Insect of the year

The Insect of the Year has been proclaimed annually in Germany since 1999 by the Insect of the Year Board of Trustees founded by Holger Heinrich Dathe . The campaign is coordinated by the Senckenberg German Entomological Institute in Müncheberg .

Since 2000 Austria has had its own insect of the year. In the Board of Trustees for Austria's Insect of the Year, among others, Austrian specialist societies for entomology and the Austrian Nature Conservation Union participated . Since 2005 the election has been carried out jointly for Germany and Austria, since 2009 jointly for Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Mostly known, very noticeable or interesting insects are chosen. The insect of the year is made known to the public through press work and is described in more detail in a leaflet. The purpose of the campaign is to point out the dangers and benefits of the world of small animals for humans, similar to other campaigns in the area of Nature of the Year .

Insects of the year

Germany (1999-2004)

year	German name	scientific name
1999	Common lacewing	Chrysoperla carnea
2000	Shiny gold rose beetle	Cetonia aurata
2001	Flat stomach	Libellula depressa
2002	Brimstone butterfly	Gonepteryx rhamni
2003	Field cricket	Gryllus campestris
2004	Grove hover fly	Episyrphus balteatus

Austria (2000-2004)

year	German name	scientific name
2000	Viennese night peacock butterfly	Saturnia pyri
2001	Alpine buck	Rosalia alpina
2002	Swelling maids (3 types)	Cordulegaster boltonii , Cordulegaster bidentata , Cordulegaster heros
2003	European Bach-like	Osmylus fulvicephalus
2004	Sail butterfly	Iphiclides podalirius

Germany and Austria (2005-2008)

year	German name	scientific name
2005	Stone bumblebee	Bombus lapidarius
2006	Seven-point ladybug	Coccinella septempunctata
2007	Knight bug	Lygaeus equestris
2008	Esparsette ram	Zygaena carniolica

Germany, Austria and Switzerland (since 2009)

year	German name	scientific name
2009	Common bloodhopper	Cercopis vulnerata
2010	Ant lion	Myrmeleon formicarius
2011	Great notch ant	Formica exsecta
2012	Stag beetle	Lucanus cervus
2013	Banded river quiver fly	Rhyacophila fasciata
2014	Gold shield fly	Phasia aurigera
2015	Silver-green bluish	Polyommatus coridon
2016	Dark brown spherical diver (does not belong to the insects in the narrower sense, but to the hexipedes )	Allacma fusca
2017	European praying mantis	Mantis religiosa
2018	Common scorpion fly	Panorpa communis
2019	Red mason bee	Osmia bicornis
2020	Black and blue oil beetle	Meloe proscarabaeus

Board of Trustees Insect of the Year

Every year the Insect of the Year Board of Trustees selects an insect from numerous proposals and announces the decision at a press conference.

Initial composition

Initially, the board of trustees only determined the insect of the year for Germany. The following institutions participated in the election of the first insect of the year ( Common Lacewing , 1999):

German Entomological Institute , Eberswalde. Chairman of the Board of Trustees: Holger Heinrich Dathe
Federal Expert Committee on Entomology in the German Nature Conservation Union
German Society for General and Applied Entomology
Entomofaunistic Society, Dresden
House of the Forest, Forestry Office, Königs Wusterhausen
Landesforstanstalt Eberswalde
Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forests of the State of Brandenburg, Potsdam
Forest school, Eberswalde Forestry Office

Current composition

Since 2005, the poll for insect of the year has been carried out jointly for Germany and Austria, since 2009 jointly for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Accordingly, experts from Austria and Switzerland also took part in the vote in the Board of Trustees. The following institutions are currently (2018) represented on the Board of Trustees:

Germany

Senckenberg German Entomological Institute , Müncheberg. Chairman of the Board of Trustees: Thomas Schmidt

Federal Expert Committee on Entomology in the German Nature Conservation Union

Federal Association of German Ant Conservation Centers

German Society for General and Applied Entomology

Entomofaunistic Society, Dresden

Julius Kühn Institute , Federal Research Institute for Cultivated Plants

Munich Entomological Society

Museum für Naturkunde Berlin - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Research

German Forest Protection Association

Sparkasse Barnim , Eberswalde

Austria

Austrian Entomological Society , Vienna
Nature Conservation Union Austria , Salzburg

Switzerland

Swiss Entomological Society

Board of Trustees for Austria's Insect of the Year

In Austria a separate insect of the year was chosen for the years 2000 to 2004. Representatives from the following institutions participated in the Board of Trustees for Austria's Insect of the Year (in the order of entry, status 2001):

Austrian Entomological Society
Institute for Nature Conservation, Styria
Austrian Nature Conservation Association
Association of Austrian Entomologists
Austrian Society for Entomofaunistics
Federal Office and Research Center for Agriculture
a state museum (a different federal state annually)
Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Water and Environment

Selection criteria

For the election of the Insect of the Year in Austria (from 2000) a working group of the Austrian Entomological Society put together the following selection criteria for the Austrian Board of Trustees:

The species should be typical for Austria, possibly endemic there or name with reference to Austria
Attractive, "photogenic" appearance (minimum size, easily recognizable, colorful or high-contrast)
Awareness (well-known German name, at least biology teachers should know the species)
Availability of very good photos for press articles, if possible also film material
The biology of the species should be sufficiently known, easy to represent and explainable in school lessons
Good image: interesting biology, not a threat or nuisance , not a dangerous way
Inhabiting special habitat type : reference species for the habitat , possibly living on endangered plants or in endangered biotopes , habitat protection should be possible
Particular hazard ( red list , legally protected, "worth a rescue attempt", possibly formerly widespread, relevant for the EU )
Short-term feasibility of the accompanying program (e.g. with press work, brochures, postage stamps)
The species should enable enthusiasm and motivate other institutions to participate (nature conservation associations, media, schools, ministries, etc.)
The individual should also be able to do something, e.g. B. Habitat protection in your own garden
Chance to use this insect to educate people and clear up misunderstandings
The species should be interesting, raise questions and have unique properties
Funding opportunities from nature conservation organizations, ministries and authorities or the EU
Objectivity of the selection by counting how many of the aforementioned criteria apply

Johannes Gepp from the Institute for Nature Conservation in Graz reported that in the first election for the year 2000, numerous proposals failed due to the criterion “availability of very good photos”. The Viennese peacock butterfly fulfilled many selection criteria, including: reference to Austria (already described by Austrian entomologists in 1775, “ Vienna ” in the name), beautiful drawing of the wings, special features (largest butterfly in Central Europe, conspicuous green caterpillars ), threat for various reasons , sharp decline in the population, protection options. Nevertheless, the selection from a total of 31 proposals proved to be complicated. The Viennese night peacock butterfly could only be elected with a relative majority after several voting rounds and months of deliberation. The second choice ( Alpenbock , 2001) focused on the criterion that the species is threatened and strictly protected throughout the EU ( Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive ).