LACM Entomology Collection

William Mertz; Giar-Ann Kung; Weiping Xie

doi:10.15468/kc9hyp

LACM Entomology Collection

Citation

Mertz W, Kung G, Xie W (2023). LACM Entomology Collection. Version 5.15. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/kc9hyp accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-09-28.

Description

With over 800,000 described species — more than half of all known living organisms — insects are the most diverse group of animals on Earth. The Natural History Museum's entomology collection has more than 5.8 million specimens of insects and spiders. The collection's strength lies in its holdings of specimens of ants, phorid flies, scarab beetles, and moths from North and Central America. Museum scientists conduct world-class research on systematics, studying species and their relationships, the evolution of major groups, and fossil insects in amber. They conduct field work on insect biodiversity at home and in tropical countries. Entomology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County goes back as far as 1913, when the Museum first opened.

Taxonomic Coverages

Family: Phoridae is represented in this data.

Phoridae
common name: Phorid flies rank: family

Geographic Coverages

The entomology collection is the largest in Southern California. Although the phorid flies represented in this data are from all over the world, they are primarily from North and South America with an emphasis on Costa Rica, Colombia, USA, Equador, and Panama.

Bibliographic Citations

Contacts

William Mertz
originator
position: Database & Reports Manager
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd.
Los Angeles
90007
California
US
email: wmertz@nhm.org
homepage: https://nhm.org/

Giar-Ann Kung
originator
position: Collections Manager
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd.
Los Angeles
90007
California
US
email: gkung@nhm.org
homepage: https://nhm.org/

Weiping Xie
originator
position: Collections Manager
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd.
Los Angeles
90007
California
US
email: wxie@nhm.org
homepage: https://nhm.org/

William Mertz
metadata author
position: Database & Reports Manager
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd.
Los Angeles
90007
California
US
email: wmertz@nhm.org
homepage: http://www.nhm.org/

Laura Russell
programmer
position: VertNet Programmer
VertNet
email: larussell@vertnet.org

David Bloom
programmer
position: VertNet Coordinator
VertNet
email: dbloom@vertnet.org

John Wieczorek
programmer
position: Information Architect
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at Berkeley
email: tuco@berkeley.edu

Brian Brown
curator
position: Entomology Curator
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd.
Los Angeles
90007
California
US
email: bbrown@nhm.org
homepage: http://www.nhm.org/

Weiping Xie
point of contact
position: Entomology Collection Manager
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd.
Los Angeles
90007
California
US
email: wxie@nhm.org
homepage: http://www.nhm.org/

William Mertz
administrative point of contact
position: Database & Reports Manager
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles Co.
900 Exposition Blvd.
Los Angeles
90007
California
US
email: wmertz@nhm.org
homepage: http://www.nhm.org/