The insect collection of the DEI belongs to the largest and most important natural history collections of this type in Germany. The collection is a significant resource for the mutual work on biodiversity research of the international scientific community. At present it contains approximately 3 million specimens of 250 000 species, including types of 25 000 species. The 13 000 cases of the uniformly arranged, well catalogued collection are housed in the new building in a climatised storeroom, in an electronically controlled system of compact shelving.
Its foundation comprises the specialist collections of outstanding entomologists, which were mostly bequeathed to the DEI. Amongst these are for example the collections of KRAATZ (Coleoptera), HORN (Coleoptera: Cicindelinae), LEONHARD (Coleoptera and Lepidoptera) and VON HEYDEN (Palaearctic Coleoptera). Particularly valuable are the collections made by SAUTER (1871-1948) in Formosa (about 4200 species, numerous types) and the 1961 DEI Expedition to Albania.

Hemimetabola		Lepidoptera, Trichoptera, Neuropterida, Mecoptera und Siphonaptera
Diptera		Hymenoptera und Strepsiptera
Coleoptera

In principle insects of all orders and from every zoogeographic region are included in the collection. The main emphasis is however on the orders Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera which have traditionally been worked by staff of the DEI. Additionally, material related to biology (larvae, pupae, mines, feeding traces, nests, etc.) is collected and preserved. The parts of the collection, with few exceptions, are arranged in the main collection in drawers of standardised dimension according to the principles formulated by Walther Horn. They are documented in catalogues or by inclusion in the DEI database. The stock of type specimens is largely covered in published catalogues and partly already accessible through the interest.
The rich type material commits the DEI to intensive international exchange and numerous guest researchers constantly visit the DEI from all parts of the world in order to work in the collection.