The Invertebrate Division of the Museum of Zoology of the Universidad Nacional de Loja (LOUNAZ) plays a leading role for the study, conservation, and education of invertebrate diversity in southern Ecuador, a region historically underrepresented in biodiversity research. Since its establishment in 2020, the division houses a collection of over 20,000 specimens and focuses on addressing critical knowledge gaps through scientific research, community outreach, and educational programs. By involving students, researchers, and the public, the Museum promotes awareness about the essential roles of invertebrates in ecosystems, including pollination, biological control, and nutrient cycling, as well as the importance of their conservation. The division also conducts studies on species composition, bioindicators and environmental threats to invertebrate populations, contributing to conservation strategies in a region facing significant anthropogenic pressures like deforestation, human population growth, chemical and light pollution, soil degradation, among others. The LOUNAZ Invertebrate Division has quickly become a key research hub, forming national and international collaborations to strengthen its impact on biodiversity conservation and scientific advancement.

Community outreach, conservation, environmental education, scientific collections

Natural history museums are witnesses of the biological narrative of each region from where they keep specimens and data. Museums not only preserve biodiversity records and serve as sites for species description, but they also play a crucial role in tracking ecological changes. These changes include land-use shifts, expansions of disease vectors, bioaccumulation and transport of pollutants, inbreeding and genetic erosion, among other important information (Benham and Bowie 2023; Davis et al. 2023), having extraordinary relevance in the face of accelerating global change. In the absence of past and present records kept at museums, we would lack important data to analyze trends and predict future changes.

Now is a pivotal moment to emphasize the importance of natural history museums, encouraging studies in the field, but also the study of preserved specimens, particularly in highly biodiverse regions experiencing rapid habitat loss, such as Ecuador, where biodiversity studies remain scarce. In the words of Raven and Miller (2020), “species [are] barely hanging on to their endangered habitats, these [museum] samples will one day be all that we have”.

Ecuador is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world; however, there are few taxa that have been comprehensively studied and most of them are vertebrates. The knowledge gap extends not only to invertebrate taxa, but also to the geographical coverage of studies, as most biodiversity inventories have been concentrated in the northern region of the country, particularly around Quito and the northern Amazon. Northern Ecuador has been better collected possibly because of the accessible roads near Quito and Napo, but also due to the presence of natural history museums located in the capital city that have served as headquarters for researchers throughout decades (Paucar-Cabrera 2005; Donoso et al. 2009). In contrast, southern Ecuador remained understudied for decades, due to its remoteness from the capital city, poor road infrastructure and lack of natural history institutions. A clear example of this bias is evident in studies on scarab beetles and ants, which report few to no records from southern Ecuador, neither published nor in museum collections (Paucar-Cabrera 2005; Salazar et al. 2015; Ratcliffe 2020). A similar bias has been reported for well-studied groups such as mammals, where provinces of southern Ecuador registered low mammal diversity due to lack of exhaustive mastofaunistic inventories and collections (Tirira 2007). This evidence reveals that, while northern Ecuador has been better studied for decades, conservation efforts in the central and southern regions of the country have been insufficient.

Given the central role of museums as research hubs in Ecuador, there was a need to establish a museum in the southern region, supported by a public university, to advance the study and conservation of local fauna. Consequently, the Museo de Zoología de la Universidad Nacional de Loja, LOUNAZ as its acronym, was founded in March 2007 in Loja City. Initially focused on vertebrates, its mission was to advance research and promote awareness of vertebrate fauna and its ecological roles through the management and study of its zoological collections and fieldwork, serving as a key resource in southern Ecuador. Later, in 2019, the Museum obtained its official patent from the Ministry of Environment of Ecuador, and in 2020, the Invertebrate Division was established under the author (Paucar-Cabrera) as its curator.

The Invertebrate Division began with a small number of specimens from students’ theses that were completed during the pandemic. However, the collection rapidly grew into a solid invertebrate collection with over 20,000 specimens from southern Ecuador. It was established with the mission of becoming a leading research center in southern Ecuador. It aimed to house invertebrate collections from the region under high curatorial standards, develop an open access database, and promote a multidisciplinary research network at the Universidad Nacional de Loja (UNL) in alliance with external researchers. Additionally, it sought to create both an educational and community outreach division, by engaging the local community in the study of invertebrate diversity and the vital ecosystem services provided by them in southern Ecuador.

