Course: Managing Diptera Specimens

Learn how to process, preserve and manage fly specimens for recording, research and reference collections.

Flies (Diptera) are one of the most diverse and ecologically important groups of insects, playing vital roles as pollinators, decomposers, predators and indicators of environmental health. Yet collecting specimens is only the beginning; proper processing, preservation and recording are essential if specimens are to retain their long-term scientific value.

We've teamed up with The Dipterists Forum to provide an overview of the key stages of managing Diptera specimens, from processing freshly collected material through to long-term storage and biological recording workflows. Whether you are building a personal reference collection, contributing records to recording schemes, or handling specimens as part of ecological survey work, this session will provide a solid foundation in specimen management techniques.

The webinar will cover:

• Processing the catch: Handling specimens in the field, transporting material safely, sorting collections, temporary storage methods and the importance of accurate labelling.
• Pinning and staging: Choosing suitable pins and pinning methods, card pointing techniques and correctly attaching labels.
• Storing “wet” specimens: Preserving material in alcohol and understanding when wet storage is preferable.
• Cross-referencing: Linking specimens, notebooks, photographs and datasets to maintain collection integrity.
• Spreadsheets and collection management: Organising specimen data efficiently for future use and analysis.
• Recording and data sharing: Submitting records to iRecord, and making the data available to National Recording Schemes and Local Environmental Record Centres.

Whether you’re a student, naturalist, ecologist, conservation practitioner, biological recorder, or simply interested in insects and biodiversity, this webinar will provide a clear introduction to managing Diptera specimens and help ensure that specimens collected during fieldwork can be identified and verified outside of the fieldwork season.

The 90-minute event will consist of a 1-hour presentation followed by a Q&A with the tutor using questions provided by the live audience.

The presentations will be recorded and shared with those who booked alongside Q&A transcripts and relevant links following the event via a password-protected website.