Entomological collections

Hans Silfverberg

• History of the collections

The insect collections of the Finnish Museum of Natural History include at present some 9 million specimens. Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera comprise the largest numbers, but there is also much of Diptera, and smaller numbers of the other orders. Slightly less than half of the material has been collected in Finland, the rest is from abroad. These collections have been brought together during more than two hundred years.

Already in the 18 th century there were insect collections in the Åbo Akademi. These collections included much material both from Finland and from abroad, but most of them were destroyed in the great fire of Åbo in 1827. What could be saved is nowadays in the Finnish Museum of Natural History.

After the fire in Åbo the University was tranferred to Helsingfors as the Imperial Alexander University. Materials lost could soon be replaced with new material both from Finland and from other areas. Particularly in the 1850s many Finnish entomologists were active in Alaska, and under the second half of the 19 th century in Siberia. Additionally there were expeditions to the Mediterranean area and to Central Asia. One important collection is the Mannerheim beetle collection, which is still kept separate.

In newly independent Finland most entomologists concentrated on the Finnish fauna. Most insect groups are well represented in the museum’s East Fennoscandian collection, both regarding the number of species and their distribution. Many amateur entomologists have added to the museum collections by donations or legacies. During the 1920s-1960s collecting abroad was mainly restricted to the Atlantic Islands. During the Second World War much was also collected in Russian Karelia.

Since the 1960s collecting abroad has been geven a larger role. Important areas have been several African countries, the Near East (particularly Iran), Siberia, Nepal and recently Lesbos (Greece). Collecting in Finland has often been part of some larger project, such as clarifying the occurrence of threatened insects, or investigations of poorly known groups. The museum also participates in studies on molecular biology. The museum has many times received large private insect collections, and recently those collections that formerly belonged to the Department of Applied Zoology.