Albert J. Cook Arthropod Research Collection

Welcome to the Albert J. Cook Arthropod Research Collection (ARC) website. The Collection was started by Professor Albert J. Cook in 1867 and later named in his honor. The ARC now houses close to 1.5 million specimens mounted on pins, slides or stored in alcohol, which are used for research, education, extension services and outreach. The collection is located in the Natural Science building at Michigan State University and is managed by the Department of Entomology. Currently 18 faculty, staff and students help oversee its operations.

Anthony Cognato and Gary Parsons

Access the collection database

Visit Ecdysis to access the collection database. Instructions for searching the database:

Deselect all.
Scroll to Midwest & Plains collections and check The Albert J. Cook Arthropod Research Collection (MSU-MSUC).
Push the Search button in the upper right. This brings you to the search page for the Albert J. Cook Arthropod Research Collection.
Enter family, genus or species and if needed any of the criteria listed below.

News

A Freshwater Legacy: 758 Odonata Specimens Find a Permanent Home at MSU

Published on December 19, 2025
MSU’s A.J. Cook Arthropod Research Collection has received 758 Odonata specimens from longtime collector John F. Douglass, now verified, curated and fully integrated into the university’s permanent scientific archive.
MSU student’s vacation leads to novel insect discovery

Published on October 30, 2025
MSU PhD student Junkai Wang and Entomology professor Anthony Cognato team up to describe new cockroach species Nocticola vagus
From Thailand to East Lansing: 12,000 Beetles Join MSU’s Arthropod Collection

Published on September 30, 2025
MSU entomologists Anthony Cognato and Sarah Smith traveled to Thailand to secure 12,000 bark beetle specimens, expanding the university’s scolytine and platypodine collection to more than 2,200 species– the most speciose in the Western Hemisphere.