of a firm foundation for nomenclature requires the study of primary types. Proper attention to this aspect of taxonomy has sometimes resulted in some unfortunate short-term disruptions as the concepts of 18th and 19th century authors have become known. But the explicit linkage of a name to a specimen can only help to dampen the fluctuations in names by limiting the range of interpretation allowable in coordinating past and present studies in systematics.

The curation of primary types (i.e., holotypes, lectotypes, neotypes, and syntype series) is an important responsibility of museums and collections. Part of this obligation is to make the material available for study by informing the scientific community of its existence, status, and accessibility. This document - its files - compiles our best knowledge of the holdings of primary types in the Ohio State University Insect Collection. In conducting this inventory we have encountered numerous questions, e.g., has a name actually been published or not, what is the current status of a particular name, has a lectotype been designated from a syntype series? In university collections there is never sufficient in-house expertise to resolve all of these problems. We rely on visiting specialists, donation of reprints by users of the collection, and increasingly on the electronic media to update and correct our efforts. In that spirit, we invite the entomological community to peruse the listing of their taxa of interest and to send us comments, corrections, and suggestions.

The files are arranged in a taxonomic hierarchy to the level of family. Upon selecting an order, the user will be asked to choose a family of interest. Within the family the information is presented as a "flat file," i.e., without any built-in searching mechanism. The names of species-group taxa are arranged alphabetically in their original combination with the name of the author. In some cases this is followed, in parentheses, by the name in a new combination or by its senior synonym. Basically this information is presented in the form in which it exists in the collection, and all corrections will be greatly appreciated.


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