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Subfield · Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Insect Science research

Insect Science is a subfield of Agricultural and Biological Sciences. Science Explorer counts 344k research works in it since 1950. 20.7% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: scientific study of insects.

Research works
344k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
71k
per year above
Top-10% rate
20.7%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
14
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+31%
the tick is no change

What is Insect Science research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Biological Control, Honey Bees, Neonicotinoids, Herbivore-Induced Plant Volatiles, Jasmonate Signaling, Honey. Gaining share since 2009–13: Edible Insects, Food Security, Honey, Propolis. Losing share: Parasitism, Snails, Artificial Diet, Silkworm.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 33 words, with their numbers
  1. Biological Control22k▼ 0.84×5 topics
  2. Honey Bees16k◆ 0.98×1 topic
  3. Neonicotinoids16k◆ 0.98×1 topic
  4. Herbivore-Induced Plant Volatiles11k▼ 0.77×1 topic
  5. Jasmonate Signaling11k▼ 0.77×1 topic
  6. Honey9,596▲ 1.62×1 topic
  7. Propolis9,596▲ 1.62×1 topic
  8. Microbiota9,329◆ 1.04×2 topics
  9. Invasive Species9,282▼ 0.85×4 topics
  10. Edible Insects6,752▲ 1.71×1 topic
  11. Food Security6,752▲ 1.71×1 topic
  12. Pest Management5,648▼ 0.86×2 topics
  13. Symbiont5,450◆ 1.14×1 topic
  14. Wolbachia5,450◆ 1.14×1 topic
  15. Dead Wood4,872◆ 0.93×1 topic
  16. Forest Management4,872◆ 0.93×1 topic
  17. Population Dynamics4,844◆ 0.90×2 topics
  18. Drosophila Suzukii3,879◆ 0.93×1 topic
  19. Fruit Fly3,879◆ 0.93×1 topic
  20. Entomopathogenic Fungi3,831◆ 0.92×1 topic
  21. Insect Pathogens3,831◆ 0.92×1 topic
  22. Ecological Impact2,576◆ 0.90×1 topic
  23. Water Hyacinth2,576◆ 0.90×1 topic
  24. Decomposition2,328◆ 0.97×1 topic
  25. Forensic Entomology2,328◆ 0.97×1 topic
  26. Parasitism1,862▼ 0.70×1 topic
  27. Snails1,862▼ 0.70×1 topic
  28. Chemical Ecology1,768▼ 0.75×1 topic
  29. Pheromones1,768▼ 0.75×1 topic
  30. Artificial Diet1,423▼ 0.74×1 topic
  31. Silkworm1,423▼ 0.74×1 topic
  32. Mealybug964▼ 0.82×1 topic
  33. Scale Insects964▼ 0.82×1 topic

Which countries lead Insect Science research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and India rank highest in Insect Science. By volume, China and the United States publish the most (9k and 6.8k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #3 all time 30.0% top 10% · 9k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 22.1% top 10% · 6.8k works
  3. 3 India · #12 all time 11.8% top 10% · 5k works
  4. 4 Italy · #7 all time 33.7% top 10% · 1.5k works
  5. 5 Germany · #4 all time 30.6% top 10% · 1.4k works
  6. 6 France · #5 all time 23.2% top 10% · 1.6k works
  7. 7 United Kingdom · #2 all time 26.5% top 10% · 1.3k works
  8. 8 Spain · #11 all time 27.1% top 10% · 1.2k works
  9. 9 Brazil · #8 all time 13.0% top 10% · 3.7k works
  10. 10 Poland · #16 all time 26.6% top 10% · 923 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 52 countries ranked in Insect Science. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Insect Science

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 9k works
  2. 2 United States 6.8k works
  3. 3 India 5k works
  4. 4 Brazil 3.7k works
  5. 5 Türkiye 1.9k works
  6. 6 Indonesia 1.8k works
  7. 7 France 1.6k works
  8. 8 Russia 1.5k works
  9. 9 Italy 1.5k works
  10. 10 Germany 1.4k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 26.2%United States: 19.9%India: 14.7%Brazil: 10.9%6 others listed: 28.4%26%largest
China8,960 · 26.2%United States6,798 · 19.9%India5,032 · 14.7%Brazil3,717 · 10.9%6 others listed9,734 · 28.4%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Insect Science research?

China Agricultural University (China) ranks first in Insect Science on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Wageningen University & Research and Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China Agricultural University China · Beijing · #35 all time 37.9% top 10% · 192 works
  2. 2 Wageningen University & Research Netherlands · Wageningen · #2 all time 43.4% top 10% · 147 works
  3. 3 Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences China · Beijing · #40 all time 31.2% top 10% · 256 works
  4. 4 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs China · Beijing 33.1% top 10% · 188 works
  5. 5 Nanjing Agricultural University China · Nanjing · #59 all time 31.9% top 10% · 170 works
  6. 6 Guizhou University China · Guiyang 29.5% top 10% · 188 works
  7. 7 Zhejiang University China · Hangzhou · #33 all time 37.5% top 10% · 138 works
  8. 8 Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #42 all time 36.6% top 10% · 135 works
  9. 9 Institute of Plant Protection China · Beijing · #73 all time 25.5% top 10% · 244 works
  10. 10 Huazhong Agricultural University China · Wuhan · #51 all time 36.7% top 10% · 120 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 102 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Insect Science.