As the collection continued to grow, it required a dedicated space. In 2024, the university officials granted a new facility to the Invertebrate Division. This allowed the establishment of two collection branches: a scientific collection and an educational and outreach collection. The Research Department at the same university has provided cabinets, drawers, unit trays and other curation materials to furnish the collection. These materials were acquired with support from grants 07-DI-FARN-2021 and 07-DI-FARN-2023. The grants provided financial support for projects on taxonomy, ecology, microbiology and conservation of scarab beetles.

The research branch curates and maintains the scientific invertebrate collection with international museum standards and expands its collections under research permits from the Ministry of Environment. This branch fosters student involvement. Graduate and undergraduate students from the Environmental and Forestry Engineering, and Agronomy and Veterinary programs actively participate as volunteers learning essential curatorial techniques. Many have also developed their theses under the guidance of professors associated with the LOUNAZ Museum. In just four years, more than 25 undergraduate students have completed their theses on invertebrate-related topics and have graduated within their programs, while more than 40 students, also undergraduate, have contributed as volunteers.

The volunteer program is part of the pre-professional practices where undergraduate students acquire working hours towards their academic programs. During these hours they develop entomological skills, beginning with field collection techniques and laboratory specimen preparation. Their training includes proper mounting procedures, labelling and taxonomic classification to order and family level. They also gain experience in collection curation by rehabilitating donated specimens, a process involving fungal and pest decontamination, remounting, relabelling and reclassification. They also develop thematic boxes designed for entomology and zoology coursework.

In the field of research, professors and students have explored important areas of ecological and conservation science in southern Ecuador, including biodiversity assessment and the use of bioindicators, identifying threats to invertebrate populations to develop conservation planning. They have also explored sustainable agriculture and climate change mitigation by integrating agroecosystems and urban areas into conservation strategies. Additionally, they have studied microbial interactions in insects and soil to identify microorganisms and insects that could aid in restoring degraded ecosystems.

Some of the articles published from museum data are Ratcliffe et al. (2020) on diversity of dynastine scarabs (Scarabaeidae) of Ecuador; Mazón et al. (2020) on the relationship between body mass and forewing length in Neotropical ichneumonid wasps; Armijos et al. (2022) on richness and abundance of dung beetles in a periurban conservation area in Loja, Ecuador; Mazón et al. (2023) on ecosystem type and effect on parasitoids’ biodiversity quality; Román et al. (2023) on microbiota associated with soil and dung beetle intestines; Mazón and Bordera (2024), on Ichneumonidae species records in Ecuador; and Mazón and Romero (2025) on crop production and restoration efforts, among others.

There are several theses in the records of the Universidad Nacional de Loja library that reflect the growing academic interest in entomological research in southern Ecuador. Contributions include works by Ojeda-Quezada (2021), Cordero-Jiménez (2022), Cuenca-Herrera (2022), Paladines-Hurtado (2022), Jiménez-Jiménez (2023), Romero-Vega (2023), Romero-Riofrío (2024), Tapia-Villalta (2024), Villamagua-Carrión (2024), Paladines-Valle (2025), among others. These studies involve the ecology of dung beetles and fireflies, microbiota of dung beetles, and the impact of light pollution on insect populations. All these data have contributed a valuable baseline of information toward insect conservation.

As a result of ongoing invertebrate research, occurrence datasets have been published on the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) under the LOUNAZ-UNL collection, comprising over 8,000 specimens with complete collection records (Mendoza-León 2023; Paucar-Cabrera 2025). Additional specimens are currently being digitized and incorporated into the museum’s database, a Darwin Core (DwC)-compliant Excel spreadsheet that enables sharing of biodiversity data through the GBIF platform. Once the data are cleaned and validated, these records will also be uploaded into the GBIF. Although the data are currently manageable, the ongoing expansion of the collection will soon require specialized software, dedicated technical support, and a secure server storage. A dedicated project will need to be established to ensure the long-term protection and management of the data.

Specimens included in the database were collected in ecosystems ranging from Amazonia lowland forests to premontane and montane cloud forests extending to paramo habitats, across the provinces of El Oro, Loja and Zamora Chinchipe. Collections were conducted in protected areas such as Madrigal del Podocarpus, Numbami, and Tapichalaca, as well as in urban areas, watersheds and grazed landscapes. Specimens were collected following standardized protocols with the use of interception traps, light traps, Malaise traps, pitfall traps, and manual sampling. These datasets have been used in publications on spatial distribution modelling of dung beetles under climate change scenarios (Carreón et al. 2025), as well as on the global impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on biodiversity data collection (Roilo et al. 2025), among other studies.

