Henri Jekel (September 21, 1816, Paris - August 4, 1891) was a French

coleopterist Coleopterology (from Coleoptera and Greek , ''-logia'') is the scientific study of beetles, a branch of entomology. Practitioners are termed coleopterists and form groups of amateurs and professionals for business and pleasure. Among these is ...

Life and work

Jekel ran a natural history items and books store in Paris. In 1849 he wrote a revision of the work ''Genera et species Curculionidarum'' by the Swedish entomologist

Carl Johan Schönherr Carl Johan Schönherr (10 June 1772 – 28 March 1848) was a Swedish entomologist who revised the taxonomy of beetles, including weevils. Born in Stockholm, Schönherr was son of a German immigrant who had established himself as a silk manufact ...

. From 1854 to 1859 he self-published the three-volume work ''Fabricia entomologica''. In the following years he wrote a large number of specialist articles for various journals of entomological societies, including the first description of the giraffe neck beetle from Madagascar in 1860. In total, Jekel described over 550 taxa, 367 of which are still valid today. These include genera and species from the beetle families

Anthribidae Anthribidae is a family of beetles also known as fungus weevils. The antennae are not elbowed, may occasionally be longer than the body and thread-like, and can be the longest of any members of Curculionoidea. As in the Nemonychidae, the labrum ...

Attelabidae The Attelabidae is a widespread family of weevils. They are among the primitive weevils, because of their straight antennae, which are inserted near the base of the rostrum. The prothorax is much narrower than the base of the elytra on the abdom ...

Curculionidae The Curculionidae are a family of weevils, commonly called snout beetles or true weevils. They are one of the largest animal families, with 6,800 genera and 83,000 species described worldwide. They are the sister group to the family Brentidae. T ...

and

Geotrupidae Geotrupidae (from Greek γῆ ''(gē)'', earth, and τρῡπητής ''(trȳpētēs)'', borer) is a family of beetles in the order Coleoptera. They are commonly called earth-boring dung beetles or dor beetles. Most excavate burrows in which ...

. Genera described are Lasiorhynchites, Conothorax, Chelotrupes, Balanobius, Donus, Eudmetus, Elytroxys and Entomops. In 1855 he published the first part of ''Insecta Saundersiana or characters of undescribed insects in the collection of William Wilson Saunders'' and in 1860 the second part appeared under the title ''Insecta Saundersiana: Or, Characters of Undescribed Insects in the Collection of William Wilson Saunders, FRS, FLS Coleoptera - Curculionides'' both volumes being based on the collections of British entomologist

William Wilson Saunders William Wilson Saunders FRS (4 June 1809 – 13 September 1879) was a British insurance broker, entomologist and botanist. Saunders was an underwriter at Lloyd's of London. He served as president of the Entomological Society from 1841 to 18 ...

. Jekel was an avid collector of beetles, particularly scarab beetles and weevils. In 1873 and 1875 he published two volumes of his work ''Coleoptera Jekeliana, adjecta Eleutheratorum Bibliotheca''. In 1879 he sold his personal collection to his competitors Henri Deyrolle and Henri Donckier de Donceel. Jekel was a member of the

Société entomologique de France The Société entomologique de France, or French Entomological Society, is devoted to the study of insects. The society was founded in 1832 in Paris, France. The society was created by eighteen Parisian entomologists on January 31, 1832. The first ...

. His zoological author abbreviation is Jekel.

Taxon names honouring him

Over 60 species of beetle were named after Jekel, 44 of which are still valid today. These include '' Hypselotropis jekeli'', '' Arachnobas jekeli'', '' Cholus jekeli'', ''

Attelabus jekeli ''Attelabus'' is a genus of weevils belonging to the family Attelabidae. Species These species are members of the genus ''Attelabus'', found in Europe. * '' Attelabus abdominalis'' Angelov, 1964 * '' Attelabus abyssinicus'' Hustache, 1923 * '' ...

'', '' Jordops jekeli'', ''

Gronops jekeli ''Gronops'' is a genus of beetles belonging to the family Curculionidae. The genus was first described by Schönherr in 1823. The genus has cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of ...

'', ''

Euops jekeli ''Euops'' is a genus of the leaf-rolling weevils (family Attelabidae) containing more than 300 species. It is spread over most tropical and subtropical regions but is missing from America. The centre of its radiation is New Guinea and Australia ...

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Merohister jekeli ''Merohister'' is a genus of clown beetles in the family Histeridae Histeridae is a family of beetles commonly known as clown beetles or Hister beetles. This very diverse group of beetles contains 3,900 species found worldwide. They can be ea ...

'' and ''

Cyrtonota jekeli ''Cyrtonota'' is a genus of leaf beetles belonging to the family Chrysomelidae The insects of the beetle family Chrysomelidae are commonly known as leaf beetles, and include over 37,000 (and probably at least 50,000) species in more than 2,500 ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jekel, Henri French entomologists 1816 births 1891 deaths