Duration of loans: Unless stated otherwise, loans are made for an initial period of 2 years from date of receipt of specimens; primary types are lent for a few weeks to a maximum of 3 months only. Most loans are renewable on request.

Student loans: Loans initiated by or for study by students must be cosigned by the major professor and are the responsibility of the major professor.

Third parties: Loans may not be forwarded to another individual or institution without written approval.

Change of address or status: The borrower should notify the collection manager of any change in address or student status.

Dissection of genitalia: Genitalia or other structures may be dissected if the parts are stored in a generally accepted method for the taxon in question. Primary types may be dissected only with written permission of the curator-in-charge.

Microscope slides: Slides prepared by the borrower must be clearly labeled so as to be easily associated with other parts of the specimen. Slides must be returned at the same time as other specimen parts, but packed separately to avoid breakage.

Packing: Specimens should be returned in the original insect boxes and packed and shipped to insure their safe return. Vials, microscope slides, and other heavy objects should be packed separately from pinned material. Genitalia vials and large specimens should be appropriately braced with insect pins. A minimum of two inches of packing should surround the specimen box. Appropriate packing methods are described in "Preparation of specimens submitted for identification to the Systematic Entomology Lab, USDA" by Lloyd Knutson, 1976, Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America 22(2): p. 130.

Return agreement: Specimens should be arranged so that species are clearly separated and recognizable. When practicable, determination labels should be placed on each specimen, but all identifying institutional tags or computer codes not of lasting importance placed on specimens by borrower should be removed. All primary types should be returned separately from other borrowed material, in lots of not more than ten, by registered mail or trackable private carriers. Please do not ship specimens during December.

Retention of specimens: All primary types and unique specimens must be returned. A reasonable number (up to, but usually not more than, 20%) of duplicates (same sex and data) of specimens identified by the borrower (including paratypes) may be retained by prior arrangement with the curator. In such cases, all the material should be returned with specimens desired marked with the returned loan. Individual specimen numbers and determinations must be provided to the collection management staff prior to the retention of any barcoded specimens. We encourage exchanges of material which increase the taxonomic representation of our collections. Sampling for DNA. No material may be subjected to DNA analysis without written permission from Entomology's curatorial staff. Unique and type material may not be destructively sampled in any fashion, including the removal of legs for DNA analysis.

Reprints: Copies of all publications based on the division’s specimens in whole or in part are requested. When reprints are not available the curator should be notified of the citation of the publication or a PDF emailed to the Curator-in-charge.

Loan renewal/progress report: We request a report of progress and /or a request for loan extension at the end of each loan period. Specimens must be returned promptly when a loan is terminated.

Visits:  We encourage entomologists to visit Entomology, conduct research in the collections, and hand-carry specimens borrowed after preliminary sorting.