Top 100 Insect Science institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Institute of Natural Sciences Belgium 452 works
  2. 2 University of Zambia Zambia 434 works
  3. 3 Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences China 256 works
  4. 4 Institute of Plant Protection China 244 works
  5. 5 Universidade de São Paulo Brazil 242 works
  6. 6 University of Florida United States 224 works
  7. 7 Agricultural Research Center Egypt 215 works
  8. 8 Tamil Nadu Agricultural University India 196 works
  9. 9 China Agricultural University China 192 works
  10. 10 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs China 188 works

Who are the leading researchers in Insect Science?

Among the most productive authors in Insect Science, C. A. Edwards, Marimuthu Palaniswami and John F. Anderson rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 C. A. Edwards United States · #262 worldwide 4.6k citations · 190 works
  2. 2 Marimuthu Palaniswami Australia · #339 worldwide 3.8k citations · 179 works
  3. 3 John F. Anderson United States · #928 worldwide 2.6k citations · 101 works
  4. 4 Theodosius Dobzhansky United States · #1,282 worldwide 1.6k citations · 102 works
  5. 5 Daniel Simberloff United States · #1,360 worldwide 2.9k citations · 130 works
  6. 6 Daniel H. Janzen United States · #1,965 worldwide 2.1k citations · 131 works
  7. 7 G. H. Hardy United Kingdom · #2,515 worldwide 939 citations · 96 works
  8. 8 Ramaswamy Govindan United States · #2,745 worldwide 2k citations · 181 works
  9. 9 Wim H. van der Putten Netherlands · #3,512 worldwide 1.5k citations · 116 works
  10. 10 David M. Richardson South Africa · #3,615 worldwide 2.3k citations · 131 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 4,854 highest-output authors in Insect Science. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Insect Science researchers

Where is Insect Science research done?

The largest centres of Insect Science research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), São Paulo (Brazil), Paris (France) and Brussels (Belgium). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Parlier and Moncada.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 1.9k works
  2. 2 São Paulo Brazil 638 works
  3. 3 Paris France 573 works
  4. 4 Brussels Belgium 521 works
  5. 5 Guangzhou China 463 works
  6. 6 Giza Egypt 460 works
  7. 7 Moscow Russia 457 works
  8. 8 Washington D.C. United States 450 works
  9. 9 Lusaka Zambia 441 works
  10. 10 Nanjing China 397 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. ParlierUS · 24.1 works52×
  2. MoncadaES · 21.9 works46×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Insect Science than the world average.

See Insect Science on the map

Insect Science research by country

The best places for Insect Science research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Insect Science?

Among universities, judged by research, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Wageningen University & Research and Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 34.09%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences: 104, 36.6%Wageningen University & Research: 147, 43.4%Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University: 146, 30.7%Czech University of Life Sciences Prague: 79, 25.5%China Agricultural University: 192, 37.9%Agricultural University of Athens: 50, 25.0%Shenyang Agricultural University: 65, 40.3%Nanjing Agricultural University: 170, 31.9%Huazhong Agricultural University: 120, 36.7%South China Agricultural University: 156, 32.9%Wageningen Universit…Swedish University o…Fujian Agriculture a…Czech University of …
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Sweden 65.136.6%11.5×104 +2.6%
2Wageningen University & Research Netherlands 64.743.4%6.9×147 +30.5%
3Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University China 63.130.7%10.8×146 +51.9%
4Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Czechia 60.425.5%13.5×79 +79.2%
5China Agricultural University China 56.937.9%5.9×192 +18.5%
6Agricultural University of Athens Greece 56.925.0%10.4×50 +118.5%
7Shenyang Agricultural University China 56.640.3%8.5×65 +21.1%
8Nanjing Agricultural University China 56.031.9%7.5×170 +10.8%
9Huazhong Agricultural University China 55.336.7%6.1×120 +45.9%
10South China Agricultural University China 54.932.9%7.7×156 -8.5%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Insect Science research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 31% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Bee Products Chemical Analysis, Insect Utilization and Effects and Insect symbiosis and bacterial influences.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Bee Products Chemical Analysis+174%
  2. Insect Utilization and Effects+130%
  3. Insect symbiosis and bacterial influences+102%
  4. Forensic Entomology and Diptera Studies+84%
  5. Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies+64%
  6. Insect and Pesticide Research+60%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Insect Science include?

Insect and Pesticide Res…79kInsect and Pesticide Research: 79k fractional worksInsect-Plant Interactions and Control: 64k fractional worksBee Products Chemical Analysis: 30k fractional worksInsect Utilization and Effects: 25k fractional worksInsect behavior and control techniques: 21k fractional worksForest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies: 21k fractional worksInsect symbiosis and bacterial influences: 20k fractional worksEntomopathogenic Microorganisms in Pest Control: 20k fractional worksBiological Control of Invasive Species: 13k fractional worksInsect Pheromone Research and Control: 13k fractional worksMollusks and Parasites Studies: 12k fractional worksForensic Entomology and Diptera Studies: 12k fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.