Hymenoptera

The Hymenoptera collection comprises ca. 170.000 prepared specimens. For wasps and bees the geographical focus is Southwestern Germany. The Tenthredinidae (sawflies) (collection W. Stritt), Ichneumonidae (ichneumon flies), Diapriidae (collection Hilpert), Apidae (bees), Sphecidae and Formicidae (ants) form important cornerstones of the collection.

The ant collection is the most important part of the Hymenoptera collection; it contains ca. 50% of the prepared specimens and hundreds of thousands of additional specimens preserved in ethanol. The foundation of the ant collection was laid by Hermann Leininger, the first curator of Entomology. Important additions came from H. Nowotny. The global coverage of today's collection comes from additions by M. Verhaagh, K. Rosciszewski, J. Ketterl, J. Bihn, A. Schulz and S. Berghoff. Ant groups from Europe, South America and Southeast Asia are especially well represented.