Methods

For remounting specimens from Hoyer's medium into Canada balsam, we will use an unpublished technique (Table 2) developed by G. R. Platner and M. Planutene (UCR). This technique was successfully used to remount thousands of specimens of Trichogramma in the UCR collection with support of NSF grant DEB 94-07027 to J. Pinto. M. Planutene and S. Triapitsyn tested it successfully for 15 specimens of Aphytis lingnanensis mounted under one coverslip in almost dry Hoyer's medium. Some of the specimens, if necessary, may also be stained using acid fuchsin to help see some morphological features which are important for the identification of Aphytis species, such as the crenulae (this technique was suggested by Dr. J. W. Beardsley, University of Hawaii). All specimens will be remounted individually and will be carefully relabeled using both laser printed labels and bar-code labels. The latter labeling method is especially suited for relabeling numerous specimens (sometimes 60-100) mounted under the same coverslip on slides.

Database

Currently we are in the process of databasing the Aphytis collection in BIOTA as we remount the material. Each specimen is assigned a unique specimen code in the form of a barcode. The specimen database will be available soon via the Entomology Research Museum home page. We are currently in the early stages of collaborating with Norm Johnson at Ohio State. The format will loosely follow that of his pelecinus page.