Collection of Arthropods
The Collection of Arthropods (DBGA) documents insect, spider and greater arthropod diversity within Denver Botanic Gardens.
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal belonging to the phylum Arthropoda, such as an insect, spider or crustacean. The Collection of Arthropods (DBGA) was founded in 2015 by staff members interested in discovering and documenting insect, spider and greater arthropod diversity within the Gardens and in educating the public about the role of arthropods in the Gardens and in wildlands. Today, DBGA holds over 4,000 specimens collected from Denver Botanic Gardens and wildlands.
Explore Arthropod Collections Through SCAN
The Collection of Arthropod specimens are discoverable online through SCAN, an external database used by arthropod collections across North America.
- Go to https://scan-bugs.org/portal/ (called “SCAN”)
- Search > Search Collections
- Click the Select/Deselect All at the top to deselect all the check boxes
- Click the box next to “Denver Botanic Gardens Collection of Arthropods”
- Click Next
- You can either enter in search criteria, including by county (e.g. Denver), or, just click Search to see all our specimens.
- If you click Search without entering criteria, you will end up with “stub” or “skeletal” records which may only have the data and no picture, or a picture with no data. We are continuing to database our 800+ insect collection.