The collection started in the Zoology Section of the Paulista Museum, through specimens dated 1897, collected by A.Hempel; H.von Ihering; Bicego; João Lima; E. Garbe, among others, in addition to a portion of material collected by the Geographical and Geological Commission (CGG).
In the 1940s, the collection of Zoology at the Museu Paulista was transferred to the building of the Department of Zoology of the Secretariat of Agriculture, which is currently the Museum of Zoology of USP. From then on, the collection grew in the number of copies and importance. It became a reference in some groups due to the number of types it houses (for example, Coccidae, Aleyrodidae, Diaspidade, Membracida). This is thanks to countless collections made by the institution’s expeditions and acquisitions by purchase or donations from collections such as those of Pinto da Fonseca (Coccoidea); A.Hempel (Diaspidade, Aleyrodidae); Diringshofen (general).
Many researchers have studied and/or identified parts of the Museum of Zoology’s Hemiptera collection and have contributed significantly to improving the collection. Among them: Pinto da Fonseca (Membracidae, Coccoidea and Fulgoroidea), C. Dietrich, A. Sakakibara and O. Evangelista (Membracidae), L.E.Claps e M.G.Oliveira, G.Bondar (Coccoidea), R.Cavichioli and D.M.Delong (Cicadellidae), H.Brailovsky (Coreidae), J.C.M.Carvalho (Miridae e Reduviidae), Schimidt (Cercopidae), Oscar Monte (Tingidae and Gelastocoridae), Drake (Tingidae), Wygodzinsky and Costa Lima (Ploiaridae e Reduviidae), R.Lange ( Phymatidae), De Carlo (Nepidae and Belostomatidae), N. Kormilev (Aradidae), J.Grazia, J.A.M Fernandes and T. Roell (Pentatomidae), H.D.D. Rodrigues (Veliidae), D.Burckhardt (Psyloidea), A.Piran (Rhopalidae), among others.
