Label data 



In Victorian times private collectors regarded their insect collections as a hobby, mostly for their 

 own gratification and to display to like-minded friends. Occasionally they felt justified to publish lists of 

 their findings, or to elaborate them into proposed county or national checklists. Drawers of their cabinets 

 contained columns of neatly set specimens, mounted on standard short pins, each column as full as possible, 

 with the aim to eventually have represented every known species. In all likelihood, the scarcity of a species, 

 or the more aberrant the specimen, the greater it was estimated as a trophy in their cabinet. Identification 

 labels were either handwritten or printed and pinned below each column. Every museum in the country 

 contains collections like these. They are pretty to look at, but apart from showing what species were then 

 available, they had little scientific value. If the collection was from a specific area, it at least had a local 

 geographic value, but unless the collector had indulged in describing new species to science, so that the 

 collection would contain his original syntypes, its value was practically minimal. Precious few specimens, if 

 any, carried their own individual data labels, in which lies their eventual devaluation as biological accessions 

 and derogatory comparison to stamp collecting. 



The method of mounting was on short pins and the slightly longer headed pins for larger species. 

 Their housing was in a Victorian or Edwardian style insect cabinet with English designed shallow depth 

 drawers. The lack of depth undoubtedly helped to deter the collector from adding data labels to individual 

 specimens. Under such conditions the label would be difficult to read, for the specimen would obscure the 

 writing by its proximity, secondly, because its proximity alone might damage the specimen. If the label was 

 reversed, it would entail the lifting of the specimen to read the label, which in turn might cause damage. 

 Except those who discovered the benefits of continental style deep drawer cabinets and proper usage of deep 

 setting boards requiring high mounting on long pins, also the correct method of double-mounting, British 

 collectors continued using short English pins. These pins were eventually produced at a higher quality and of 

 sufficient length as to enable the incorporation of data labels. Once deep drawers were developed for insect 

 cabinets, following the continental style, continental length pins were used, which afforded more space for 

 the specimens and the arrangement of their labels. 



Over the years when it became customary to provide each specimen with a data label, very often, 

 little thought was placed into its design, or how it should be written. More often than not the label would be 

 written in fountain-pen ink, or even a graphite pencil. Further poor developments were the usages of the 

 ballpoint pen, and later, the normal felt-tip pen. All of which are in turn not waterproof, can fade, will 

 eventually erase, or will smear. The more enlightened used waterproof Indian ink and later, archival felt-tip 

 pens. The more expensive method of having the labels printed was eventually adopted. Nowadays the 

 customary procedure is to print them by computer on archival paper. 



Today it is still common to see handwritten data labels on Channel Islands specimens and 

 generally, they are poorly designed. Older specimens especially, carry inadequate data, with only the locality 

 plus date and perhaps the collector's name. Even some printed labels are not completely adequate. The 

 normal problem is that they are designed for local use and are meaningful only to the collector and to others 

 living in the islands. However, a data label that simply states 'Essex Hill', 'Petit Bof , 'Shell Beach', 

 'Dixcart Hotel', or 'Red Houses', is woefully inadequate and completely meaningless to anybody not 

 acquainted with the islands. These are not names to be found in standard world gazetteers. A foreign 

 entomologist needing to study such specimens would be completely lost. Full data requires name of country, 

 e.g. 'Channel Islands, or abbreviated to C.I.', the name of island, also parish name when referring to 

 Guernsey or Jersey, e.g. 'St. Pierre du Bois' (not St. Peters which is a misleading localised familiarity name), 

 or 'St. Brelade', followed by actual locality. It is also important that the date be written in an internationally 

 recognised standard fashion, e.g. the day (6.), the month (ix.) and the year in full (2003), in that order. When, 

 for example, a date is written as 6.9.03, there is never a certainty about whether it means 6.ix.2003, or even 

 9.vi. 1 903. Lastly the name of collector or collector's, the name or names with full initials and surname 

 should be added. The collector's name is important, especially when mentioned in literature, for it serves as 

 an extra lead when a reader is attempting to trace a particular specimen, especially when more than one 

 collector may have collected specimens at the same locality on the same date. Labels are also important for 

 dissected specimens, for cross-referencing the specimen to the microscope slides of th_: genitalia and 

 abdomen, wing preparations, head, etc. It should also be noted on the slide label the mame of the dissector. 

 Labels are also most especially required for the identification, carrying the identification and name of the 

 identifier, and date of identification. Labels should also be attached to pin of a specimen that has been 

 photographed for publication, for it has then become an important reference specimen. Additionally, labels 

 may need to be created to carry biological data, e.g. type of habitat, larval foodplant, dates of pupation and 

 adult emergence. In this manner, every voucher specimen carries full data on its mounting pin or double- 

 mounting pin, and importantly, carries a history of its development. Ideally, all labels should be arranged 

 face up, orientated in the same direction and adequately spaced apart, making them readable from above 



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