Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Entomology Collection

Project name: Trinational Monarch Knowledge Network

Dataset summary : The Entomology Collection at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (SBMNH) contains over 300,000 specimens, including both insects and arachnids. The collections focus primarily on the Santa Barbara region, including important holdings from the California Channel Islands. In addition to Channel Islands material, the collection is very strong in California beetles (Coleoptera), moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera), and parasitic wasps (Hymenoptera). The dry collection is housed in modern metal cabinets, in Cornell-style drawers, and is mostly sorted to the family level. The collection holds about 20 primary types, described as a result of California beetle surveys, housed separately from the remainder of the collection. Representation is very strong from the Transverse Ranges, including the mountains of Santa Barbara, Ventura, Kern, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties. Desert areas to the east are also well represented, as is the southern Sierra Nevada.