Each year the viruses are grown out in small, screened-in cages in the field to keep the collection going for future use. The researchers save four tubers from each cage for replanting at Aroostook Farm the following year and send the remaining tubers to Beltsville for further use and study. All of the collection's viruses are among the most prevalent in the United States, Canada, and Europe. A new Carla virus, isolated from the potato variety Red Lasoda in 1992, was named potato latent virus in 1998. It was added to the collection last year.
Researchers can request samples of any virus for study.
The museum is part of the ARS Bee Biology and Systematics Laboratory. Year-round, the scientists receive a steady stream of requests for help. Last year's detective work included determining the identity of 15,100 specimens sent in from the United States and abroad, as well as another 75,000 specimens netted in investigations by the museum team itself or by ARS colleagues at the laboratory. The bee museum, officially known as the U.S. Pollinating Insects Collection, is one of the world's 10 most important bee collections. It houses nearly 1 million specimens from the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Spain, and several other countries.