Collections Use, Loan Policies & Depositing Specimens

General Information for Collection Users
The entomology collections of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County must be acknowledged in any publications resulting from the use of our specimens, tissues, and associated data. We ask that researchers provide us with a PDF of any publications that result in any part from the use of our specimens and associated data. The standard abbreviation for our collections is “LACM.” If your use of the specimens results in digital material (images, 3D scans, etc.), we ask that you either make the digital files or a link to the digital material available to be linked to the specimen record.

Collection Visits
To visit the entomology research collections, please make an appointment with our collections managers. The collections are open to all qualified researchers, including amateur entomologists, artists, and others who need to refer to museum collections for their work. However, because of our need to conserve the collections for future use, we must strictly control collection access. With advance notice collection visits can usually be accommodated during normal weekday business hours, but must necessarily be arranged around the schedule of the collections staff.

Specimen Loans
Loans of specimens from the research collections are made to qualified researchers at other museums, academic institutions and governmental agency collections that have the facilities to properly store loaned specimens. Although the loaned specimens are for the use of individual researchers, the loans themselves are made to the institution where they will be housed. We cannot make loans to individuals, commercial organizations, or studios. We do not maintain a teaching collection.

Loans for undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral students are made to the requester’s mentor (a permanent staff member, typically the PI) for the student or postdoc’s use. Loans are made for a period of one year, subject to renewal. Additional loan conditions are outlined on the Specimen Invoice accompanying each loan; the Specimen Invoice is to be signed and returned upon receipt of the loan material. 

Requests for loans of primary types, rare or endangered species, or species for which we have only a single specimen, will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis. If a request is made for a loan of all of our specimens of a given taxon, we will make the loan in installments, with the second (and subsequent) installments sent upon successful return of previous installments.

International loans are approved only on a case-by-case basis, and requesters must have or provide all of the required documentation, including import/export requirements, on hand before the loan can be approved and processed. If international loans are approved, they may incur inspection fees that will be the responsibility of the borrower.

No dissection (including for sex determination), destructive analysis, molecular or isotopic sampling, alteration, or cleaning is allowed without specific advance approval by the LACM Entomology Section.  If the removal of specimen parts is allowed, those parts must be returned with the specimens in enclosed containers labeled with the LACM catalog number (e.g. in a microvial attached to the specimen pin). Similarly, whole specimens removed from pins should be appropriately remounted, and slide preparations must be returned with appropriate labels, including the specimen ID number. All specimen prep arrangements should be discussed with LACM Entomology in advance

The borrower agrees to conserve and protect the material entrusted to their care, to pay any costs and/or loss in value arising from loss or damage to the loaned material caused by the borrower, and to exercise extraordinary caution in the care and preservation of loaned material.  The Entomology section must be notified immediately if damage, loss, theft or other change to the condition of the material is discovered followed by a full written report.

All taxonomic changes, including designation of types and misidentifications, must be reported to LACM Entomology.  Similarly, researchers should alert Section staff to any questionable localities, including typographical errors in locality descriptions.

Specimens being returned to the Section must be packed in a manner similar to that in which they were received.  The borrower will pay all return packing and shipping costs.

Destructive Sampling
On a case by case basis, the Museum may grant permission to researchers to take small subsamples of specimens (e.g. legs) for use in specific research projects on genetics, molecular systematics, stable isotopes, or other areas of inquiry. Such requests must include (1) detailed justification as to why the destructive sampling is necessary, (2) a description of the specimens or specimen parts that will be used, and (3) demonstrated success with the proposed technique. We prefer that the requesting researchers demonstrate active participation in building museum collections of arthropods (for example, by depositing specimens).

How to Request Specimen or Tissue Loans
Loans are subject to the terms and conditions outlined in the specimen invoice that is issued upon approval of the loan request. Borrowers must return a signed copy of the invoice immediately upon loan receipt.

All loan requests will be reviewed by section staff. To request a specimen or tissue loan, please complete this Google form, which asks for:

  • Your name, institution, and, if you are a student or postdoc, your mentor name. If you are a student or postdoc, your mentor will also need to sign the form.
  • A one or two paragraph explanation of the project. Please include a brief statement attesting to your qualifications for using the specimens, conducting the research, and the suitability of resources that are available to you.
  • A list of the material being requested. Please be specific about the type of material requested (e.g. pinned specimens, ethanol-preserved specimens, slides, etc).
  • Approximate anticipated duration of the loan
  • If requesting destructive sampling, please include (1) detailed justification as to why the destructive sampling is necessary, (2) a description of the specimens or specimen parts that will be used, and (3) demonstrated success with the proposed technique.
  • If destruction of entire specimens is being requested, describe you or your lab’s history of contributing to building museum collections of arthropods (for example, by depositing specimens).
  • A valid shipping address, contact email, and phone number.

All loan requests must include the following statement:
I (or we) understand that while under the disposition of “on loan” the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County retains ownership of these materials and will not loan samples to a third person without the museum’s written consent. All publications will acknowledge the use of NHMLAC specimens and all appendices or lists of specimens examined will identify specimens by their LACM catalog number. If appropriate, data resulting from the use of these specimens will be deposited in a publicly available repository (such as GenBank, MorphoBank, IsoBank, etc.) and identified by their LACM catalog number. I (or we) agree to send the Entomology Section of NHMLAC any publications resulting from the use of these specimens.

Imaging Requests
Entomology Section staff may be able to assist with imaging requests in lieu of loaning specimens. Please contact the section via email at entomology@nhm.org. Imaging support is contingent upon availability of staff and the nature of the request.

Depositing Specimens
The Entomology Section may accept specimens with adequate data and appropriate permits on a case by case basis. Adequate data primarily consists of a detailed location (e.g. address, coordinates) and date, but other potentially useful data is also helpful. We encourage researchers to consider LACM as a repository for specimens collected in the course of a research project. Researchers can request an embargo on loaning specimens they collected until their research project is complete and published. Additionally, the Entomology Section will archive sub-samples and ancillary material (e.g. tissues, dissections, slides), provided they have the necessary data. If you are designing a research project or writing a grant proposal that will involve collecting arthropod specimens or samples, please consider budgeting funds for the curation of specimens. Accepting specimens is not contingent on accompanying funds, however any support for specimen care and curation is greatly appreciated.

We welcome any questions or inquiries regarding depositing specimens. Please contact us at entomology@nhm.org.