tick pix for a laugh

It is Tick Time Again! - US National Tick Collection (USNTC)

Yep -- soon as Spring arrives, the dangers of ticks abound!


The U.S. National Tick Collection (USNTC) is the largest collection of ticks!

The collection is located at the Institute for Coastal Plain Science in Statesboro, Georgia.

Website:  http://cosm.georgiasouthern.edu/icps/collections/the-u-s-national-tick-collection-usntc

The facility includes fully equipped morphological & molecular laboratories. Specimens & their associated data are used for original scientific research on the systematics, evolutionary history, & population genetics of ticks & their related pathogens. Staff members are involved in morphological & molecular studies of target taxa. The research carried out at the USNTC, since its transfer to Georgia Southern, generated hundreds of publications written by the curators & associated scientific collaborators & visitors. Since 2005 the curators were involved in over 50 presentations in national & international peer-reviewed meetings. In addition to their basic taxonomic research, the curators are also revising all USNTC holdings, in order to make them progressively available to the research community & the public through the Smithsonian Entomology Collection web site. 

Researchers studying tick systematics are declining in number around the World. In order to prepare new generations of taxonomists it is, therefore, essential to include students in our curatorial & research activities. In the last 6 years, about 16 undergraduate & 9 graduate students from Georgia Southern benefited from the USNTC resources while carrying out their Biology research projects (4890, 7890, honor student thesis, master thesis). The curators are involved in teaching in a number of external workshops & summer programs, in particular the Ohio State University Summer Acarology Program:

The program has 3 elements, research, teaching (the Acarology Summer Program), & the Ohio State University Acarology Collection (OSAL).  Research involves collection based projects on mite systematics, with basal Parasitiformes as the main focus.  The Acarology Summer Program is currently the longest running program for training in identification of mites & ticks in the world.  Finally, the OSAL collection is the most diverse (taxonomically) mite collection at any North American university.  Although focused on Acari, it includes secondary collections of spiders & other arachnids.

contact:
123 Derby Hall
Columbus OH, 43210

E-Mail: klompen.1@osu.edu

Link to University's collection:  http://acarology.osu.edu/database 

Visiting the USNTC (US National Tick Collection):

The USNTC is open on Tuesday & Thursday: 2 pm – 4 pm.  All other times are by appointment only.  Contact Colleen Evans, Collections Manager, (crevans@GeorgiaSouthern.edu) to set up an appointment.  All educational groups must schedule an appointment with the collections manager before visiting.

Phone: (912) 478-5564
Fax: (912) 478-0559

Mailing Information
The U.S. National Tick Collection
P.O. Box 8056
Statesboro, GA 30460

Shipping Information
The U.S. National Tick Collection
69 Georgia Avenue
Statesboro, GA 30460

 

With over 125,000 accessioned lots, over one million specimens, their associated data, & an extensive library (reprints, monographs, & books), the U.S. National Tick collection is one of the largest curated tick collections in the World, if not the largest. It belongs to the U. S. National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution) & has been housed at Georgia Southern University since 1990. 

The collection contains specimens from all continents, most of the approximately 860 known species of ticks, & a quarter of the primary tick types.

Ticks (Ixodida) are haematophagous mites (Acari). During their blood meal, ticks can acquire &/or transmit a number of microorganisms, some of which can cause diseases in humans, domestic & wild animals. Because of the impact of ticks on human & veterinary medicine, the USNTC isn't only a significant resource of material & information for tick taxonomists but also for public health officials.