The Museum's collections hold more than 1.5 million specimens,[1] with major emphases on the insects of North Carolina and on the Auchenorrhyncha and Aphididae (Hemiptera) of the world.

A smaller but historically important part of the collection (especially for bees of the eastern USA) is dedicated to Hymenoptera.

These multiple independent collections across campus were then collated into a single resource in 1952, then referred to as the Entomology Museum.

This effort was organized by Zeno P. Metcalf, an Auchenorrhyncha systematist who served as the Insect Museum's first director.

This museum has since been referred to as the NCSU Insect Museum, and it continues to serve as a resource for entomologists who need to identify specimens, for researchers attempting to understand more about species distributions through time, for students learning insect taxonomy, and as a repository for vouchers that reference entomological research.