ZFMK Coleoptera Collection

The beetle collection of the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change - Museum Koenig Bonn comprises about 2.5 million specimens and includes a number of larger and smaller collections. Among the more important are the Rhineland collection founded by F. Rüschkamp and extended by the AG Rheinischer Koleopterologen (Wagner 2007), the collection of myrmeco- and termitophile beetles of A. Reichensperger (or at least a part of it - although mentioned in Horn et al. (1990) that it was destroyed during World War II), and a part of the collection R. Oberthür, acquired by the Museum in 1956. Moreover, the collection has grown by expeditions of museum staff, such as those of H. Roer, who was for long time (1963-1991) curator of Coleoptera (Schmitt 2003), and of J. Klapperich, employed as Coleoptera technician from 1935 to 1952 at the museum (Lucht 1988). Klapperich collected during this time much in Fujian (China) and other regions and after his membership to the institute the museum acquired still much of his material (e.g. from Afghanistan). Consequently, many other museums house material of Klapperich, e.g. the National Museum in Prague, the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest and the Staatliche Museum für Naturkunde, Karlsruhe. After Klapperich died 1987 the rest of the material of Klapperich collection was bought by the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart (Schmitt 2007). In the recent years additional material has been accumulated from research projects in Eastern Africa mainly through the activities of T. Wagner. Recent accessions comprise material from South Africa, Arunachal Pradesh, and Laos (Scarabaeidae, Chrysomelidae)