Almost six million specimens are housed in the insect collection of the Illinois Natural History Survey. The collection is among the largest and oldest in North America and contains primary types of nearly 3,300 species. The collection is used extensively by scientists and is a recognized national resource. This project provides funds to continue the process of rescuing the Survey's collection of slides of Thysanoptera (thrips) from permanent loss due to severe dehydration of material mounted in Hoyer's medium. It will also provide partial funding for incorporating the backlog of unprocessed and unidentified material into the general collection and to facilitate the reorganization of the collection during and after the installation of a compactor system funded on a previous NSF grant.
