Hermann Dewitz (5 November 1848,
Obelischken,
Insterburg – 15 May 1890
Berlin) was a
German 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 ...
who specialized in
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...
.
He was "Custos" or curator of the Department of Entomology at the
Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. Dewitz was interested in world butterflies especially those of
South America,
West and
Central Africa and in 1882 he published ''Beschreibungen von Jugendstadien exotischer Lepidopteren'' (Nova acta Leopoldina Bd. 44, Nr. 2. Halle - E. Blockmann & Sohn), a work on the early stages of Lepidoptera.
He also wrote a number of scientific papers on a wide variety of entomological subjects, notably a series of articles on the motion of insects on smooth vertical surfaces.
Publications
*1879
''Mittheilungen des Münchener Entomologischen Vereins''*1881
''Afrikanische Nachtschmetterlinge''. Nova Acta Acad. Caesar. Leop. Carol. 42:
References
*Gaedecke, R. and Groll, E. K. (Hrsg.)
"Biografien der Entomologen der Welt: Datenbank. Version 4.15" Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, 2010.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewitz, Hermann
German lepidopterists
1848 births
1890 deaths
People from Insterburg
19th-century German zoologists
German curators