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Understanding a species' feeding ecology is essential for successful management and conservation, because food abundance can influence body mass, survival, reproductive success, movements, and habitat use. We describe annual and seasonal variations in the diet of brown bears Ursus arctos in southcentral Sweden, based on analysis of 527 fecal samples from 1994–1996 and 2000–2001. There was distinct seasonal variation in most of the 26 food items we documented. Ungulates, predominantly moose Alces alces, and insects comprised most of the estimated dietary energy content in spring and summer. Insects were represented almost entirely by ants, of which Formica spp. and Camponotus herculeanus were the most common. During autumn, berries dominated the diet. The most important berry species were bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus, crowberry Empetrum hermaphoditum and lingonberry V. vitis …