UPRM Invertebrate Collection Project

Today Drs. Julio Genaro and Orlando Garrido, two specialists of...

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:15:59 -0430

Julio Genaro & Orlando Garrido

Las Mariposas de Puerto Rico

Today Drs. Julio Genaro and Orlando Garrido, two specialists of Caribbean insects, visited our collection to present their new book “Las Mariposas de Puerto Rico.” The book is on sale at various local bookstores (or contact me (see e-mail above) for additional information).

Course & project offers - Spring 2010

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:19:19 -0430

Course & project offers - Spring 2010:

Click on the headline above to see our insects and systematics course offers for the spring 2010 semester.

Weevils of Mona Island published!

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:32:00 -0430

Weevils of Mona Island published!:

Visit http://www.caribbeanahigroup.org/ to learn more about Cocuyo, Solenodon, and Caribbean zoology.

A set of bee specimens, unsorted, and mostly collected by former...

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:30:27 -0430

A set of bee specimens, unsorted, and mostly collected by former UPRM students. Click here to access a review of the Puerto Rican Apoidea.

This week three additional new cabinets were transferred from...

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:25:17 -0430

This week three additional new cabinets were transferred from interim storage into the main work area. Meanwhile, six of the old cabinets went into storage.

A typical view of our main collection/work room during the...

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:23:33 -0430

A typical view of our main collection/work room during the second half of this year.

A set of old drawers full with beetle specimens that await...

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:21:42 -0430

A set of old drawers full with beetle specimens that await reallocation.

Thanks to a couple of Santa Fe dehumidifiers, we are averaging...

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:20:08 -0430

Thanks to a couple of Santa Fe dehumidifiers, we are averaging around 45% humidity. Fungi and book lice are under control.

We were honored with another high profile visitor this week. On...

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:30:00 -0430

We were honored with another high profile visitor this week. On Monday, Dr. Stephen O’Brien of the National Cancer Institute visited our lab to talk about his genomics research and mammals, species concepts, and DNA barcoding.

Juliana and Nico are describing two new species of Perelleschus...

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0430

Perelleschus sp. nov. 1 (female)

Perelleschus sp. nov. 2 (male)

Juliana and Nico are describing two new species of Perelleschus Wibmer & O’Brien from Colombia and Venezuela. Click here to learn more about the unique natural history of these pollinating weevils.

Demonstrating in a humourous way how hard it is to stop being a...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:27:12 -0430

Demonstrating in a humourous way how hard it is to stop being a professor, Dr. Ramos showed Deborah how to improve space management while reorganizing the butterfly holdings. Soon the discussion switched to host plants, speciation, and biogeography.

On Tuesday we were visited by Dr. Stuart J. Ramos, Puerto Rican...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:12:50 -0430

On Tuesday we were visited by Dr. Stuart J. Ramos, Puerto Rican entomologist, biogeographer, and butterfly specialist who maintains ties to the University and its insect collection. Dr. Ramos is always prepared to share his vast knowledge on the natural history of Puerto Rican insects.

Student lab meeting on Thursday afternoon. Oh yes, and Lynn...

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:26:27 -0430

Student lab meeting on Thursday afternoon. Oh yes, and Lynn Margulis stopped by too.

Adding New Taxa to the Specify 6 Taxon Tree

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:00:00 -0430

In many cases the genera and species we are adding to Specify 6 are not included in the original Taxon Tree. Hernán has prepared a simple, step-by-step document that shows how a set of new taxa can be imported into the database.

1. See the step-by-step instructions here.

2. Download the Excel template for importing taxon names here.

UPRM-INVCOL 96 = Surinam Cockroach!

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:21:17 -0430

Our new Symbol DS 6708 Scanner.

Here is UPRM-INVCOL specimen # 96.

The scanner reads in the number...

...and we can see the record in Specify!

UPRM-INVCOL 96 = Surinam Cockroach!

We also have two wooden, old school slide cabinets, each with a...

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:16:55 -0430

We also have two wooden, old school slide cabinets, each with a capacity for 3000 microscope slides. Lots of space of bug dissections…

We have a new Leica M50 stereomicroscope in the lab. Two new...

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:15:25 -0430

We have a new Leica M50 stereomicroscope in the lab. Two new graduate students - Augusto Montoya and Andrés Vélez - will likely initiate their studies at UPRM in January. This equipment will allow more students to conduct high quality studies of insect morphology.

These are a series of Microptics images showing 5 new species of...

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:02:00 -0430

These are a series of Microptics images showing 5 new species of the weevil genus Apotomoderes Dejean (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae). Nico is presently revising the genus, which was previously known to have only a single species from Hispaniola.

We quickly collected four species of broad-nosed weevils,...

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:52:25 -0430

We quickly collected four species of broad-nosed weevils, including specimens of a relatively rare new species “near” Artipus Sahlberg 1823 (taxonomists who work with complex groups tend to love the non-committal “near”). An illustrous group of weevils!

An example of broad-nosed weevil feeding damage on the local...

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:37:18 -0430

An example of broad-nosed weevil feeding damage on the local vegetation.