André Jean Baptiste Robineau-Desvoidy (1 January 1799 in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye – 25 June 1857 in Paris) was a French physician and

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

specialising in the study of

Diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

(flies) and to some extent of the

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

(beetles).

Achievements

Because he worked on difficult to identify flies (specifically the

Schizophora The Schizophora are a section of true flies containing 78 families, which are collectively referred to as muscoids, although technically the term "muscoid" should be limited to flies in the superfamily Muscoidea; this is an example of informal, hi ...

), the existing descriptions of which were poor, and because he had few contacts, many of the new species he described were already named. Also he was over reliant on colour and pattern as characters, and this led to his improperly defining species. He also worked on too many species. Much later criticism ensued but it must be remembered that he was an early worker and, in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, French scientists were unduly criticised for nationalistic reasons. Very many of his generic and species names survive. In all these respects, as well as his genuine love of entomology and boundless enthusiasm, Robineau-Desvoidy is reminiscent of the English entomologist Francis Walker.

Flies named by Robineau-Desvoidy

*''Brachyopa scutellaris'' 1843 - Syrphidae *''

Calliphora vicina ''Calliphora vicina'' is a member of the family Calliphoridae, which includes blow flies and bottle flies. These flies are important in the field of forensic entomology, being used to estimate the time of a person's death when a corpse is foun ...

'' 1830 - Calliphoridae *''Thecopohora fulvipes'' 1830 - Conopidae *Genus ''Morellia'' and species ''Morellia aenescens'' 1830- Muscidae *Genus ''Azelia'' and species ''Azelia nebulosa'' Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 *Genus ''Hydromyia'' 1830 Sciomyzidae *Genus ''Herina'' 1830- Ulidiidae *Genus ''Sphenella'' 1830- Tephritidae *Genus ''Delia'' 1830-Anthomyidae *Genus '' Bengalia'' 1830- Calliphoridae *Genus '' Rutilia'' 1830- Tachinidae *Genus ''Muscina'' and species ''fungivora'' 1830- Muscidae "Welcome to ZipcodeZoo. 21 Mar. 2009

Works

(Selected) *Essai sur la tribu des culicides. ''Mém. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris'' 3: 390-413 (1827). *Essai sur les myodaires. ''Mém. Pres. Div. Sav. Acad. R. Sci. Inst. Fr.'' 2(2), 813 p. (1830). *Notice sur le genre fucellie, Fucellia, R.D., et en particulier sur le Fucellia arenaria. ''Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr.'' 10: 269-72. (1842). *Myodaires des environs de Paris art ''Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr''. (2) 6: 429-77. (1849).This paper forms part of a series, though the first part had the title "Études sur les myodaires des environs de Paris." The parts are as follows: Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr. (2) 2: 5-38 (1844); (2) 4: 17-38 (1846); (2) 5: 255-87 (1847); (2) 6: 429-77 (1849); (2) 8: 183-209 (1850); (2) 9: 177-90, 305-21 (1851). *Mémoire of M. Léon Dufour donne la description de la larve et des moeurs d'une muscide, larve qui vit du sang de petites hirondelles. ''Bull. Soc. Entomol. Fr.'' (2) 7: iv-v. (1849) *Description d'agromyzes et de phytomyzes écloses chez M. le colonel Goureau. ''Rev. Mag. Zool.'' (2) 3: 391-405. (1851) *Diptères des environs de Paris. Famille des myopaires. ''Bull. Soc. Sci. Hist. Nat. L'Yonne'' 7: 83-160. (1853). *''Histoire naturelle des diptères des environs de Paris. Oeuvre posthume du Dr Robineau-Desvoidy. Publiée par les soins de sa famille, sous la direction de M.H. Monceaux''.2 vols. Masson et Fils, Paris. 1500p. (1863)

Collection

The collection of Robineau-Desvoidy was largely destroyed. Some remains in the

Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...

and there are some specimens from it in the

Hope Department of Entomology The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum or OUMNH, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It a ...

of the University Museum, Oxford

References

*Jean Gouillard (2004). ''Histoire des entomologistes français'', 1750-1950. Édition entièrement revue et augmentée. Boubée (Paris) : 287 p
Jacques d’Aguilar, 2007 ''Le Docteur Robineau-Desvoidy ou l’erreur est humaine'' INRA

External links

Followers of Lamarck
French website with a list of publications and photographs of Robineau-Desvoidy's signature. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Robineau-Desvoidy, Jean Baptiste French entomologists Dipterists 01 1799 births 1857 deaths French taxonomists 19th-century French zoologists