Organization and utility of a collection of insects for reference and work in four tropical crops

Abstract

AH, insects collected by CIAT and cooperating institutions have been organized in a central­ized taxonomic, economic collection that covers CIAT's mandated crops: rice, beans, cassava, and tropical pastures. The collection is used mainly as reference material, for docu­mentation purposes and for the training of national program personnel. In addition to the central taxonomic collection, there is a small economic collection that is used for demonstration and teaching purposes. This contains the most im­portant crop pests, some of their immature stages, some of their natural enemies, and es­sential information on life cycles. Most of the specimens have been obtained through collec­tions made by CIAT or cooperating institutions. and in a few cases through donations or ex­change. To identify insects, CIAT is assisted by taxonomists specialized in different groups. A database (Dbase III) was created to orga­nize the information which is then made avail­able to researchers and institutions. At present, there are about 20,000 specimens, 80% of which have been collected in Colombia and 20% in 28 different countries. Approximately, 110 families, 380 genera, and 412 species have been identified. The database has 1,687 records: 293 belong to the Cassava Program, 370 to the Rice Program, 507 to the Bean Pro­gram, and 517 to the Forages Program and in-eludes valuable information about geographic distribution, host plants, natural enemies and taxonomic status.