Franco Andrea Bonelli (10 November 1784 – 18 November 1830) was an Italian

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

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 collector.

Life

Very little is known about the early life of Bonelli: he was born in

Cuneo Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in ...

and was interested from an early age in the fauna which surrounded him, making collecting trips, preparing specimens and noting his observations. He became a member of the Reale Società Agraria di Torino in 1807 when he presented his first studies relating to 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 ...

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. The high quality of these studies attracted the interest of the naturalists of his time. In April 1810, George Vat was sent to

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

by the French government to reorganize the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe and continues to play an impo ...

and begin its fusion with the Impériale University founded by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. Vat was very impressed by Bonelli's knowledge. Vat encouraged him to further his knowledge by coming to follow courses at the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

A history of the birds of Europe (Plate 50) (8157805947)

Bonelli took this advice so as obtain a professor's chair in the new university. In September 1810, he arrived in Paris. In 1811, Bonelli was finally named professor of zoology at the

and keeper of the natural history museum of zoology. During his time at the university, he formed one of the largest ornithological collections in Europe. In 1811, Bonelli wrote a ''Catalogue of the Birds of Piedmont'', in which he described 262 species. In 1815, he discovered the bird Bonelli's warbler (''Phylloscopus bonelli''), named by Louis Vieillot in 1819. In the same year, he discovered

Bonelli's eagle The Bonelli's eagle (''Aquila fasciata'') is a large bird of prey. The common name of the bird commemorates the Italian ornithologist and collector Franco Andrea Bonelli. Bonelli is credited with gathering the type specimen, most likely from an ...

(''Hieraaetus fasciatus'') that was likewise named by Vieillot in 1822. The successor of Bonelli at the Turin Museum was Carlo Giuseppe Gené.

Achievements

Bonelli is most notable for his work on birds and on the beetle family

Carabidae Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. As of 2015, it is one of the 10 most species-rich animal fami ...

. Since he was an early worker on Coleoptera many of his

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

later became

Families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...

, sub families and

tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

. Also many of his genera survive. Instances are the: *Omophroninae; Pseudomorphinae; Brachininae; Trechinae;

Harpalinae Harpalinae is a huge subfamily of ground beetles that contains 20,000 species or ~6,400 spp. in 24 tribes worldwide, according to others. A rarely used common name for the subfamily is the harp beetles. The Harpalinae contain the most apomorphic ...

; Pseudomorphinae; Siagoninae; Pterostichinae and Scaritinae - Subfamilies *

Dromiidae Dromiidae is a family of crabs, often referred to as sponge crabs. They are small or medium-sized crabs which get their name from the ability to shape a living sponge into a portable shelter for themselves.Encarta Reference Library Premium 2005 D ...

1810 Family * Pterostichini Tribe

Works

*''Catalogue des Oiseaux du Piemont'' (1811). *Observations Entomologique. Première partie. ''Mém. Acad. Sci. Turin'' 18: 21–78, Tabula Synoptica (1810). *Observations entomologiques. Deuxieme partie. ''Mém. Acad. Sci. Turin'' 20: 433-484 (1813) The last two are founding works of entomology, introducing many new

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

Sources

*Achille Casale and Pier Mauro Giachino "Franco Andrea Bonelli (1784-1830), an Entomologist in Turin at the Beginning of the XIX century", in ''Proceedings of a Symposium (28 August 1996, Florence, Italy). Phylogeny and Classification of Caraboidea''. XX International Congress of Entomology, Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali Torino (1998). {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonelli, Franco Andrea 1784 births 1830 deaths People from Cuneo Italian entomologists Italian zoologists Italian ornithologists