Ferdinand Anton Franz Karsch or Karsch-Haack (2 September 1853, in Münster – 20 December 1936, in Berlin) was a German arachnologist,

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 ...

and

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

. The son of a doctor, Karsch was educated at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin and published a thesis on the gall wasp in 1877. From 1878 to 1921 he held the post of curator at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. Between 1873 and 1893, he published a catalogue of the spiders of Westphalia; he also published numerous articles on the specimens that the museum received from various explorers and naturalists working in Africa, in China, in Japan, in Australia, etc. This publication of others' work sometimes led to disputes over priority and nomenclature, for example with Pickard-Cambridge. Alongside his zoological activities, he published many works on sexuality and, in particular, homosexuality in both the animal kingdom and in so-called "primitive" peoples, including ''Das gleichgeschlechtliche Leben der Kulturvölker - Ostasiaten: Chinesen, Japanese, Korea'' in 1906 on homosexuality in East Asian societies and in 1911 ''Das gleichgeschlechtliche Leben der Naturvölker'' on homosexuality in Africa and indigenous societies of Asia, Australia and the Americas. Karsch lived in later life as an open

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

in Berlin.Bernd-Ulrich Hergemöller, Man for Mann, pp410,411 The rise of Hitler to power and Nazi repression of homosexuality led to the eclipse of his reputation.

Some of the animals described

Spiders

* ''

Misgolas ''Arbanitis'' is a genus of Australian armored trapdoor spiders that was first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 1874. Species it contains sixty-one species: *'' A. andrewsi'' ( Hogg, 1902) – Australia (South Australia) *'' A. bae ...

'' 1878 – New South Wales,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

* ''

Portia schultzi ''Portia schultzi'' is a species of jumping spider which ranges from South Africa in the south to Kenya in the north, and also is found in West Africa and Madagascar. In this species, which is slightly smaller than some other species of the genu ...

'' 1878 — Central, East, Southern Africa, Madagascar * ''

Holothele ''Holothele'' is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Ferdinand Anton Franz Karsch in 1879. Originally placed with the curtain-web spiders, it was transferred to the tarantulas in 1980. Diagnosis They can be distinguished by the ...

'' 1879 - Venezuela * ''

Linothele ''Linothele'' is a genus of South American curtain web spiders that was first described by Ferdinand Karsch in 1879. The venom of Linothele sp has a median lethal dose of 0.6 mg / kg, two toxins, both of low molecular weight, were isolated in t ...

'' 1879 — South America * '' Sphaerobothria'' 1879 –

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

* ''

Thelechoris ''Thelechoris'' is a genus of East African spiders in the family Ischnothelidae. It was first described by Ferdinand Karsch in 1881. it contained only two species, both found in Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially ...

'' 1881 — Africa, Madagascar * Tribe Diplocentrini 1880 * ''Acontius'' 1879 — Africa * ''

Heterothele ''Heterothele'' is a genus of South American and African tarantulas that was first described by Ferdinand Anton Franz Karsch in 1879. Species it contains ten species, found in Africa and Argentina: *'' Heterothele affinis'' Laurent, 1946 – C ...

'' 1879 – Africa Congo * ''

Pedinopistha ''Pedinopistha'' is a genus of Hawaiian running crab spiders that was first described by Ferdinand Anton Franz Karsch in 1880. Species it contains five species, found only on Hawaii: *'' Pedinopistha aculeata'' (Simon Simon may refer to: P ...

'' 1880 – Hawaii * ''

Campostichomma ''Campostichomma'' is a genus of spiders in the family Udubidae native to Sri Lanka. Many of its species were moved to either ''Griswoldia'' or ''Devendra.'' This genus was originally placed in the family Agelenidae. It was moved to Miturgidae ...

'' 1891 — Sri Lanka (one species) * ''

Corinnomma ''Corinnomma'' is a genus of African and Asian corinnid sac spiders first described by Ferdinand Karsch in 1880. Species it contains fourteen species: *'' Corinnomma afghanicum'' Roewer, 1962 – Afghanistan *'' Corinnomma albobarbatum'' Simo ...

'' 1880 * '' Megalostrata'' 1880 * ''

Chilobrachys ''Chilobrachys'' is a genus of Asian tarantulas that was first described by Ferdinand Anton Franz Karsch in 1892. They are found in India, Myanmar, Malaysia, China, Vietnam, Thailand and Sri Lanka. They are usually medium or large-sized, and th ...

'' 1891 * '' Myrmarachne''

Other animals

*''

Potamarcha ''Potamarcha'' is a genus of dragonfly in the Family (biology), family Libellulidae. Species of ''Potamarcha'' are medium-sized dragonflies found in southern Asia and Australia. ''Potamarcha'' was first described by Ferdinand Karsch in 1890. Sp ...

