Preserving and vouchering butterflies and moths for large-scale museum-based molecular research
Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) comprise significant portions of the world’s natural history collections, but a standardized tissue preservation protocol for molecular research is largely lacking. Lepidoptera have traditionally been spread on mounting boards to display wing patterns and colors,...
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| Format: | Article |
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PeerJ Inc.
2016-06-01
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| Series: | PeerJ |
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/2160.pdf |
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| author | Soowon Cho Samantha W. Epstein Kim Mitter Chris A. Hamilton David Plotkin Charles Mitter Akito Y. Kawahara |
| author_facet | Soowon Cho Samantha W. Epstein Kim Mitter Chris A. Hamilton David Plotkin Charles Mitter Akito Y. Kawahara |
| author_sort | Soowon Cho |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) comprise significant portions of the world’s natural history collections, but a standardized tissue preservation protocol for molecular research is largely lacking. Lepidoptera have traditionally been spread on mounting boards to display wing patterns and colors, which are often important for species identification. Many molecular phylogenetic studies have used legs from pinned specimens as the primary source for DNA in order to preserve a morphological voucher, but the amount of available tissue is often limited. Preserving an entire specimen in a cryogenic freezer is ideal for DNA preservation, but without an easily accessible voucher it can make specimen identification, verification, and morphological work difficult. Here we present a procedure that creates accessible and easily visualized “wing vouchers” of individual Lepidoptera specimens, and preserves the remainder of the insect in a cryogenic freezer for molecular research. Wings are preserved in protective holders so that both dorsal and ventral patterns and colors can be easily viewed without further damage. Our wing vouchering system has been implemented at the University of Maryland (AToL Lep Collection) and the University of Florida (Florida Museum of Natural History, McGuire Center of Lepidoptera and Biodiversity), which are among two of the largest Lepidoptera molecular collections in the world. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:37:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-63519cec852047a4ad2069717a9af73a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:37:13Z |
| publishDate | 2016-06-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
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| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-63519cec852047a4ad2069717a9af73a2023-12-03T10:55:32ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592016-06-014e216010.7717/peerj.2160Preserving and vouchering butterflies and moths for large-scale museum-based molecular researchSoowon Cho0Samantha W. Epstein1Kim Mitter2Chris A. Hamilton3David Plotkin4Charles Mitter5Akito Y. Kawahara6Department of Plant Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, South KoreaFlorida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United StatesDepartment of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United StatesFlorida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United StatesFlorida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United StatesDepartment of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United StatesFlorida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United StatesButterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) comprise significant portions of the world’s natural history collections, but a standardized tissue preservation protocol for molecular research is largely lacking. Lepidoptera have traditionally been spread on mounting boards to display wing patterns and colors, which are often important for species identification. Many molecular phylogenetic studies have used legs from pinned specimens as the primary source for DNA in order to preserve a morphological voucher, but the amount of available tissue is often limited. Preserving an entire specimen in a cryogenic freezer is ideal for DNA preservation, but without an easily accessible voucher it can make specimen identification, verification, and morphological work difficult. Here we present a procedure that creates accessible and easily visualized “wing vouchers” of individual Lepidoptera specimens, and preserves the remainder of the insect in a cryogenic freezer for molecular research. Wings are preserved in protective holders so that both dorsal and ventral patterns and colors can be easily viewed without further damage. Our wing vouchering system has been implemented at the University of Maryland (AToL Lep Collection) and the University of Florida (Florida Museum of Natural History, McGuire Center of Lepidoptera and Biodiversity), which are among two of the largest Lepidoptera molecular collections in the world.https://peerj.com/articles/2160.pdfLepidopteraNatural history collectionsBiodiversityMuseumGenomicsTaxonomy |
| spellingShingle | Soowon Cho Samantha W. Epstein Kim Mitter Chris A. Hamilton David Plotkin Charles Mitter Akito Y. Kawahara Preserving and vouchering butterflies and moths for large-scale museum-based molecular research PeerJ Lepidoptera Natural history collections Biodiversity Museum Genomics Taxonomy |
| title | Preserving and vouchering butterflies and moths for large-scale museum-based molecular research |
| title_full | Preserving and vouchering butterflies and moths for large-scale museum-based molecular research |
| title_fullStr | Preserving and vouchering butterflies and moths for large-scale museum-based molecular research |
| title_full_unstemmed | Preserving and vouchering butterflies and moths for large-scale museum-based molecular research |
| title_short | Preserving and vouchering butterflies and moths for large-scale museum-based molecular research |
| title_sort | preserving and vouchering butterflies and moths for large scale museum based molecular research |
| topic | Lepidoptera Natural history collections Biodiversity Museum Genomics Taxonomy |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/2160.pdf |
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