Carl Ludwig Koch (21 September 1778 – 23 August 1857) was a German

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

and

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, ticks, and mites. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly ...

. He was responsible for classifying a great number of

spiders Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species di ...

, including the Brazilian whiteknee tarantula and common house spider. He was born in

Kusel Kusel (; written ''Cusel'' until 1865) is a town in the Kusel (district), Kusel Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the Kusel-Altenglan ''Verbandsgemeinde'' and is also the district seat. The well-kno ...

in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, and died in Nuremberg, Germany. Carl Ludwig Koch was an inspector of water and forests. His principal work ''Die Arachniden'' (1831–1848) (16 volumes) was commenced by

Carl Wilhelm Hahn Carl Wilhelm Hahn (Lat. ''Carolus Guilielmus Hahn'', 16 December 1786 – 7 November 1835) was a German zoologist and author of the first German monograph on spiders. C. W. Hahn was an all-round natural scientist – not at all unusual for his ...

(1786–1836). Koch was responsible for the last 12 volumes. He also finished the chapter on spiders in ''Faunae insectorum germanicae initia oder Deutschlands Insecten'' lements of the insect fauna of Germanya work by

Georg Wolfgang Franz Panzer Georg Wolfgang Franz Panzer (31 May 1755 – 28 June 1829) was a German physician, botanist and entomologist. He produced a book on the insect fauna of Germany, illustrated with hand-coloured plates by Jacob Sturm which was produced in 109 par ...

(1755–1829). He also co-authored, with Georg Karl Berendt, an important monograph ''Die im Bernstein befindlichen Myriapoden, Arachniden und Apteren der Vorwelt'' (1854) on arachnids, myriapods, and wingless insects in

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

based on material in Berendt's collection, now held in the

Museum für Naturkunde The Natural History Museum () is a natural history museum located in Berlin, Germany. It exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history and in such domain it is one of three major museums in Germany alongside Naturm ...

, Berlin. He is not to be confused with his son,

Ludwig Carl Christian Koch Ludwig Carl Christian Koch (8 November 1825 – 1 November 1908) was a German entomologist and arachnologist. He was born in Regensburg, Germany, and died in Nuremberg, Germany. He studied in Nuremberg, initially law, but then turned to medicin ...

(1825–1908), who also became a well-known entomologist.

Works

''Die Pflanzenlause Aphiden : getreu nach dem Leben abgebildet und beschrieben'', Nürnberg 1854
* ''Die Pflanzenlause Aphiden.'' Lotzbeck, Nürnberg 1857. * ''Übersicht des Arachnidensystems.'' Zeh, Nürnberg 1837–50. * ''Deutschlands Crustaceen, Myriapoden und Arachniden.'' Pustet, Regensburg 1835–44. * ''Die Arachniden.'' Zeh, Nürnber
1831–48.
* ''System der baierischen Zoologie.'' Nürnberg, München 1816.(A general work on the zoology of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

of some importance in

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

taxonomy.
''System der Myriapoden, mit den Verzeichnissen und Berichtigungen zu Deutschlands Crustaceen, Myriapoden, und Arachniden'', Regensburg, Pustet,1847.

Literature

* Roesler, Rudolf: ''Karl Ludwig Koch (1778-1857).'' in ''Oberpfälzer Heimat.'' Auflage 42, Weiden 1997/98.

External links

*
www.de.wikisource/Carl_Ludwig_Koch
German entomologists German taxonomists 1778 births 1857 deaths German arachnologists Myriapodologists 19th-century German zoologists People from Kusel (district) {{entomologist-stub