The LOUNAZ Museum also holds type material of species described by the following authors: Barria (2023), holotype and allotype of Chrysina mercedesae Barria, 2023 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Rutelinae); Telnov (2023), holotype and paratypes of Macratria conlei Telnov, 2023 (Coleoptera, Anthicidae); Greķe et al. (2023), holotype and paratypes of Adelopoma gracile Greķe, 2023 (Gastropoda, Architaenioglossa); Mazón and Bordera (2023), holotypes and paratypes of Exochus tapiarum Mazón & Bordera, 2023 and Leurus tapichalacae Mazón & Bordera, 2023 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae); Mazón et al. (2024), holotypes and paratypes of Grotea akakana Mazón & Bordera, 2024 and Grotea romeri Mazón, 2024.

In compliance with the Ecuadorian Environmental Organic Code, international researchers are required to sign agreements with Ecuadorian institutions to ensure that type specimens (holotypes, paratypes, syntypes) of new species collected in national territory are deposited in authorized scientific repositories within the country (Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador 2017). These regulations have improved access to Ecuadorian material for national and Latin American researchers working on Neotropical fauna, who often face challenges when type specimens are housed in European and U.S. collections. Challenges include high travel costs and visa restrictions. Moreover, obtaining type material via international loans is often unfeasible due to the postal service limitations and associated risks. Some of these difficulties have been documented by Girón (2020) and Acosta and Pérez-González (2019). As a young institution, the LOUNAZ is already providing valuable services to the research community and carrying significant responsibilities by its staff and the university authorities. One of its key commitments will be the imaging of holotypes to facilitate broader international access to these specimens.

The scientific contributions of the LOUNAZ Invertebrate Division have a significant impact in southern Ecuador, a region facing substantial human pressures on its ecosystems, including habitat destruction, mining, urban pollution, agricultural expansion, soil depletion and indiscriminate use of biocides and chemical fertilizers. This research helps address critical knowledge gaps and lays the foundation for further studies that will bring solutions to the region’s environmental challenges.

In 2024, the Invertebrate Division received two significant specimen donations: one from the country’s Ministry of Environment comprising 80 drawers containing 1,000 specimens to enhance the educational collection; the second one from the Agronomy Department at UNL, consisting of an insect collection of 150 drawers in urgent need of curation, which is currently in progress. These collections have enriched the younger LOUNAZ collection by adding specimens collected during the past 40 years. From the Agronomy collection, specimens with label data were incorporated into the scientific collection, whereas specimens lacking data were added to the educational collection. This educational material represents a diverse and valuable collection representing almost all the Neotropical insect orders. It is currently being organized as a scientific collection for taxonomy classes and structured into thematic boxes organized by invertebrate ecosystem roles for didactic teaching.

This educational branch of the Invertebrate Division seeks to position itself in the City of Loja as a center for invertebrate education and engagement, where students, from primary school to university levels, and the public can learn from activities that build appreciation and respect for invertebrate biodiversity. The primary objective is to contribute to the understanding and conservation of invertebrate fauna through the management of biological collections, scientific dissemination, and educational programs.

The Invertebrate Division is an important component of the educational programs within the Faculty of Agriculture, providing students with comprehensive knowledge in entomology and its applications. The curriculum includes insect classification and the study of insects with agricultural, medical and forestry significance. Particular emphasis has been given to vectors of infectious diseases, biological control, insect role in the formation and fertilization of soil, and the use of bioindicators for ecosystem monitoring. The invertebrate collection provides students with direct exposure to insect diversity allowing them to observe species with different ecological roles. Through this resource, students gain a deeper understanding on how predation, pollination and decomposition habits of insects can be applied in pest management, conservation and sustainable agricultural practices.

For external visitors, community engagement and public awareness of invertebrate biology and conservation involves exhibits, workshops and guided tours, aiming to inspire curiosity and respect for these often-overlooked organisms. By engaging schools and young visitors, the Invertebrate Division strives to cultivate a generation that values biodiversity and understands the critical roles invertebrates play (Fig. 1). Through this immersive experience, visitors gain knowledge on ecosystem services provided by invertebrates, threats to invertebrate populations and how they help to recover degraded areas and fight climate change. Educational activities and tours are conducted by the Invertebrate Division staff by appointment and workshops are organized in advance with external collaborators.

