The Society for European Lepidopterology (SEL, formerly Societas Europaea Lepidopterologica) is a European society for the study of moths and butterflies and for the conservation of these insects and their natural habitats.
The society was founded in 1976 with the aims of promoting collaboration among the lepidopterists of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa, and of promoting conservation of Lepidoptera and the natural habitats they live in.
The membership of the SEL comprises a large proportion of the active European professional researchers in the fields of Lepidoptera systematics, morphology, behaviour, faunistics, biogeography, biodiversity, ecology and conservation biology. It similarly comprises a large proportion of the European amateur specialists, whose contributions to the knowledge about this group of insects continues to be of paramount significance. For many SEL members, collecting butterflies and moths is a major interest, and the society is invested in .
SEL promotes research in lepidopterology, and dissemination of the findings primarily at the biennial European Congresses of Lepidopterology and through the publication of the scientific journal Nota Lepidopterologica. A newsletter, SELepidoptera News, published once to twice a year in irregular intervals, serves the society as outlet for news, announcements and reports from General Meetings of the SEL Council.
The society was founded by Otakar Kudrna, with Rienk de Jong as its first president. The current president is Jadranka Rota.
Over the 50 years since the society's foundation, six people served as SEL president:
Conferences
Conferences are held every two years in different countries of Europe, with locations alternating between Western and Eastern Europe.
After 2002, the biennial conferences were moved to odd years to avoid overlap with the International Congress of Entomology, which takes place in even years.
Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 congress was postponed to 2022.
The next SEL congress will take place from 18 to 23 August 2025 in the Czech village of Svatý Jan pod Skalou, southeast of Prague.