Hemimetabola

Overview

The Hemimetabola sub-collection comprises a diverse collection of insect groups whose development does not involve complete metamorphosis. The juvenile stages resemble the adult forms, although this characteristic does not define a phylogenetically distinct group. 

With over a million specimens, the sub-collection is one of the museum’s most extensive entomological collections. The largest group is the Hemiptera (bugs, cicadas), comprising more than 620,000 specimens and at least 11,100 species, including around 2,000 holotypes. The Orthoptera (grasshoppers) are represented by some 300,000 specimens and around 3,000 primary types, forming one of the most significant grasshopper collections in the world. 

The sub-collection includes, amongst others, the following groups: 

• Ephemeroptera (mayflies) 
• Odonata (dragonflies) 
• Orthoptera (grasshoppers) 
• Phasmida (stick and ghost insects) 
• Plecoptera (stoneflies) 
• Embioptera (tarsal moths) 
• Notoptera (crickets) 
• Mantophasmatodea (gladiator grasshoppers) 
• Dermaptera (earwigs) 
• Zoraptera (ground lice) 
• Isoptera (termites) 
• Mantodea (praying mantises) 
• Blattodea (cockroaches) 
• Thysanoptera (thrips) 
• Hemiptera (bugs, leafhoppers, cicadas) 
• Psocoptera (booklice) 
• Mallophaga (feather lice) 
• Anoplura (animal lice) 

The sub-collection is supplemented by primarily wingless insects such as Archaeognatha (rock-hoppers) and Zygentoma (fish-flies), as well as other hexapods (Hexapoda) such as Diplura (double-tailed insects), Collembola (springtails) and Protura (protura). 

The material is predominantly preserved as pinned dry specimens in insect boxes. In addition, there are numerous micro-specimens and alcohol-preserved specimens in approximately 13,300 vials. The sub-collection has a global focus, with an emphasis on Africa and extensive holdings from South America, the Oriental region and the Palearctic. 

History

The oldest specimens in the sub-collection are over 210 years old and date back to the museum’s founding period. A large proportion of the material originates from research expeditions to Africa, South America and the Sunda Islands in the 19th and 20th centuries. 

Numerous entomologists were involved in cataloguing and describing the collections, including Gustav Breddin (1864–1909), Hermann Burmeister (1807–1892), William Lucas Distant (1845–1922), Wilhelm Ferdinand Erichson (1809–1848), Franz Xaver Fieber (1807–1872), Carl Eduard Adolph Gerstäcker (1828–1895), Arnold Jacobi (1870–1948), Ferdinand Karsch (1853–1936), Johann Christoph Friedrich Klug (1775–1856), Leopold Melichar (1856–1924), Georg Wolfgang Franz Panzer (1755–1829) and Carl Stål (1833–1878). 

Travellers and researchers such as Adelbert von Chamisso (1781–1838), Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (1795–1876) and Johann Centurius von Hoffmannsegg (1766–1849) also made significant contributions to the development of the sub-collection. Martin Hinrich Lichtenstein (1780–1857), Director of the Zoological Museum from 1815 to 1857, contributed material from South Africa (1804–1805), which remains part of the collection to this day. 

In recent decades, the sub-collection has been expanded in particular with material from African and European countries. 

Research

The sub-collection supports regional and global research in taxonomy, systematics and evolutionary biology. The specimens serve as references for species identification and enable comparative analyses across time periods and regions. 

A key focus is on the study of adaptations, for example to food plants. For instance, evolutionary strategies in dealing with toxic host plants can be investigated using leafhoppers (Lygaeinae). Historical collection material also allows for analyses of chemical constituents or DNA without destroying the specimens. 

In addition to the type specimens, unprocessed material also forms an important basis for future research. 

Part of the collection has been digitally catalogued, including types of Orthoptera and selected collection data on various groups.