McGill University’s Lyman Entomological Museum (LEMQ, Evenhuis, 2023) located on MacDonald Campus in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada, holds a total collection of more than 3 million specimens, with a focus on pinned insects. The museum also maintains extensive slide and wet collections, including a small but regionally important myriapod collection.

Myriapods are a generally neglected group of mandibulate arthropods which have been seldom studied in Canada, with few recent faunistic treatments and a lack of formal knowledge. Distributions and species lists are often incomplete and currently little is being done to address this knowledge gap (Langor et al., 2019).

Here, we present the results of the re-curation of the myriapod collection in the Lyman Entomological Museum to enable further and future studies of Myriapoda, and to make the Lyman holdings more accessible to scientists and other researchers.

Specimens were sorted from their original vials following guidelines from current curatorial practices (Means et al., 2015). Most myriapods are stored in 70% ethanol in 5mL polypropylene vials, whereas larger specimens are stored in 10mL or larger glass vials, depending on specimen size. Original labels were conserved and additional labels included when necessary for identification or species separation. Identification was carried out using location-appropriate taxonomic keys (Appendix I). Collection materials were databased via the Lyman Museum’s data entry webform.

The myriapod collection includes 907 specimens. Prior to this work, more than 500 specimens lacked generic identifications; now 92% of the 907 specimens have been curated to genus or species.

Specimens were collected between 1959 and 2023, with a notable gap between the late 1980s and 2022, during which virtually no myriapod specimens were added to the collection, reflecting the broader trend of declining attention to myriapods worldwide (Figure).

Taxonomic coverage of the collection covers three of the four classes recognised in the Myriapoda, with only Pauropoda not being represented in the collection. Seven millipede orders are represented, covering 21 different families. Four of the five centipede orders are represented, covering 10 different families. A single Symphyla specimen is present in the collection.

Several new records were gathered from the curation of the collection, with new records for British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec transpiring from the unidentified specimens (MS in prep).

Spatial coverage of the collection ranges throughout various American regions but is primarily representative of southwestern Quebec, Canada (37%). Other well-represented Canadian provinces include Ontario (3.5%), British Columbia (36%), and Alberta (1.5%). Other localities present in the collection include the United States (Arizona, California, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Virginia), Central and South America, (Ecuador and Belize), and the Caribbean (Bermuda and Dominica). The collection also hosts a small number of myriapod specimens from the Afrotropics (South Africa and St. Helena).

The Symphyla specimen mentioned by Kevan (1983) was not recovered during this project and its whereabouts remains unknown. This specimen served as the basis of record of the second species of Symphyla present in Canada, Symphylella vulgaris (Hansen), and the absence of this specimen is concerning, as Kevan’s identification can no longer be confirmed.

Lastly, specimens from the Wagner Bog in Alberta were also found, after having been reported missing in Langor & Langor (2022). The checklist to Canadian centipedes notes taxonomic uncertainty linked to these specimens and their identification. These specimens from the expedition, as well as the other specimens present in the collection, are now available for consultation in the Lyman Entomological Museum.