Societas Europaea Lepidopterologica (also known as SEL) is a European society for the study of

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

s and

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

and for the conservation of these

insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...

and their natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s. The society was founded in 1976 with the aims of promoting collaboration among the

lepidopterist Lepidopterology ()) is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies. Someone who studies in this field is a lepidopterist or, archaically, an aurelian. Origins Post-Renaissance, t ...

s of Europe,

Western Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, and of promoting

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...

of Lepidoptera and their

s. The society now has in excess of 600 members. The membership of the Societas Europaea Lepidopterologica comprises a large proportion of the active European professional researchers in the fields of Lepidoptera

systematics Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tre ...

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

behaviour Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as wel ...

, faunistics,

biogeography Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

and

conservation biology Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an int ...

. It similarly comprises a large proportion of the European "amateur specialists", whose contributions to the knowledge about this group of insects continues to be of paramount significance. For many SEL members Lepidoptera collecting is a major interest, and the society has a clear stand on this issue. Eselsweg3 2

The Societas Europaea Lepidopterologica promotes

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

in lepidopterology and dissemination of the findings primarily through the arrangement of the biennial European Congresses of Lepidopterology and through the publication of the

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Content Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such as s ...

''Nota Lepidopterologica''. A newsletter, ''SELepidoptera News — Nouvelles — Nachrichten'', serves the society. The society was founded by Dr. Otakar Kudrna, a Czechoslovakian lepidopterist who escaped to England from communist

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

to become Europe's foremost authority on butterfly taxonomy. Kudrna's ''The Distribution Atlas of European Butterflies'' (2002) is based on the observations of collaborators all over Europe and is currently being used to investigate the effect of climate change and habitat loss. In 2009, Kudrna was awarded the Marsh European Lepidoptera Award in recognition of the efforts of those whose work has had a major and positive impact on butterfly and moth conservation within Europe. The current president is Gerhard Tarmann from the

Tyrolean State Museum The Tyrolean State Museum (german: Tiroler Landesmuseum), also known as the Ferdinandeum after Archduke Ferdinand, is located in Innsbruck, Austria. It was founded in 1823 by the Tyrolean State Museum Ferdinandeum Society (''Verein Tiroler Lande ...

, which houses a sizeable entomological collection.

Notes

External links

SEL Field Congress 2004

IBOL Barcode of Life

Lepiforum

{{Authority control Butterfly organizations Entomological organizations Lepidopterology