[NHCOLL-L:121] Re: insuring shipments of specimens?

[Lynn Kimsey]

There are a few basic guidelines for shipping specimens
and these differ depending on whether they are going to
domestic sites or international ones. The only reason in the
past for sending specimens to domestic sites registered or
insured was to be able to track them if they get  lost. There is
no other reason to do this. If you send via a non-postal carrier
such as FedEx they carefully track parcels and this is unnecessary.
Overseas different countries have different requirements if you
are sending, eg. type specimens thru the postal service. One 
country may require specimens to be insured while others require
registration. These policies are set by each countries postal
service. In any case which ever you do, or send by some other
carrier, the point is to be able to track the parcel if it gets lost.
Obviously, you can't replace  specimens, particularly types, for
any monetary value, so use the minimum required for tracking
purposes. If you insure it for too much you increase the risk of
making the parcel a target for theft because of its perceived
(insured) value. It is also correct that if you send specimens to a US
institution registered or insured it will take ages longer because
everyone who handles to parcel has to sign off on its paperwork.

Lynn Kimsey
Bohart Museum of Entomology
University of California
Davis, CA 95616