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Insects of Korea

Research on insects of Korea

The first collections of insects in Korea from a scientific approach were mainly conducted by Westerners, such as English and German people, with various jobs such as sailor, soldier, diplomat, botanist, or zoologist, who visited Korea for other purposes.
The first insect reported in Korea is Damaster smaradigus monilifer Tatum, described and published by T. Tatum, an English entomologist, in 1847.

Burterfly

The Korean entomologists who initiated insect research were Bok-Seong Cho (1905-1971) and Ju-Myung Seok (1908-1950), whose articles were regarded as the beginning of insect studies in Korea. Seok had been devoted to studying butterflies in Korea since 1930, and left his own mark on global butterfly research as well as publishing 70 articles on Korean butterflies.

After the Korean War (1950-1953), insect studies were discontinued for a long time, and then insect research was reinitiated, focusing on applied entomology, after the foundation of Korean Society of Plant Protection in 1962. Although the activities of this academic society activated various studies on insects, taxonomic studies were still extremely poor. After the 1970s, research projects on entomology began again, centering on some government agencies, and also the foundation of the Entomological Society of Korea was regarded as a very important development in the history of Korean entomology. According to the “Checklist of Korean Insects” published jointly by the Entomological Society of Korea and Korean Society of Applied Entomology, the total insect species recorded in Korea is 12,000, of which Coleoptera and Lepidoptera accounted for the largest part with 26% and 25%, respectively, followed by Hymenoptera and Hemiptera.

It was reported that this number corresponded to about 1.28% of the total number of globally known insect species, and the number of species recorded until now would be 20 to 30% of the total insect species that might inhabit Korea. Thus it is required to establish political plans for active research and training of professional personnel by taxa to continue preparation of detailed descriptions of species in Korea.

Insect classification system

The lower Arthropoda of the Animalia is divided into lower Insecta, Arachnida, Crustacea, Diplopoda, Chilopoda and Symphyla. Insecta is mainly divided into Pterygota and Apterygota, Apterygota having Protura, Archaeognatha, Campodeida and Collembola, and Pterygota having Paleoptera and Neoptera. Paleoptera is divided into Odonata and Ephemeroptera, and Neoptera is divded into Endopterygota and Exopterygota. Endopterygota is divided into Lepidoptera, Trichoptera, Coleoptera, Mecoptera, Siphonaptera, Strepsiptera, diptera and neuroptera. Exopterygota is divided into Plecoptera, Grylloblattodea, Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Psocoptera, Phasmida, Homoptera, Dictyoptera, Mantodea, Anoplura, Dermaptera, Thysanoptera, Mallophaga and Isoptera.

Insects in Korea are classified as follows, and the number of species is as follows.
Korean insect division
Order name Order Number of families Number of species
Total 18 306 5,859
강도래목 Plecoptera 1 1
나비목 Lepidoptera 60 1,849
날도래목 Trichoptera 2 2
노린재목 Hemiptera 74 834
대벌레목 Phasmida 2 4
딱정벌레목 Coleoptera 61 1,533
메뚜기목 Orthoptera 9 75
밑들이목 Mecoptera 1 1
바퀴목 Blattodea 3 5
벌목 Hymenoptera 24 831
사마귀목 Mantodea 1 4
잠자리목 Odonata 10 77
집게벌레목 Dermaptera 5 14
총채벌레목 Thysanoptera 2 3
털보톡토기목 Entomobryomorpha 4 66
톡토기목 Poduromorpha 6 101
파리목 Diptera 40 458
하루살이목 Ephemeroptera 1 1
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