Egyptian Entomological Society

The Entomological Society of Egypt was founded on August 1st, 1907 by a group of mostly nonprofessional entomologists brought together by their common interest in insects and their natural history. This group was headed by Dr. Giovanni Ferranti, a noted lawyer in Egypt at that time. On January 16th, 1908, the Society held its first general meeting in which Dr. Ferranti gave the first presidential address pointing out the aims of the Society as a new scientific institution, and the role it is expected to play for the promotion and development of Entomology in Egypt. A plan of work was set up, and the Society started to undertake its scientific responsibilities. The publication of a scientific journal was a paramount objective which the Society spared no effort to attain. In the same year 1908, the first volume of the 'Bulletin de la Society Entomologique d' Egypt" appeared as an important scientific event, and was well received both ' in Egypt and abroad. In the following years, the Society, in spite of its limited resources, strived very hard to continue its activities and keep up the publication of its Bulletin which attracted many contributors particularly in the fields of, taxonomy, natural history and distribution of insects.

At present the Society owns a valuable insect collection, the second largest insect collection in Egypt which has been established since 1907 by Egyptian and foreign entomologists and Naturalists. It includes about 70,000 specimens of mounted insects representing about 4000 species. These were collected from all over the country including oases in the Western Desert, the Sinai Peninsula and the mountainous regions in the Eastern Deserts, in addition to the main collection there are minor collections of foreign insects. The main collection is the main taxonomic collection of Egyptian species. These belong to the orders Orthoptera, Dermaptera, Neuroptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Diptera and Lepidoptera. The major part of the collection is represented by the orders Coleoptera and Diptera. The Coleoptera is fully are presented by all species so far known in Egypt as it is to certain degree, the Diptera. All the species included in this main collection have been identified by world authorities in insect taxonomy. They are well mounted and carefully maintained, and are arranged on a scientific basis.

In addition to the main and foreign insect collections, there is a show section in the Society exhibiting some of our major insect pests, their developmental stages and the damage they cause to host plants. The Society has also a unique and extremely valuable bird collection of 800 species of resident and migratory birds donated by Mr. Edgar Shakour, the first Society and one of its founders. The Society's library is the largest of its kind in Egypt if not in most Middle Eastern countries. It contains about 33,000 volumes of books and periodicals on entomological, biological, agricultural and pest control sciences. During the last 100 years since the foundation of the Society, a great deal of the entomological research in the country has found its way for publication to the Bulletin of the Society. The first volume of the Bulletin appeared in 1908 and ever since the publication of the Bulletin has been almost regular every year.