View source for Biology:U.S. National Tick Collection

{{Short description|Tick specimen collection housed at Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, USA}}
{{Infobox museum
 |name             = United States National Tick Collection 
 |established      = 1996
 |location         = [[Organization:Georgia Southern University|Georgia Southern University]], Statesboro, Georgia 
 |type             = Ticks 
 |visitors         =  
 |curator          = Lorenza Beati
 
 |network          =
 |website          = [http://cosm.georgiasouthern.edu/icps/collections/the-u-s-national-tick-collection-usntc/ Tick Collection]
 |image            = Ixodes hexagonus (aka).jpg
 |caption = Ixodes hexagonus (aka)
}}
'''The U.S. National Tick Collection''' is the largest collection of [[Biology:Tick|tick]]s in the world. The vital function of the collection is to separate ticks that are medically and financially important from those that are common.

The collection is owned and curated by the Smithsonian Institution, but housed on the campus of [[Organization:Georgia Southern University|Georgia Southern University]] in Statesboro, Georgia where it is under the auspices of the university's Institute of Arthropodology and Parasitology.<ref name="georgiasouthern1">{{cite web|url=http://www.bio.georgiasouthern.edu/iap/Tick_collec.htm|title=U.S. National Tick Collection|publisher=[[Organization:Georgia Southern University|Georgia Southern University]]|access-date=29 January 2011}}</ref> The current [[Social:Curator|curator]] of the collection is Lorenza Beati who was appointed late in 2011 and who is also an associate professor of Biology at [[Organization:Georgia Southern University|Georgia Southern University]]. Beati holds an M.D. and Ph.D.<ref>"Lorenza Beati." Georgia Southern University Website. http://personal.georgiasouthern.edu/~lorenzab/</ref> The tick collection contains 850 separate species of tick.<ref name="georgiasouthern1"/> Evidence suggests that the collection is "larger than all other world tick collections combined"<ref>{{citation
 | last1 = Durden | first1 = L. A.
 | last2 = Keirans | first2 = J. E.
 | last3 = Oliver | first3 = J. H.
 | date = October 1996
 | doi = 10.1093/ae/42.4.239
 | issue = 4
 | journal = American Entomologist
 | pages = 239–243
 | title = The U.S. National Tick Collection: A Vital Resource for Systematics and Human and Animal Welfare
 | volume = 42| doi-access = free
 }}</ref> containing almost one million specimens.<ref>{{citation|url=http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2011-08-28/worlds-most-complete-tick-species-collection-housed-gsu|title=World's most complete tick species collection housed at GSU|first=Rob|last=Pavey|date=August 28, 2011|newspaper=The Augusta Chronicle}}</ref> The tick collection aids [[Biology:Parasite|parasitic]] research which is of interest to health and agriculture because some species of tick carry [[Unsolved:Lyme disease|Lyme disease]] and [[Medicine:Rocky Mountain spotted fever|Rocky Mountain spotted fever]].<ref name="georgiasouthern1"/> The collection's specimens are freeze dried, bottled and coated so as to appear more vividly under a [[Engineering:Microscope|microscope]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/8728|title=Statesboro, GA - U.S. National Tick Collection|last=Johnson|first=Barbara|date=23 April 2004|publisher=RoadsideAmerica.com|access-date=29 January 2011}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}


[[Category:Ticks]]
[[Category:Parasitology]]

{{Sourceattribution|U.S. National Tick Collection}}