Royal BC Museum Vouchering Project

Many invertebrates are incredibly difficult or impossible to identify from photos, so this project is meant to overcome that difficulty through the collection of specimens for expert identification after they have been photographed and the photos posted to iNaturalist.

For now we are focusing only on spiders (Order Araneae) because the taxonomic expertise is available for the identification work (involving dissection of “naughty parts” and microscopes!) and because the project serves to augment the Spider Diversity of British Columbia Project.

If you are interested please get in touch to get involved. We are keen to work with skilled photographers, collectors, and others who have an interest in identifying spiders.

Projects Leads:
Robb Bennett, Royal BC Museum Research Associate
Robb Bennett did his doctoral degree in spider systematics and is interested in spider taxonomy and faunistics. He has described many new species and is considered a leading expert in the family Cybaeidae in North America and Canadian spider fauna in general.

Darren Copley, Royal BC Museum Vertebrate Collections Manager and Mammal and Bird Preparator
Darren Copley’s research interests span many taxa, from invertebrates to vertebrates, and he has particular expertise in spider taxonomy and identifications. His skill in the field at collecting invertebrates is matched by his ability to document, by song or call, the various bird species encountered during fieldwork, which dovetails naturally with his career as a vertebrate collections manager at the Royal BC Museum.

Claudia Copley, Royal BC Museum Entomology Collections Manager and Researcher
Claudia Copley has been interested in “the little things that run the world” since childhood and is interested in furthering this knowledge, whether it is through her own work or facilitating the research of others.

Thomas Barbin, Earthworm Expert less ↑