Three-dimensional digitization of insect collections - multi-view imaging and photogrammetric surface reconstruction.

• Applicants: Dr. Frederik Berger; Professor Dr. Michael Heethoff; Dr. Martin Husemann; Dr. Ivaylo Kostadinov; Professor Dr. Michael Kuhlmann; Dr. Daniela Matenaar; Professor Dr. Peter Michalik, Ph.D.; Privatdozent Dr. Michael Jürgen Raupach; Professor Dr. Thomas Stäcker; Professor Dr. Torsten Wappler; Dr. Benjamin Wipfler
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions ; Systematics and Morphology (Zoology)
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 495869174

More than 50 million pinned insects are stored In German natural history museums. Due to the high number alone, these represent an important position in natural history collection management. A particularly important part of the insect collections for taxonomic research are the so-called "types" - those individuals on the morphological basis of which the description and naming of the respective species took place. The unique types are scattered throughout museums around the world, and physical access to the collections is often difficult for a variety of reasons. Digitizing the insect types as comprehensively as possible is therefore essential for scientific access and preservation of the material.The primary goal of the project is to develop quality criteria, standards, and visualization technologies for (macro)-photographic object digitization of insects and the resulting virtual 3D models with true-color surface textures using photogrammetry. The different digitization data - on the one hand 2D image data, on the other hand 3D surface models - are to be linked together so that they form a functional and curatorial unit for the first time. The insects will be captured automatically, from all sides, true to perspective and with extended depth of field by means of the "Darmstadt insect scanner" DISC3D, which was developed specifically for this purpose.

• DFG Programme: Cataloguing and Digitisation (Scientific Library Services and Information Systems)