EfficientremovalofinsectspecimenpinlabelswithmodifiedforcepsRodEastwoodMuseumofComparativeZoology,HarvardUniversity,26OxfordStreet,CambridgeMA02138Withthepushtodigitizenaturalhistorycollectionsworldwide,museumsarefacingnewchallengesregardingfunding,personnel,andthetechnologyrequiredforlarge-scaledigitizationprojects.Thisisparticularlysoinentomologycollectionswherethedigitizationtaskisdauntingbecauseofthehugenumbersofinsects.Forexample,estimatesofinsectholdingsinsomeUSinstitutions,fromtheirwebsites,includetheSmithsonianNationalMuseumofNaturalHistory(>35million),AmericanMuseumofNaturalHistory(17million),andtheMuseumofComparativeZoology(MCZ)atHarvardUniversity(7.5million).Digitizingthesethreeinsectcollectionsalone,assuming1minuteofhandlingtimeperspecimenwouldrequiremorethan587person-years.Newmethodsandtoolsarebeingdevelopedtofacilitatedigitizationprocesses,suchasinnovativesoftware,automatedtextscanning,anddigitalimagingofdrawersorindividualspecimens.Oftenoverlooked,however,areancillaryjigsandtoolsthatcanalsoreducehandlingtimeincertainsituations,thusminimizingdamagetofragilespecimens,whichisanimportantconsideration.Inmanycases,digitizationofinsectcollectionsrequirestheremovalofpinlabelsfortheretrievalofspecimendataviaimagingorothermeans,andforreasonsofcost,isoftenperformedbyunskilled(non-entomologist)personnel.Removingpinlabelsfrominsectspecimenscanbedifficultatbestbut,ifpinlabelsarenotgrippedevenlyonbothsidesofthepin,thelabelcanjamonthepinmakingitverydifficulttoremove(=timeconsuming)or,worse,mayresultinatornlabeloradamagedspecimen.Theseproblemsmaybeexacerbatedwhenattemptingtoremoveoldlabelsfrombent,corroded,orbrokenpins.IndevelopingprotocolsfordigitizingthebutterflycollectionattheMCZ,weconsideredseveralmethodsofremovingpinlabelsthatwouldbeeasytouseandminimizespecimendamage.OurpreferredmethodwastouseapairofmodifiedspadepointedphilatelicforcepsasshowninFigure1.Spadepointedforcepsweredesignedforhandlingpostagestampsandcomeintwobasicshapes,eitherstraightorbent.Wechosethebentvarietyandmodifiedthembycuttinga'V'shapedslotdownthecenterofthespadeusingasmallhacksawandthenfilingtheedgessmooth.Theslotwasextendedfurtheronthelowerspadepointof

theforcepsforbetterlocationandalignmentonthepin(Fig.2).Thiswasnecessarybecausetheangledendoftheforcepscausesthelowerspadetoprojectbeyondtheupperspadewhenintheopenposition(Fig.2).Importantly,theangledendoftheforcepsensuresthatanoperator'sfingersarepositionedawayfromtheinsectspecimenthusminimizingcontactdamage,anditiseasiertopositiontheforcepsaboveandbelowthepinlabels(Fig.2).Asingle'V'slotted'spade'coulddoasimilarjobifitwerepositionedabovethelabelsanddraggeddownthepincausingthelabelstoslideoff.However,therelativeorderoflabelscouldgetmixedduringtheremovalprocessandsoinformationinherentintheirchronology(i.e.theoldestdataareonthetoplabel)mightbelost.Grippingevenlyaboveandbelowthestackoflabelswithforcepsminimizesthepotentialtomixlabelorderafterremoval,helpsmaintaintheintegrityofoftenfragilelabels,andisasaferandmoreefficientwayofholdingthelabelspriortoprocessing.

Fig.1 Fig.2