One remarkable example of community involvement was the Scarabs for Kids workshop, held during the XIV Latin American Scarabaeoidology Reunion (Reunión Latinoamericana de Scarabaeoidología, RELAS, by its acronym in Spanish). In this event, 20 children visited the Invertebrate Division and explored the fascinating world of scarab beetles. They closely observed the specimens housed at the collection, watched an illustrated presentation on natural history, learned about the ecological importance of scarab beetles and threats to their populations and then practiced these concepts through hands-on activities. Using clay, they sculpted scarab life stages and, by colouring a maze, they guided scarabs through obstacles like resource searching, deforestation, soil degradation, insecticides and light pollution in their quest for survival (Fig. 2).

Figure 1. 

Educational collection of the Invertebrate Division at the LOUNAZ Museum. a Young visitors at an insect educational session; b insect cabinets and display boxes showcasing curated specimens.

Figure 2. 

Highlights from the Scarabs for Kids workshop held during the XIV Reunión Latinoamericana de Scarabaeoidología. a Lisbeth Quezada leads a session blending art and science to teach about scarab beetles; b a participant modelling scarab beetles in clay; c a young visitor’s artistic interpretation of the scarab life cycle.

The workshop was innovative as its play-based activities were specifically designed for children, considering that their perception of the world differs from that of adults. The Invertebrate Division recognized that through playful activities, values are internalized, knowledge is acquired and a stronger connection with nature is fostered (Quezada et al. 2024). This approach ensures that learning is both meaningful and enjoyable, encouraging curiosity and appreciation for biodiversity from an early age. It also sparked interest in scarabs among children and their parents, encouraging them to protect these amazing insects when they encounter them in their everyday life. The Scarabs for Kids workshop also inspired international scientists who attended the meeting to start this tradition. From now on, wherever the conference travels to, it will include a public outreach event, ensuring new generations will be exposed to the wonders of scarab beetles and their roles in nature.

The Invertebrate Division has also played a crucial role in integrating art into the study of insects and other invertebrates’ anatomy and their roles in nature. The Museum offered an internship to an artist from the Art and Product Design Program from the Hogeschool van de Kunsten Utrecht in The Netherlands who was interested in visiting southern Ecuador and the LOUNAZ insect collection. The student was inspired by Neotropical insects, and she motivated others to pursue their passion for art and plastic expression. This experience also led to the organization of a highly successful public workshop on insect scientific illustration.

Through these efforts, the Invertebrate Division of the LOUNAZ aims to address the knowledge gaps in invertebrate diversity in southern Ecuador, while fostering a sense of responsibility toward nature. By connecting individuals of all ages and backgrounds with the fascinating world of invertebrates, the Museum’s long-term objective is to provide appreciation for invertebrate fauna, not only by showing their roles in nature, but the astonishing beauty and incredible anatomical structures they have. This will inspire and equip future scientists who later may take a leading role in the conservation of natural resources in southern Ecuador, ensuring the preservation of invertebrate biodiversity for generations to come.

Both collections follow similar integrated pest management (IPM) techniques although they pose different challenges. The research collection, which includes nearly 18,000 specimens and type material, requires continuous and strict monitoring and disinfection and access is restricted to authorized personnel only. In contrast, the educational collections, comprising approximately 2,000 specimens, is regularly in contact with the public, introducing additional challenges for its preservation. To safeguard both collections, a consistent pest management plan is in place, involving scheduled inspections, deep freezing at -24°C for five to eight days, thorough debris removal, disinfection with 96% alcohol and the application of 2% organic thymol dissolved in 70% alcohol. All incoming material is subjected to an eight-day freezing protocol before being integrated into either collection. The implemented IPM strategy is designed with personnel and visitors in mind, prioritizing safety. Although it requires increased effort and vigilance, this approach ensures effective pest control without compromising anyone’s health.

The Invertebrate Division of the LOUNAZ Museum is contributing extensively to cataloguing the invertebrate diversity of southern Ecuador and advancing research and conservation in a region historically under-represented in biodiversity studies. Its establishment has brought much-needed attention to insect taxonomy and conservation, disciplines that have been overlooked both locally and regionally, at the academic level as well as among the public. Documenting species distributions, natural histories and ecosystem services is essential, otherwise, species will become extinct before we realize what has been lost or the roles they played in their ecosystems.

