About Abbreviations vs. “Codens”
Our current listing does NOT follow the rigid 4-letter “coden” formula of collection depositories found in Arnett et al (1993). We are instead striving to use the letter abbreviations/combinations that are most commonly used by the collections themselves or have been traditionally used to indicate a particular depository. We encourage authorized representatives of collections to check our list to ensure that the abbreviation we have listed is the one you prefer. If not, please let us know and we will change it if possible. In the inevitable case of homonyms in the use of a particular abbreviation, we will give first preference to the older, more established depository, and then on a first-come first-served basis.

Full Collections List
This link sends you to the full list of the insect and spider collections known to us along with their abbreviation [= previously termed a “coden”]. Each collection is presented with its abbreviation, location, and a web link if they have one. If you do not see a particular collection you know exists, please send the pertinent information including a unique abbreviation and a url of a web page (if it has one) and we will add the information to this list. We do NOT list personal collections any longer. Exceptions to this will only be made for historical collections that are missing from his list that have been deposited in a publicly accessible institutional collection. We welcome any additions and corrections to this list and request that authorized representatives from each collection have approved any proposed additions or changes before a request is made to us.

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Suggested Citation:
Evenhuis, N.L. [year of latest version]. The insect and spider collections of the world website. Available at: http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/codens/ [Last accessed: date].

Other Web Sites on Insect and Spider Collections
Council of Heads of Australian Entomological Collections Home Page (also includes info and links to New Zealand Collections)
Natural Science Collections Alliance (formerly Association of Systematic Collections)

This website last revised 20 November 2012. If you have any questions/corrections, please address them to: neale[.at.]bishopmuseum[.dot.]org