'' (1890)

Publications on African butterflies

*Karsch, F. (1892a) Vorläufige Beschreibung von drei neuen Lepidopteren von Bismarckburg im Togolande (Deutschwestafrika). ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 18:113-117. *Karsch, F. (1892b) Insekten von Baliburg (Deutsch-Westafrika) gesammelt von Herrn Dr. Eugen Zintgraff. ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 18:161-183. *Karsch, F. (1892c) Abantis bismarcki, eine neue Hesperiide von Bismarcksburg im Togolande (Deutschwestafrika). ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 18:228-229. *Karsch, F. (1892d) Caprona adelica, eine neue Hesperiide von der deutschen Forschungsstation Bismarckburg im Togolande (Westafrika). ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 18:241-244. *Karsch, F. (1893a) Die Insekten der Berglandschaft Adeli im Hinterlande von Togo (Westafrika). ''Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift'' 38:1-266. *Karsch, F. (1893b) Papilioniden aus Kamerun, gesammelt von Herrn Dr. Paul Preuss. ''Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift'' 38:367-372. *Karsch, F. (1894a) Eine neue ostafrikanische Lepidopteren-Gattung und -Art aus der Familie der Satyriden. ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 20:190-192. *Karsch, F. (1894b) Einige neue afrikanische Tagfalter aus den Familien der Nymphaliden, Acraeiden, Danaididen und Satyriden. ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 20:209-240. *Karsch, F. (1894c) Über die seltene Nymphalide Harma concordia Hopff. ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 20:257-259. *Karsch, F. (1894d) Pseudathyma neptidina, eine neue Nymphalide aus dem Hinterlande von Kamerun. ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 20:289-290. *Karsch, F. (1894e) Über einige unbekannte oder ungenügend bekannte, durch Herrn G. Zenker auf der deutschen Forschungsstation Yaunde im Hinterlande von Kamerun gesammelte Nymphaliden. ''Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift'' 39:1-16. *Karsch, F. (1895a) Papilio neumanni, eine neue, von Herrn Oskar Neumann in Ost-Afrika erbeutete Art der Echerioides-Gruppe. ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 21:225-227. *Karsch, F. (1895b) Äthiopische Rhopaloceren. I. ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 21:275-286. *Karsch, F. (1895c) Äthiopische Rhopaloceren. II. ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 21:289-322. *Karsch, F. (1896) Äthiopische Hesperiiden. ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 22:372-378. *Karsch, F. (1897) Neue Eingänge deutsch-ostafrikanischer Insekten im Museum fur Naturkunde zu Berlin. ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 23:366-372. *Karsch, F. (1898a) Über die aus der Irangi-Expedition gesammelten Orthoptera und Lepidoptera. In: Werther, C.W. (1898) ''Die mittleren Hochländer des nördlichen Deutsch-Ost-Afrika'', Berlin 311-317. *Karsch, F. (1898b) Neue Eingänge deutsch-ostafrikanischer Insekten im Museum fur Naturkunde zu Berlin II. ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 24:97-105. *Karsch, F. (1900a) Ein neuer Papilio (P. thuraui) aus Ostafrika. ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 26:126-128. *Karsch, F. (1900b) Drei neue Lepidopteren aus Ostafrika gesammelt von Herrn Stabsarzt Dr. Fulleborn. ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 26:353-359. *Karsch, F. (1900c) Vorläufige kurze Kennzeichnung von fünf neuen, durch Herrn Dr. A. Voeltzkow in West-Madagaskar entdeckten Lepidopteren. ''Entomologische Nachrichten''. Berlin 26:367-370 Wikispecies (see below) provides a list of and links to digitised papers by Karsch

About homosexuality

* ''Das gleichgeschlechtliche Leben der Naturvölker'', 1911
online at archive.org
* Karsch, F. (2022). ''Karl Heinrich Ulrichs' predecessor Heinrich Hössli (1784-1864): The first known literary activist and parent of a gay man''. (M. Lombardi-Nash, Trans.). Jacksonville, FL: Urania Manuscripts. (Original work published 1903) * Karsch, F. (2021). ''Male and female homosexuality in animals on the basis of literature''. (M. Lombardi-Nash, Trans.). Jacksonville, FL: Urania Manuscripts. (Original work published 1900)

Literature

Robert Aldrich Robert Burgess Aldrich (August 9, 1918 – December 5, 1983) was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His notable credits include '' Vera Cruz'' (1954), ''Kiss Me Deadly'' (1955), ''The Big Knife'' (1955), '' Autumn L ...

, Garry Wotherspoon, ''Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History: From Antiquity to World War II'' (2nd ed), Routledge, 2002, , pp. 281–282. *

Bernd-Ulrich Hergemöller Bernd-Ulrich Hergemöller is a German historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events ...

, ''Man for Man'', Suhrkamp, 2001, pp. 410–411.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karsch, Ferdinand 1853 births 1936 deaths German anthropologists German sexologists German taxonomists German arachnologists German lepidopterists Hymenopterists German gay writers Gay scientists LGBT scientists from Germany 20th-century LGBT people 19th-century LGBT people German male non-fiction writers 19th-century German male writers 20th-century German male writers 19th-century German zoologists 20th-century German zoologists People from Münster Scientists active at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin Humboldt University of Berlin alumni