Heteropteran Diversity Preserved in CNCI

Specimens for this study were drawn from the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes, Ottawa. Material collected more than 40 years ago was avoided in order to maximize the sequencing success rate. Whenever possible, more than one individual of a species was selected. An attempt was made to gain representation of all major heteropteran groups available, with more intensive coverage of certain groups. Thus, about 60% of the species are from the large family Miridae, and within this family, several speciose genera or species groups which present taxonomic difficulties were sampled more densely. A total of 1689 identified specimens were examined. Most specimens were from North America, but some were from Central America and Europe. A few specimens were preserved in 95% ethanol, but most were dried, pinned specimens collected over the past three decades (median age about 11 years). Collecting data were entered into BOLD, the Barcoding of Life Data System [9] (link) and are available in the HCNC and HCNCS (“CNC Hemiptera”) projects (http://www.barcodinglife.org). A label was added to each specimen linking it with the corresponding record on BOLD.