Royal Entomological Society

Royal Entomological Society
Name	Royal Entomological Society
Formation	1833
Headquarters	London
Leader title	President

Contents

History

The society was established amid 19th-century scientific developments associated with figures such as Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, John Curtis, William Kirby (entomologist), and William Spence (entomologist), and alongside institutions including British Museum (Natural History), University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Royal Institution, and Kew Gardens. Early meetings connected to events like the Great Exhibition and debates influenced by publications including On the Origin of Species and correspondences with collectors such as Joseph Banks, Alexander von Humboldt, and Thomas Say. Over successive eras the society engaged with wartime scientific mobilization exemplified by interactions with Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Royal Air Force, Admiralty, and postwar reconstruction through partnerships with Agricultural Research Council and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

Governance follows a trustee and officer model comparable to Royal Society of Edinburgh, Royal Geographical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, and Institute of Biology. Leadership roles have been occupied by eminent figures who also held positions in institutions like University of Cambridge Department of Zoology, Imperial College London, University of Oxford Department of Zoology, and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The society operates committees that coordinate with bodies such as European Commission, House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, DEFRA, and advisory panels including panels at Natural History Museum, London and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

The society publishes journals and periodicals analogous to outlets like Nature, Science (journal), Journal of Applied Ecology, Systematic Entomology (journal), Insect Conservation and Diversity, and has editorial linkages to university presses such as Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. Its historic and contemporary publications feature contributions by authors who also publish in venues including Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, and Zootaxa. Publishing governance involves editorial boards with members from institutions such as University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, University of Tokyo, and ETH Zurich.

Educational outreach operates through partnerships with museums and universities including Natural History Museum, London, Horniman Museum and Gardens, Manchester Museum, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and school programs connected to curricula at Department for Education (United Kingdom), collaborations with societies like Society for Experimental Biology, British Ecological Society, and citizen science initiatives working with platforms such as iNaturalist, Zooniverse, and Bioscan. The society curates and supports collections and archives held in institutions like NHMUK, Cambridge University Museum of Zoology, Hope Department of Entomology, Oxford, Linnean Society library, and contributes to conservation projects in coordination with IUCN, Convention on Biological Diversity, and regional programs including Urban Pollinators Project.