After the closure of most of the services and projects of the National Institute of Biodiversity (INBio), the National Museum of Costa Rica (MNCR) assumed custody of the scientific collections of plants and insects, the latter with nearly three million specimens.

A significant number of type specimens that had not been inventoried have been deposited in this collection. Some were not even included in the collection’s database. This made the accessibility of the material difficult for researchers from all over the world, since in order to carry out the descriptions of new species or to make the complete vision of a genus, it is essential to have the type specimens.

Given these circumstances, the objective of this research was to generate a complete inventory of the holotypes that should be deposited in the MNCR, for which the literature corresponding to the description of species from Costa Rica that indicated having deposited the holotypes in the INBio was reviewed, to subsequently review the complete collection of Hymenoptera and confirm the presence of the specimen. Since there is no previous study, it was necessary to start from scratch.

An inventory of taxa mentioned in the following literature was carried out, whose holotypes were deposited in INBio, and with respect to which the physical review was subsequently carried out: Aguilar (2004) [1], Areekul and Quicke (2006) [2], Ayala and Engel (2014) [3], Bordera and González-Moreno (2011) [4], Branstetter (2013) [5], Briceño (2003) [6], Cameron (1901) [7], Carpenter and Kojima (2002) [8], Dobovikoff and Longino (2004) [9], Engel (2009) [10], Feitosa and Brandão (2008) [11], Fernéndez and Mackay (2003) [12], Figueroa-De La Rosa et al. (2003) [13], Fortier (2000) [14], Gauld (1991) [15], Gauld et al. (2002) [16], Gauld et al. (1997) [17], Gauld et al. (2000) [18], Gauld and Janzen (2004) [19], Gauld et al. (1998) [20], Gates (2008) [21], Hansson (2002) [22], Hansson and La Salle (2003) [23], Hansson (2004) [24], Hansson (2010) [25], Hansson (2011) [26], Hansson and La Salle (2010) [27], Hansson (2012) [28], Huber and Noyes (2013) [29], Janzen et al. (1998) [30], Khalaim and Broad (2013) [31], Khalaim (2010) [32], LaPolla (2004)[33], LaPolla and Longino (2006) [34], Lattke (2011) [35], Leathers and Sharkey (2003) [36], Lindsay and Sharkey (2006) [37], Longino (2003) [38], Longino (2005) [39], Longino (2006) [40], Longino (2007) [41], Longino (2009) [42], Longino (2012) [43], Longino (2013) [44], Mackay and Makay (2007) [45], Marsh et al. (2013) [46], Noyes (2004) [47], O’Keefe and Agosti (1997) [48], Pitz and Sharkey (2007) [49], Sarmiento-Monroy (2006) [50], Schauff and Janzen (2001) [51], Schauff and Janzen (1995) [52], Sharkov and Wooley (1997) [53], Shaw (1996) [54], Smith (1996) [54], Smith (2003) [55], Smith (2008) [56], Smith (2012) [57], Valerio and Whitfield (2003) [58], Valerio et al. (2004) [59], Valerio et al. (2005) [60], Valerio et al. (2009) [61], Valerio and Whitfield (2015) [62], van Achterberg et al. (1997) [63], Ward (2017) [64] and Zúñiga (2004) [65]. Likewise, a physical review was carried out to corroborate the presence of the specimens in the Museum's collection.

From the literature, approximately 2500 taxa described for Costa Rica were extracted until 2021, of which only 849 were deposited in the National Museum of Costa Rica, 169 of them were not found in the collection (Table 1), and more than 100 required to be digitized in the database.

Table 1. MNCR holoratype inventory.

a. According to zoological nomenclature, when a species changes gender, the author’s reference is placed in parentheses.

The 680 holotypes present in the Museum’s Collection represent 9 families, 29 subfamilies and 29 tribes, all of them in perfect condition, so none required restoration.

Although in general, the vast majority of specimens are within the collection, another important number is lost.

The holotype of the species Plebeia costaricana (Ayala and Engel 2014) [3] is still in the Division of Entomology, University of Kansas Natural History Museum, because the transfer of the collections of the previous INBio occurred just after its publication.

It is also imperative to mention that the species of genus Zelomorpha are only mentioned in Carlos Sarmiento’s thesis (2006) [50], but despite the fact that they have not been officially published in a scientific journal, the holotypes improved in the National Museum's collection.

We conclude that the MNCR database is completely up to date regarding the holotypes present in the collection, so that all the information can be consulted through the following portal: https://biodiversidad.museocostarica.go.cr/.

Likewise, unfortunately, it is concluded that the 169 specimens not found are not in the general collection, so it is possible that they were included in a material loan made before the MNCR took custody of the material.

We are grateful to all the contributors who willingly provided us with the literature that was not accessible online. Additionally, the entire community of entomologists is thanked in advance and their collaboration requested, to locate the lost holotypes or, if that is not achieved, to name the corresponding lectotypes, since not all the species previously deposited in the MNCR have their paratypes in this collection.