Leif Reinhardt Natvig (March 8, 1894 – November 14, 1975) was a
Norwegian 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 ...
. He was employed throughout his entire career at the
Oslo Zoological Museum,
and he contributed to a stronger connection between the museum and the
Norwegian Entomological Society.
Natvig became interested in nature and insects at an early age, especially
beetle
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 ...
s. Later he started studying
mosquitoes,
horseflies
Horse-flies or horseflies are true flies in the family Tabanidae in the insect order Diptera. They are often large and agile in flight, and only the female horseflies bite animals, including humans, to obtain blood. They prefer to fly in sun ...
, and
botflies
Botflies, also known as warble flies, heel flies, and gadflies, are a family of flies known as the Oestridae. Their larvae are internal parasites of mammals, some species growing in the host's flesh and others within the gut. ''Dermatobia homin ...
.
In addition to entomology, he collected ivory work, weapons, and first editions of illustrated books. One of the highlights of his life was meeting Emperor
Hirohito
Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...
during a visit to Tokyo in 1965. Natvig brought with him some Norwegian publications on marine biology, including from the
Norwegian Sea
The Norwegian Sea ( no, Norskehavet; is, Noregshaf; fo, Norskahavið) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to ...
. It is said that what would have usually been a short audience lasted for two hours, while the emperor and Natvig eagerly leafed through the publications.
University of Oslo / Zoological Museum
Leif Reinhardt Natvig had a lifelong engagement at the Oslo Zoological Museum. He was admitted to the
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...
in 1913, and not long afterward was employed as a research assistant to Nils J. T. Odhner, the director of the Oslo Zoological Museum.
In 1916 he entered the vacancy as a conservator at the museum.
The insect collection at the museum had grown and it had too little space. Natvig reorganized the large insect collection, which took several years. It was not until 1922 that he received his first degree in zoology. In 1948 he became the museum's chief conservator. He held this position for only one year, and then in 1949 he became director of the museum.
He retired in 1964.
His insect collection can be found at the Natural History Museum in Oslo today.
Natvig lectured for almost 40 years at the University of Oslo on terrestrial arthropods. He frequently gave other lectures, including at the Oslo Folk Academy. He was described "as a good lecturer and speaker who popularized and could act out the behavior of insects when he talked about them, he had ... a gracious nature and was helpful and easy to connect with. He liked to talk about his tasks and experiences"
and " his ... lessons and excursions are remembered as gems in teaching."
Botflies
In 1916, Natvig was an expert in the reindeer grazing case ( no, reinbeitesaken), and he traveled to
Målselv to study the biology of the
reindeer warble fly. The next summer he traveled to
Nordland
Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...
and
Trøndelag
Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...
, and this contributed to his later interest in blood-sucking insects. He later became involved with the occurrence and biology of the subfamily of botflies known as
warble flies
Warble fly is a name given to the genus ''Hypoderma'': large flies which are parasitic on cattle and deer. Other names include "heel flies", "bomb flies" and "gadflies", while their larvae are often called "cattle grubs" or "wolves." Common speci ...
(the cattle warble fly, ''Hypoderma lineatum'', and the ox warble fly, ''Hypoderma bovis'') in Norway. He rebuffed the claim that girls working as shepherds in summer pastures were particularly susceptible to warble fly attacks because they were unclean and smelled like cows, fooling the warble flies. He proved that warble flies with mature eggs were so driven that they deposited the eggs on both humans and animals if they were nearby.
Natvig worked deliberately, and it was not until 1937 that he produced an elaborate thesis, almost a full volume, on warble flies in Scandinavia.
Mosquitoes
While working on botflies, Natvig's interest in
mosquitoes was aroused. His contribution to the knowledge of Norwegian mosquitoes was required because the last published study was from 1877. Natvig himself collected a great deal of material during his travels in southern Norway, which encompassed over eighteen summers. He collected some material himself from
Northern Norway
Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...
, but was also sent a lot of material. He was also at the
Institute of Maritime and Tropical Diseases (german: Institut für Schiff- und Tropenkrankheiten) in Hamburg on several occasions, where he studied the morphology and
systematics
Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tre ...
of the mosquito. In 1949, he received his doctorate with a dissertation on the mosquito, titled ''Contribution to the Knowledge of the Danish and Fennoscandian Mosquitoes. Culicini''. The dissertation is 589 pages long and covers mosquitoes throughout Scandinavia and Denmark. Natvig's examiner at his doctoral defense,
Hjalmar Broch
Hjalmar Broch (19 July 1882 – 6 August 1969) was a Norwegian zoologist and university professor at the University of Oslo (1937–1952). His specialty was biology of lesser marine animals; he published extensively on the biology of fish.
