Our Insect Collection Built Through Years of Dedicated Effort by Our Department Featured in the National Media
As a result of long-term efforts carried out by the academic staff and students of the Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU), 200,000 insect specimens have been collected from all regions of Türkiye over many years.
“It Should Be Turned into a Museum and Opened to the Public”
Providing information about the insect collection, Prof. Dr. İslam Saruhan, a faculty member of the Department of Plant Protection, made the following statements:
“While creating this collection, we receive support from our students. The insects obtained through our own research are included in this collection and stored here. There are approximately 200,000 insect specimens in this collection. However, we have not yet conducted a study to determine the exact number of species and families.
The maintenance of the collection is, of course, very difficult. When preserving insects, our greatest enemies are, again, insects themselves. They currently cause considerable damage to our specimens, and we are trying to prevent this. One of our research assistants is assigned here and puts in a great deal of effort.
Our aim is to turn this collection into a museum. Many students from primary schools and kindergartens visit us. It is not possible to admit each visitor in detail, as these insects can be damaged by even the slightest touch. Therefore, the collection should be transformed into a museum and opened to the public.
We show these insects to visiting students using boxes that we have prepared ourselves, and they leave very satisfied.
Our collection currently consists mainly of insect species. We do not collect only pest insects. We collect all insects—harmful or harmless, beneficial or non-beneficial—as well as animals related to insects such as scorpions, spiders, millipedes, and centipedes.
The majority of the collection consists of insects, which I estimate belong to around 100 families.
In total, there are approximately 200,000 insect specimens in our collection.”
(IHA)
We would like to express our sincere thanks to all our academic staff who contributed to the preparation of this insect collection—especially Prof. Dr. İslam SARUHAN—as well as to our graduate students who supported and contributed to the collection.
News Video and Further Details
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