Apoyo en la clasificación y etiquetado de la colección de especímenes de macroinvertebrados del laboratorio de ecología y zoonosis

Abstract

The collection of macroinvertebrate species in the Ecology and Zoonosis laboratory at the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas houses approximately 1,000 specimens collected during various field trips, integrated practices, or through individual collections by faculty and students. Many of these specimens arrive at the laboratory without taxonomic identification and, in some cases, without labels containing basic information about the collection site and date.

The objective of this internship was to identify the macroinvertebrate specimens through taxonomic classification. The methodology employed involved using dichotomous keys to identify and classify the specimens. Subsequently, each jar was labeled and tagged, and the obtained data was organized into a database accessible to the entire university community and the global scientific community. During the internship, a total of 386 individuals were identified and labeled. The vast majority of these belonged to the class Insecta, totaling 283 species; however, classes such as Gastropoda, Clitellata, Arachnida, Bivalvia, Malacostraca, Chilopoda, Turbellaria, and Diplopoda were also recorded.

This effort not only contributes to the organization and preservation of the collection but also facilitates access to valuable information for future research in the fields of ecology and zoonosis, thus promoting a better understanding of local biodiversity and its conservation.