The SDSU Terrestrial Arthropods Collection includes an estimated 50,000 specimens of pinned insects, a slide-mount collection, and various terrestrial arthropods (e.g., insects, arachnids, myriapods) preserved in ethanol.  Most of these specimens were collected in southern California and adjacent regions (e.g., Arizona, Baja California Mexico).  The collection holdings in Orthoptera, Lepidoptera, and Coleoptera are particularly strong.  The collection is an important resource for both the teaching and research missions of the Department of Biology, with the arthropod teaching collections used in at least three different courses.  A synoptic collection of local insects is kept specifically for this purpose.  We are currently in the process of photo-documenting the collection, and hope to make a digital image library web accessible – please check back for progress on this project.  For further information about the arthropod collection, please contact the curator, Dr. Marshal Hedin.

Paraphrynus sp.

photo credit: M. Hedin