Collection of trombiculid mites is curated by N.I. Kudryashova.

Neotrombicula autumnalis

They sored basically as permanent preparations on glasses which makes mites more suitable for both researches and curating (including registration). Alcohol preservation and storage is less suitable, as specimens in alcohol are not available for direct investigation and, moreover, become unfitted for making permanent preparations.
Extensive collection of trombiculid mites was initiated in 1971 when Kudryashova became the staff member of the Museum and included her own collection in the Museum stock.
By the present, trombiculid collection became the largest in Russia. It contains 130.000 preparation and 3.000 samples in alcohol which represent more than 200 species of 38 genera belonging to all described tribes and subfamilies of Palaearctic.
About 80 per cent of the collection consists of parasites of the small mammals (mainly rodents), remainders being from birds and reptiles. Amphibian parasites known mainly from South America and Australia are missing in the collection.
Materials from Middle Asia, Primorsky Province, Moldavia, Caucasus, Crimea and Mongolia are most representative and interesting. Of special importance are mites collected by V.M. Neronov in Iran and by S.N. Rybin in Kirgizia. Besides, there are interesting faunal collections from Laplandsky Reserve (N.F. Darskaya), from islands in Japan Sea (Yu.D. Chugunov), and from Tuva and Sayan Mts. and certain regions of Tadzhikistan and Turkmenia (N.A. Filippova, I.V. Panova). Of great rarity are trombiculids collected from the bats in Kirgizia, Mangyshlak, Moldova and Central Russia by various authors.
Many trombiculid species were acquired by exchange. Most interesting among them are representative from Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand and Philippines (M. Nadchtram); from Korea, Japan, India (P. Traub), type specimens of the species from West Europe (M. Daniel).
Private collection of E.G. Shluger became the most important donation in the last decades. It was being gathered since the 1940s and includes representatives not only from many regions of the former USSR but also from Vietnam, China, North Korea, Bulgaria, Nigeria. This collection served as a basis for preparing the fist published identification guide of trombiculid mites of the USSR.
Type collection contains original materials on about 200 species. It is described in: Kudryashova, 1998.