The National Museum of Costa Rica (MNCR) houses a patrimonial collection of Hymenoptera of more than 475,000 specimens acquired in 2015, when the MNCR received the collection from the National Institute of Biodiversity (INBio).

This collection contains a significant amount of type material corresponding to species described between the years 1901 and 2021. However, many of the paratypes from these publications were deposited in the Museum, but they were not systematized when incorporating the database system, therefore that there was not a complete inventory, until now.

The objective of this research was to generate the final inventory of the paratypes of the hymenoptera collection, through an exhaustive physical and literature review, in order to know the species and volume of specimens that are kept.

The literature indicates that at least 4.218 paratypes are deposited in the MNCR and all of them were found (Table1), and 65 have barcoding sequencing (Table2). Unfortunately, some specimens returned damaged from a loan (Table3), so

Table 1. Paratype without barcoding sequences.

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

Table2. Paratypes with barcoding sequences.

Table3. Damaged specimens with only labels present.

that only the pin with the labels remained, both specimens were glued directly to the pin. The paratypes represent 17 families, 41 subfamilies, 47 tribes and 143 genera.

The paratype collection presents a significant loss of specimens, mostly due to old loans that were never returned, as well that 10 specimens of Heterospilus were lost during a loan process, only the empty pins with the labels arriving.

In the same way, some specimens were subjected to barcoding that were initially stored with the general collection, but because they now represent an additional resource, they are stored in a special collection of specimens with the same condition.

Museums usually represent a very important edge in scientific research, which not only has a merely taxonomic character of only naming new animal or plant species, but this knowledge impacts all other areas such as education [54], economy [55] and health [56]. This is why the maintenance of standard collections is vital, since technologies such as genome-wide sequencing require correctly identified specimens based on which to generate new information using their genetic material [57], and thus improve identification methods, and are the type specimens are those that will precisely be in the first row because they are the specimens from which a species is described.

Hence the need to improve the specimen loan processes, and the application of the laws on the deposit of duplicates and type specimens.

We conclude that all the specimens in the paratype collection are in perfect condition, with the exception of the Heterospilus specimens that were damaged during the return of material by mail. Likewise, the possibility of other paratypes re-entering loans that were never repaid remains on the table.

We are grateful to all colleagues who shared their publications or provided information to make this work possible. Likewise, thanks in advance to the research community, we are requesting their collaboration with the MNCR to locate the lost specimens, emphasizing that the collection that previously belonged to INBio is now in the MNCR, and the return of everything is required. The material is on loan, as many of the paratypes are found within that material and other colleagues need it for their research.