Station Linné Insect Collections – Loan Policy

Station Linné makes material from its insect collections available to qualified taxonomic experts for research and identification. To ensure that specimens remain scientifically valuable and fully traceable, all loans are subject to the following conditions.

1. Loans and species identification

Researchers receiving material from Station Linné for identification are expected to provide a species list, preferably within one year of receiving the material or, by prior agreement, following an extension of the loan period.

2. Recording identifications

Each loan is accompanied by an Excel file in which the borrower records the scientific genus and species name, author and year of description, number of specimens, sex, metadata, determinavit (the name of the person who made the identification), and the year in which the identification was made.

3. Labelling and separation of identified material

Different taxa originating from the same wet sample must be kept separate after identification and individually labelled in order to be regarded as identified specimens for curatorial purposes. If the material is subsequently mixed together again, the link between the individual specimens and their identifications is lost, meaning that they may have to be identified again at a later date.

4. Material that may be retained

• Specimens representing the only known occurrence of a species in the loan – so-called singletons – must always be returned to Station Linné.
• If a species is represented by only a small number of specimens, no more than every second specimen may be retained. This means that at least specimens numbered one, three, five, and so forth must be returned to Station Linné.
• All remaining material must also be returned, including unwanted or unmounted specimens. This may include, for example, readily identifiable species occurring in large numbers in the samples, or specimens for which the sex could not be determined. The material is preserved for future research and other scientific purposes.

5. Returning material

Identified material must always first be returned to Station Linné.

6. Long-term deposition and use

Identified specimens will ultimately be incorporated into either the collections of the Swedish Museum of Natural History (NRM), which has priority, or Station Linné’s own collections.
The resulting species lists also make important contributions to the ongoing work of the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative, whose ambitious long-term objective is to survey and scientifically describe all multicellular animals, plants and fungi occurring in Sweden.

Questions about a loan?

If you are unsure how material should be identified, labelled, retained or returned, please contact us before processing the specimens.

Page updated 2026-09-23