From 03 to 14 December 2012, Ndayikeza Longin, a student at the University of Burundi (U.B) and researcher at the National Institute for Environment and Nature Conservation (INECN), completed a training course at the Royal Institute of Natural Sciences of Belgium (IRSCnb) under the supervision of Dr. Alain Pauly. The aim of the internship was training in taxonomy and management of collections of pollinating insects in forest and agricultural ecosystems in Burundi. This training was part of the project “Strengthening taxonomic knowledge on pollinators in forest and agricultural ecosystems in Burundi” under the funding of the IRSCnb.

 

This course had the main different moments which are the preparation of specimens and conservation of collections, identification and visit of reference collections at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren (MRAC).

Training on specimen preparation and collection conservation

During this phase of the internship, techniques for managing entomological collections were learned. Thus, preparation, labelling and preservation techniques have been concerned.

Taxonomic identification

Identification

Visit the reference collections at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren (MRAC)

After the determination of the various genera and species, the MRAC reference collections were consulted mainly for the Megachilidae family. In these collections, the majority of the species consulted come from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country bordering Burundi.

At the end of this internship, capacities in terms of taxonomic determination of pollinating insects, conservation of collections and enrichment of bibliography were strengthened.