Sub-collection
Coleoptera and Strepsiptera
The Coleoptera and Strepsiptera sub-collection comprises around six million beetles and twisted-wing parasites. Its exceptional number of type specimens makes it an internationally important research infrastructure for taxonomy and evolutionary biology.
Overview
The Coleoptera and Strepsiptera sub-collection is the largest beetle collection in Germany and ranks among the most important worldwide. It comprises approximately six million specimens representing around 130,000 species. With around 40,000 type specimens, it provides an outstanding scientific reference collection. The sub-collection also includes a smaller assemblage of twisted-wing parasites (Strepsiptera), now recognized as a separate insect order.
Most specimens are preserved as pinned dry preparations. The sub-collection also contains an extensive wet collection of around 1,500 jars, including approximately 50,000 beetle larvae and pupae, as well as large quantities of unprepared material available for future research.
The sub-collection documents the global diversity of beetles. Historical strengths include material from Europe, Africa, the former Soviet Union and Iran. It also contains specimens acquired in colonial contexts, which are critically examined today from both scientific and historical perspectives.
Among the internationally significant specialist collections are the Staphylinidae (rove beetles), expanded through the acquisition of the Schülke Collection to more than 150,000 specimens, including over 500 holotypes and more than 8,000 paratypes. The Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles) collection is likewise internationally renowned for its exceptional richness in type material.
The sub-collection also includes specialised library holdings with historical and current literature on beetle taxonomy and faunistics, as well as an extensive collection of coleopterological reprints.
Access
The museum is currently undergoing major redevelopment as part of its Museum Evolution. Owing to collection relocation, the Coleoptera and Strepsiptera sub-ollection is temporarily inaccessible.
Requests concerning loans, research visits or reproductions cannot currently be processed. Previously borrowed material can still be returned. Please contact collection.coleoptera@mfn.berlin.
Collection data have been digitised continuously since the 1990s. Information on type specimens and their repositories is now available for around 60,000 species. Approximately 10,000 insect drawers have already been digitised in high resolution, and selected images are available online.
History
Throughout the nineteenth century, the sub-collection expanded continuously through acquisitions and scientific expeditions. Important type material originates from, among others, Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger (1775–1813), Johann Christoph Friedrich Klug (1775–1856), Wilhelm Ferdinand Erichson (1809–1848), Ernst Friedrich Germar (1786–1853), Carl Eduard Adolph Gerstaecker (1828–1895), Johann Ludwig Christian Gravenhorst (1777–1857), Edgar von Harold (1830–1886), Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst (1743–1807), Georg Wolfgang Franz Panzer (1755–1829), Jacob Sturm (1771–1848) and Hermann Rudolf Schaum (1819–1865).
Further important specialist collections were acquired from Charles Aubé, Carl Henrik Boheman, Pierre François Marie Auguste Dejean, Achille Deyrolle, Carl August Dohrn, Caspar Erasmus Duftschmid, Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, Johan Christian Fabricius, Leonard Gyllenhaal, Friedrich Kolenati, William Elford Leach, John Lawrence LeConte, Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, Édouard Ménétriés, Victor von Motschulsky, Ferdinand Schüppel and Franz de Paula von Schrank Waltl.
Although the historic Beetle Hall was destroyed in 1945, the collection itself had been evacuated beforehand and survived almost completely intact. Today it ranks among the world's most important research collections for taxonomy, biogeography and phylogenetic research.
Research
The sub-collection provides an essential basis for taxonomic, phylogenetic and biogeographical research. Its exceptional type holdings enable reliable species identification, while extensive historical and still unprocessed material represents an important resource for future scientific investigations.
A major research focus is the family Staphylinidae (rove beetles), the most species-rich beetle family worldwide. Wilhelm Ferdinand Erichson laid the scientific foundations for their study during the nineteenth century. Current research at the museum focuses on the diversity and biogeography of the genera Scopaeus, Paederus and Erichsonius, as well as the subfamily Tachyporinae.
Another focus is the beetle fauna of Africa. Historical collections from southern, eastern and western Africa are studied alongside more recent material to investigate long-term changes in biodiversity and species distributions. Research also critically addresses the colonial origins of many historical collections.
Ongoing digitisation opens up new research opportunities. High-resolution scans of complete insect drawers make it possible to study millions of specimens virtually, reducing the need to handle the original material while substantially improving accessibility for international research.