- Du är här:
- Startsida
-
English
-
Research and collections
-
Research Division
- Entomology
Department of Entomology
The department has a long tradition of prominent research in systematic entomology, with names such as Lars Brundin (1907-1993), founder of modern historical biogeography, and René Malaise (1895-1978), inventor of the widely used Malaise trap.
New publications
24 December 2012
Molecular Ecology Resources:
Improving environmental and biodiversity monitoring in the Baltic Sea using DNA barcoding of Chironomidae (Diptera).
DNA Barcoding is here shown to be able to improve the identification level of environmental monitoring benthic samples of chironomid larvae from 10 to 90%.
11 September 2012
Systematic Entomology:
Phylogeny and classification of whirligig beetles (Coleoptera: Gyrinidae): relaxed-clock model outperforms parsimony and time-free Bayesian analyses.
Whirligig-beetles are distributed worldwide with close-to 1000 known species. The adaptation to a life on the water includes two pairs of eyes, one for viewing below the surface and one for viewing above, and paddle-like middle and hindlegs. In this study their evolutionary relationship is investigated and a new classification proposed based on the result.
7 June 2012
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution:
Phylogeny of the Polycentropodidae (Insecta: Trichoptera) based on protein-coding genes reveal non-monophyletic genera.
Polycentropodidae is a species rich caddisfly family distributed worldwide. Based on three genes and 140 species this study examines the evolutionary relationships within the family as well as the relationship to closely related families. With special attention on the southwest Pacific the study concludes that New Caledonia must have been colonized three times independently.
Questions about insects?
Biologist-on-call (e-mail)
Research
Current research activities focus on the charting of insect diversity, one of the last blank spots in our knowledge about life on Earth.
Collection
The sizable collections, comprising more than three million specimens, contain insects, arachnids (mites and spiders) and myriapods (millipedes and centipedes). The collections are worldwide, with broad geographic and taxonomic coverage. They contain many types and expand continuously through field work in many parts of the world, mainly in Sweden and in the tropics and subtropics.
The oldest collections are from the 18th century. Among the most valuable are those of the pioneers Carl Clerck (1709-1765) and Charles De Geer (1720-1778), both of whom had close ties to Carl von Linné (1707-1778).
A significant addition was the collection of 8,600 insect species, donated in 1819 by Gustaf von Paykull (1757-1826). Carl Johan Schönherr (1772-1848) and Carl Henrik Boheman (1796-1868) were among several other early entomologists who contributed importantly to the collections.
Later additions include material from a number of Swedish expeditions in the late 19th and early 20th century led by Yngve Sjöstedt and Sven Hedin, among others.
Titanus giganteus. 14,5 cm (Franska Guyana). Foto: Niklas Jönsson