Phasmatodea Collection Review | New World Phasmids

Who this is for

Does your collection need this intervention?

→ You have Phasmatodea material that is unidentified, or identified by non-specialists — in which case many of those determinations are likely to be incorrect or outdated
→ You manage an institutional collection — museum, university, zoology department — that has never had specialist curation for this group
→ You have a private collection and want to give your material a serious scientific status
→ You have received a donation or bequest of unidentified material and don't know where to start

What you get

What you will have when we're done

→ Updated catalogue with rigorous taxonomic identification
→ Nomenclature corrected and updated according to recent revisions and phylogenies
→ Type specimens correctly documented according to the ICZN
→ Remounted specimens with diagnostic characters exposed (where applicable)
→ Digital database and recommendations for future maintenance

I have reviewed Phasmatodea collections at dozens of institutions. In the vast majority of them I found species new to science.

This matters to museums — and not just for prestige: a museum without type material is, in practice, an exhibition hall. A museum with type material is critical infrastructure for global science.

Services

Technical Curation

Identification and Systematic Organisation

Over the last decade, my research work has taken me to review Phasmatodea collections at dozens of museums and universities worldwide. Among them, some of the most important institutions internationally: the NHMUK (London), the NHMW (Vienna), the MNCN-CSIC (Madrid), the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Panama) and the ZSM in Munich, where I am an associate researcher.

I know these institutions first-hand: their working protocols, how they manage collections, and how they engage with external researchers.

The image alongside shows the preparation standard I bring: a mounting quality that, in Phasmatodea, is rarely found in institutional collections.

→ Exhaustive taxonomic identification
→ Updating according to recent phylogenies
→ Replacement of obsolete nomenclature
→ Management and documentation of type specimens

Museum-Grade Preservation

Phasmids are a particularly delicate group to prepare. Their morphology demands precision: a poorly mounted specimen loses the diagnostic characters that make it scientifically useful, and the damage is usually irreversible.

→ Dry mounting on entomological pins, with diagnostic characters relevant to identification properly exposed
→ Preparation of male and female internal genitalia — essential for species-level identification in most groups
→ Preservation of eggs, which carry their own diagnostic characters at genus and species level
→ Remounting of deteriorated or incorrectly prepared specimens
→ Full labelling with locality, collector, date, determination and collection catalogue number

Process

How an intervention works

Initial Audit

Assessment of the collection's status: number of specimens, conservation condition, existing identification level and institutional objectives.

Personalised Proposal

Work plan with timeline, specific methodology and budget adjusted to available resources.

Execution

Work at the institution, with shipments, or remote review by photograph. The approach is decided according to the type of material, always prioritising its integrity.

Delivery and Documentation

Updated catalogue, professional labels, digital database where applicable, and recommendations for future maintenance.

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ

My speciality is neotropical phasmids, but I work with Phasmatodea collections from any region of the world. I have reviewed material from every continent.

Yes. My specialisation is exclusively in stick and leaf insects. For other orders I can recommend specialist colleagues.

Not always. For small batches or a preliminary evaluation I can work with photographs or with material sent with appropriate packaging. For large collections, historical holdings or type specimens that should not be moved, I travel to the institution. We assess the most practical option in the first call.

It depends on the size and condition of the material. As a reference: from 2–3 days of work for a small, well-preserved batch, to several months for a historical collection of thousands of uncatalogued specimens. The initial audit allows me to give a concrete estimate.

Yes, I can include training sessions in Phasmatodea handling and preservation as part of the project.

Next Step

Request a collection evaluation

Tell me what you have: approximate number of specimens, provenance and condition. If you have unidentified material or identifications you suspect are outdated, the quickest step is to send me a representative photograph — in ten minutes I can tell you whether it's worth talking.

Request Evaluation →

Review of Phasmatodea Collections