Grasshoppers

What, for convenience, is known collectively as 'grasshoppers' (Orthoptera) is in fact a heterogeneous lot of grasshoppers, crickets, mole crickets, cockroaches, praying mantis, stick insects and leaf insects. Cornelis J.M. Willemse (1888-1962) of Eygelshoven was the founder of what is now known internationally as the 'Willemse Collection'. The discovery in 1910 of an species of grasshopper unknown in The Netherlands near Kunrade was the start of a collection which was to develop into an array of more than 13,000 specimens. Willemse specialised in the group of field grasshoppers. From all over the world collections were sent to him for identification. Amongst these were collections from fifteen scientific expeditions to southeast Asia and New Guinea. The collection comprises no fewer than 129 holotypes and many dozens of paratypes. Some twenty genera and species have been named after Willemse to honour or thank him for his help with identifications. The collection includes a library of 5,000 titles.

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