Habitat destruction, pollution, agrochemical use, invasive species and climate change are only some of the threats driving invertebrate species towards extinction in every part of the country. Future generations could lose the opportunity for sustainable living, including innovations in biomimicry that could inspire new materials and processes, as well as advancements in agriculture and medicine (Wheeler 2020). These scientific breakthroughs rely on the study of the natural world including research on specimens held in biological collections. These collections serve as valuable repositories of biodiversity moving science ahead locally and globally.

The presence of an invertebrate collection in southern Ecuador has already begun transforming the region, positioning itself as a driving force for invertebrate awareness and environmental education. Through its educational programs, the Invertebrate Division is inspiring future generations to value and protect invertebrate biodiversity and to consider their ecological roles and urgent threats they face. Although the Invertebrate Division has been recently established in comparison to the insect collections in the capital city, it is already making a difference by documenting regional invertebrate diversity and fostering an environmental culture that values even the smallest members of our ecosystems.

Beyond its local influence, the LOUNAZ Invertebrate Division has rapidly become part of a network of invertebrate collections around the world and has established alliances with national and international scientists. These alliances facilitate knowledge exchange and enable species identifications by external specialists, supporting the goal of building a reference collection for southern Ecuador. Additionally, to further strengthen community engagement, the division aims to acquire 15 to 20 stereomicroscopes for visitor use, regularly update educational materials, including displays and themed specimen boxes and host quarterly workshops. These initiatives might eventually challenge the division capacity of 30 visitors.

With these scientific and educational prospectives, the Invertebrate Division is expected to grow. However, this expansion and ideas put into action bring curatorial and staffing challenges, underscoring the importance of ongoing support from the University authorities, external funds and the active involvement of students and of the local community.

We are deeply grateful to the many individuals and institutions who have contributed to the growth and development of the LOUNAZ Invertebrate Division. Our gratitude to Nikolay Aguirre, Jorky Armijos, Dany González, and Bolívar González for the administrative support to the LOUNAZ Invertebrate Division at the Universidad Nacional de Loja. We extend our gratitude to Max Encalada, Research Director of the same university, for the continued support of the Museum and its research efforts. We thank Franklin Jaramillo and the UNL Communications Team for their excellent coverage and outreach highlighting the Invertebrate Division initiatives and endeavors.

To help make the RELAS an event that integrated and encouraged greater student participation, we gratefully acknowledge the student travel support provided by The Coleopterists Society; the memberships generously granted by the Sociedad Entomológica Ecuatoriana; and the donation of scientific books and field guides by the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INABIO). We also thank INABIO, especially Hipsy Cifuentes and her team, for their wonderful social media posts about scarab ecology and biology which helped raise awareness and enthusiasm for the event. We also thank the RELAS taxonomists who identified LOUNAZ specimens within their areas of expertise, significantly enhancing the scientific value of the collection.

Special thanks to Katiusca Valarezo, curator of the Vertebrate Division of the LOUNAZ Museum, for her strong voice and tireless support for the Invertebrate Division during its overhaul in 2024. We are grateful to the other members of the LOUNAZ research team, Daniela Román, Christian Mendoza, and Óscar Ordóñez, whose extraordinary dedication and selfless support have helped us make remarkable achievements. We are indebted to our numerous and wonderful Invertebrate Division volunteers, especially to Jessica Belitama, Juan Briceño, Aini Chamba, Alisson Gualsaqui, Camilo González, Juliana Íñiguez, and Ana Ramírez. We thank our thesis students, whose dedication and enthusiasm have played a crucial role in documenting the invertebrate fauna of southern Ecuador.

Our deep thanks to Fernanda Salazar and Florencio Maza (Museo de Zoología QCAZ, Ecuador), Yesenia Campaña (Museo de Entomología ECESPOCH), Jhon César Neita and Edwin Torres (Instituto Alexander Von Humboldt, Colombia), Fernando Vaz de Mello (Coleção Entomológica de Mato Grosso Eurides Furtado, Brasil), and M. J. Paulsen (University of Nebraska State Museum, United States) for their valuable support with museum management advice. We are deeply grateful to Natalia Herman, Alfonsina Arriaga (Natural Sciences, QVMAG) and Jennifer Girón (Museum of Texas Tech University) for their insightful and valuable comments, which significantly improved the representation of the LOUNAZ Invertebrate Division and enhanced the overall quality of this manuscript.