The ATOLep Collection is stored in ethanol, the most reliable and practical field preservative for both DNA and mRNA (Leptree sequencing uses the latter). Best results are obtained with 100% ethanol, but if this is unavailable, 95% or 90% is acceptable and 70% can be used as a last resort, in which case specimens should be transferred to a higher concentration as soon as possible. Collection directly into ethanol is ideal, but we have also had good success with moths that had been killed in a killing jar or light trap before being put into alcohol, so long as they had not dried out in the interim, and this intermediate step can be crucial for getting a reliable identification.

If possible we prefer to get at least two or three specimens per species. The first specimen used doesn’t always work, and multiple projects may eventually want the same taxa.

Multiple individuals from a single series can be stored in a single vial if necessary, provided that the volume of alcohol remains at least 5-10 times the total volume of insect bodies.

Once in alcohol, specimens are preserved better the lower the temperature, and the material should be placed in (at least) a refrigerator or home freezer as soon as practical. However, we have had success with many specimens that were kept at ambient temperatures for days to weeks or even months, provided they were not exposed to extreme conditions (e.g. the interior of a car on a hot day).

In general, material which has not been identified will not be useful for the ATOLep collection. Moths which are already in alcohol, especially small ones, are usually very difficult to identify. We do not have the resources to do this, except for material that is very likely to include taxa needed for the Leptree molecular study , and/or that comes from critical under-collected regions such as tropical Africa.

One way to make identification easier, especially for small moths, is to set aside for spreading a specimen or two from the same series that is collected in alchohol. While one cannot guarantee that such a series comprises a single species, the genitalia of the spread specimen can easily be compared to specimens in alcohol in hopes of getting a positive identification.

As for any collection, proper labeling of specimens for the ATOLep collection, both those in alchohol and those kept as spread vouchers, is critical. Inside each vial there should be a label giving a unique inventory code. A good convention to use for such codes would be that of the accession numbers in the ATOLep data base. These consist of the collector’s initials, followed by the year of collection, followed by a four-digit number, e.g. JWB-06-0001.

For each vial and inventory number, there additionally needs to be either a data sheet entry or a label (or both) giving the location of collection (including GPS coordinates if possible), date, and collector, and the identification so far as is known. Also recorded should be the collecting method, the percent alchohol used, the type of killing agent used (if other than alcohol) and the time before deposition in alchohol. Specimens collected in the same series should be recorded as such so that one can associated spread and alcohol-preserved specimen(s) from that series.

Contributors may use their own supplies if they wish. However, for anyone willing to donate specimens, we are happy to provide labeled vials in boxes, and spreadsheets for entering data. Most often, we use plastic screw-top 2 ml centrifuge tubes sealed with rubber O-rings (see picture below). For larger moths we use 15 or 50 ml centrifuge tubes with plug-seal screw caps.

Specimen Tubes: Plastic screw-top lids (with rubber O-rings) for specimen collection. (From Tortricidae.net)