The Cooper collection comprises the records of all material from the Martin Cooper acquisition (BMNH-ENT-2018-128) at the Natural History Museum, London at the time of project completion (March 2019).

The Cooper collection primarily consists of Hymenoptera specimens and nests but also includs specimens from 16 other Orders (Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Blattodea, Dermaptera, Embioptera, Mantodea, Mecoptera, Megaloptera, Neuroptera, Odonata, Orthoptera, Phasmatodea, Plecoptera, Psocoptera and Trichoptera).

The Cooper collection was digitised to refine our pinned insect workflow, where the labels do not need to be removed (ALICE - Angled Label Image Capture and Extraction), and to develop protocols for entry point digitisation for acquisition material.

Each specimen record has been published with six images capturing dorsal, lateral and multiple angled views of the specimen and its associated labels and creating an inventory record with a unique identifier (Data Matrix barcode), taxon information and type status.

The data resource generated by the project is available using the link. Please search for the relevant taxa.

This collection was digitised as part of the Museum's Digital Collections Programme.