Specimen loans

To discuss your borrowing needs please consult the list of relevant Curators in ANIC.

Only researchers who are associated with a CITES-registered institution can borrow material for research purposes. For more information on registration options please see our section on Permit Information.

Conditions Governing Loans

Specimens borrowed from the Australian National Insect Collection are made available on the following conditions:

1. Should the specimens consist of mixed undetermined material, such as berlesate or trap catches, only specimens belonging to the groups covered by the loan invoice may be extracted. No other material should be removed.
2. Loans are for a stipulated period, which may be extended upon application to the responsible Curator or the Collection Manager.
3. The borrower is requested to take every normal precaution when handling and storing the material, to ensure that it suffers no deterioration while on loan.
4. The material may not be transferred without written authority.
5. A borrower wishing to dissect any specimen should do so in such a way that the specimen suffers the least possible damage, and must ensure that parts dissected out are correctly preserved and returned with the rest of the specimen. Dissection of Primary Types is permitted only by arrangement.
6. A borrower wishing to remove internal or external parts of a specimen for molecular studies is permitted to do so only by prior arrangement and accompanied by a written request. A label with an indication of procedure undertaken should be included with the specimen.
7. Every specimen determined by the borrower should have a determination label (handwritten or printed) attached to it.
8. In returning specimens the borrower is requested to ensure that they are packed in such a way as to protect them fully against the risk of damage in transit. The borrower is responsible for costs of material being returned.
9. Holotypes designated for new species described by the borrower from the material on loan should be returned separately from other borrowed material by registered post.
10. Retention of specimens by the borrower is permitted only by arrangement and accompanied by a written request. The following must always be returned: all Primary Types, Allotypes, and uniques, togetherwith at least one specimen of each sex, caste, or major variant for each species and one specimen from each locality.
11. The borrower should acknowledge the loan in any paper resulting from studies of the borrowed material and two reprints of such papers should be sent to the Collection Manager or the ANIC officer initiating the loan.
12. Exchanged and donated specimens are dispatched from the Australian National Insect Collection subject to the following: the management of the Australian National Insect Collection is required by law to stipulate that any specimen of Australian provenance dispatched overseas from the collection after 1983 and subsequently designated Holotype, Lectotype or Neotype must be returned to the ANIC. This requirement applies whether the specimen was dispatched originally as a loan, an exchange, or a donation.