The little drawers where the labels are stored are sorted by type of type. Each compartment hold one type of label. From top to bottom: holotype, lectotype, paralectotype, paratype and syntype. Source: our own Photo credits: A. Sánchez Albert

#Paratypes, #syntypes, #holotypes and more. There are many types of types! 😵‍💫

Despite their disparities, they all make it possible to properly identify species by comparison 🔎, and are fundamental when describing them 📜.

And they are invaluable for reference collections! ❗️

Lateral view photo of the male syntype specimen, along with a scale bar (2 mm) and its catalogue number (MNCN_Ent 314365). Source: Ent. Coll. MNCN-CSIC Author: P. Álvarez Fidalgo

Dorsal view photo of the same specimen, along with a scale bar (2 mm) and its catalogue number (MNCN_Ent 314365). Source: Ent. Coll. MNCN-CSIC Author: P. Álvarez Fidalgo

Photo of the specimen labels. Source: Ent. Coll. MNCN-CSIC Author: P. Álvarez Fidalgo

Here we are, in another #TypeSpecimenTuesday 🕵️
Today we meet one of the #syntypes of #Colletes merceti 🐝

This is an Iberian endemism described by J. Noskiewicz in 1936, using material from one of our partner institutions, the MNCN-CSIC! 🏛️