Founded in Florence by Adolfo Targioni Tozzetti (1823-1902) in 1875, the Stazione began as an experimental agency of the Agriculture Ministry and was the first institution of its kind in Europe. In addition to Targioni Tozzetti, its staff included distinguished Italian entomologists. In the late 1960s, the agency relocated and took its present name of Istituto Sperimentale per la Zoologia Agraria.