:watermark(leibniz-lib.de/typo3temp/assets/images/watermark-copyright/51164c49f7a73ddb585b9f0de82436ff.png,3,10,0)/leibniz-lib.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Sektionen/ZTM/Lepidoptera_Trichoptera_HH/Sechsfleck-Widderchen_TorstenDemuth.jpg%3F1731396372)
About the collection
The Lepidoptera and Trichoptera department is part of the holometabolous collection of the Museum der Natur in Hamburg. It comprises the collection of butterflies and moths as well as the collection of caddisflies, two groups of flying insects that have a common ancestor from around 230 million years ago. The two orders form the Amphiesmenoptera. These "clothed" flying insects have either scales (butterflies and moths) or hairs (caddisflies) on their wings.
The staff of the section includes two technical assistants, six student assistants, two Bachelor students and one volunteer. The student assistants are mainly involved in organising the collections and digitising the specimens, including the images of 5,000 specimens from Thailand, which are provisionally stored in envelopes. Some of them are also helping to compile the catalogue of Trichoptera species. Our volunteer is helping to transcribe the labels.
Lepidoptera
We have around 1,100 species of lepidoptera stored in fireproof cabinets. The main collection consists of about 1,000,000 specimens of adult butterflies, which are dried, stapled and stored in about 4,500 entomological drawers, while the caterpillars are kept in alcohol in the wet collection. Most of the specimens come from Europe, Africa and Asia, but the collection also includes specimens from South America.
Trichoptera
The type species of Trichoptera comprises around 479 species, most of which were described by Georg Ülmer (1877-1963), and is one of the most important caddisfly collections in the world. At the beginning of the 20th century, the entomologist Georg Ülmer rose to become a globally recognised trichopterist. Despite his remarkable contributions, Ülmer's scientific findings stemmed primarily from his meticulous taxonomic desk work, which focussed on caddisflies. Due to his failing health, he did not take part in the bold collecting expeditions of his time, but stayed in his home town of Hamburg. Initially, he collected in the Eppendorf moor and other bodies of water and wetlands around Hamburg. Apart from a few collecting trips to southern and central Germany around 1900, he remained in northern Germany and the Hamburg area, where he specialised in aquatic insects. Nevertheless, his expertise found worldwide resonance through extensive correspondence with other Trichoptera specialists, and he published 128 papers on this group alone. He was regarded as the leading expert on caddisflies and also worked on many foreign collections in worldwide correspondence. Ülmer's original sketches are deposited in the Museum der Natur in Hamburg, as are letters to co-workers all over the world and his field notes.
The main collection of caddisflies includes both dried specimens and specimens preserved in alcohol as well as some of the slides.
Related collections
:watermark(leibniz-lib.de/typo3temp/assets/images/watermark-copyright/b4f53d57bdddf17fd0d7b65af15a293c.png,3,10,0)/leibniz-lib.de/fileadmin/user_upload/home/Bilder/LIB/Sammlungen/img290.jpg%3F1730456270)
Contact person
/leibniz-lib.de/fileadmin/user_upload/2024_08_14__c_Tjorben_Meier_Portraits_Museum_der_Natur_Hamburg_JPEG_02__1_.jpg%3F1743073396)
Projects
There are currently no projects available
Publications
| of
2025/2
Disentangling the Taxonomy of Parides burchellanus (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) and Related Taxa
Neotropical Entomology, 1, 54
2024/10
An annotated type catalogue of praying mantises (Mantodea) in the Zoological Museum Hamburg (ZMH)
European Journal of Taxonomy, 964
2024/9
Supporting material referenced on the manuscript differential gene expression toward species of Aristolochia impairing the performance of the Troidini butterfly Battus polydamas
2024/8
An annotated catalogue of the type specimens of Phasmatodea deposited at the Zoological Museum Hamburg (ZMH)
Zootaxa, 1, 5499
2024/3
A Collection Ecologies Forum: Reevaluating Insects as Archives
Isis, 1, 115
2023/9
Wing pattern diversity in Eunica butterflies (Nymphalidae: Biblidinae): phylogenetic analysis implies decoupled adaptive trends in dorsal sexual dimorphism and ventral eyespot evolution
1, 40
2023/6
Susceptibility monitoring and comparative gene expression of susceptible and resistant strains of Spodoptera frugiperda to lambda‐cyhalothrin and chlorpyrifos
Pest Management Science, 6, 79
2023/5
Systematic Position, Immature Stages, and Geographic Distribution of Glennia pylotis (Godart, 1819) (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea: Pieridae)
4, 52
2023/5
An identification key to the genera and species of Afrotropical Tetrigini (genera Paratettix, Leptacrydium, Hedotettix, Rectitettix nov. gen., and Alienitettix nov. gen.) with …
Zootaxa, 3, 5285
2022/11
Genetic Diversity of Paryphthimoides poltys (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Euptychiina) in a Fragmented Agricultural Landscape in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest
The Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society, 4, 76
2022/1
There is more than chitin synthase in insect resistance to benzoylureas: molecular markers associated with teflubenzuron resistance in Spodoptera frugiperda
Journal of pest science, 1, 95
2021/8
North-south and climate-landscape-associated pattern of population structure for the Atlantic Forest White Morpho butterflies
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 161
2021/3
Mechanisms behind polyphagia in a pest insect: Responses of Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith) strains to preferential and alternative larval host plants assessed with gene …
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA)-Gene Regulatory Mechanisms, 3, 1864
2020/8
Genetic differentiation of a New World screwworm fly population from uruguay detected by SNPs, mitochondrial DNA and microsatellites in two consecutive years
Insects, 8, 11
2019/12
New geographical records for the critically endangered butterfly Parides panthonus castilhoi (Papilionidae: Troidini)
The Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society, 4, 73
2018/5
Loci under selection and markers associated with host plant and host-related strains shape the genetic structure of Brazilian populations of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera …
PloS one, 5, 13
2017/12
Transcript expression plasticity as a response to alternative larval host plants in the speciation process of corn and rice strains of Spodoptera frugiperda
BMC genomics, 18
2017/5
Extreme sexual dimorphism and polymorphism in two species of the tiger moth genus Dysschema (Lepidoptera: Erebidae): association between males and …
Systematics and Biodiversity, 3, 15
2016/9
Gene expression plasticity response to alternative host plants in the speciation process of Spodoptera frugiperda strains
2016/9
Gene regulatory networks applied to transcriptome data to detect differences in adaptation to herbivory of two Spodoptera frugiperda strains focusing on peptidases
2012/6
Genetic variability and demographic history ofHeliothis virescens(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) populations from Brazil inferred by mtDNA sequences
Bulletin of Entomological Research, 3, 102
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2012
Employees
/leibniz-lib.de/fileadmin/user_upload/2024_09_10_Dalsgaard__Thure_c_Tjorben_Meier_Portraits.JPG%3F1743070513)
/leibniz-lib.de/fileadmin/user_upload/2024_08_14__c_Tjorben_Meier_Portraits_Museum_der_Natur_Hamburg_JPEG_02__1_.jpg%3F1743073396)
Dr. Karina Lucas Da Silva Brandao
ztm Lepidoptera & Trichoptera ScientistPhone: +49 40 238317 602
E-mail: [email protected]/leibniz-lib.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Nguyen__Eileen__c_Tjorben_Meier_Portraits.JPG%3F1736151075)