Biogra ...
, is said to have stated "this is apparently evidence that a mosquito can turn into an elephant."
With this, Natvig became one of the foremost experts on mosquitoes, and his dissertation became indispensable for anyone working with mosquitoes. Natvig also had a large amount of material on ''
Anopheles'' mosquitoes, and he did some work on this genus of insects.
Norwegian Entomological Society
Leif Reinhardt Natvig joined the
Norwegian Entomological Society in 1912 at the age of 16. That same year he was elected a deputy member of the board, and he performed many duties and was very active in the society. He served as the society's secretary (1915–1918, 1930–1937) and chairman (1937–1950). He was a member of the editorial committee of the ''
Norwegian Journal of Entomology
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obtain ...
'' (1924–1950) and its editor (1952–1955).
Publications
Natvig published several major works and a number of shorter articles on his field of study, including several obituaries of entomologists. He wrote down much of Norway's early entomological history and helped preserve it. He contributed research publications in a number of professional journals. In addition to entomology, he also wrote a book on Japanese
woodcut
Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...
s.
*1925: "
J. J. Kieffer" (Obituary). ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' 2: 108.
*1928: "Die norwegische Finnmarks-Ekspedition. ''Culicidae''" (The Norwegian Finnmark Expedition. ''
Culicidae
Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "litt ...
''). ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' 2: 241–349.
*1930: "
Teodor Odhner
Nils Johan Teodor Odhner (February 25, 1879 – October 29, 1928) was a Swedish zoologist. Odhner was born in Lund, Sweden. He was the son of the historian and archivist Clas Theodor Odhner and the father of the agronomist Clas-Erik Odhner.
Odh ...
" (Obituary). ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' 2: 305–307.
*1930: "
Christopher Aurivillius
Per Olof Christopher Aurivillius (15 January 1843 – 20 July 1928) was a Swedish entomologist.
Life
Christopher Aurivillius was born at Forsa, Sweden. He was the director of the Natural History Museum in Stockholm and he specialised in Coleop ...
" (Obituary). ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' 2: 307–308.
*1930: "
Ejnar Fischer" (Obituary). ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' 2: 308–309.
*1930: "Culiciden der 2 'Fram'-Expedition (1898–1902)" (The
Culicidae
Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "litt ...
of the Second ''Fram'' Expedition, 1898–1902). ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' 2: 358–359.
*1932: "Dr. Walther Horn 60 år" (Dr.
Walther Horn
Walther Hermann Richard Horn (19 October 1871 – 10 July 1939) was a German entomologist who specialised in beetles (Coleoptera). He was born in Berlin, where he also died. He is not to be confused with the American entomologist George Henry Hor ...
, 60 Years). ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' 3: 3.
*1932: "Professor dr. Hans Rebel 70 år" (Professor
Hans Rebel
Hans Rebel (2 September 1861 – 19 May 1940) was an Austrian entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera.
Rebel, who had an early interest in natural history and butterflies, first became a lawyer. He devoted his spare time to studying Lepidop ...
, 70 Years). ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' 3: 4.
*1932: "Om Myiasis samt to nye norske kasus" (
Myiasis and Two New Norwegian Cases). ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' 3: 117–122.
*1932: "En Porocephal som fakultativ parasitt hos norsk hvepsehøk" (A ''
Porocephalus'' as a Non-Obligatory Parasite in Norwegian
European Honey Buzzard
The European honey buzzard (''Pernis apivorus''), also known as the pern or common pern, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.
Etymology
Despite its English name, this species is more closely related to kites of the genera '' Leptodon'' a ...
s). ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' 3: 123–128.
*1934: "On Some Anomalities in Culicide Hypopygiae." ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' 3: 328–331.
*1935: ''Japanske tresnitt. Kunstner- og folkeliv'' (Japanese Woodcuts: Artistic and Folk Life). Oslo: Gyldendal.
*1941: "''Crataerina pallida'' Latr., en for Norges fauna ny Hippoboscide" (''
Crataerina pallida
''Crataerina pallida'', the swift lousefly, is a species of biting fly in the family of louse flies Hippoboscidae. These flies are commonly encountered in the nests of the common swift (''Apus apus'') in Europe and Asia.
The lousefly spends its ...
'' Latr., A New
Hippoboscid for Norway's Fauna). ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' 4: 38–40.
*1944: "Entomologien ved Det Kongelige Frederiks Universitet. Et bidrag til norsk entornologis historie. 1. Tidsrommet 1813–1907" (Entomology at the
Royal Frederick University. A Contribution to the History of Norwegian Entomology. 1. The Period from 1813 to 1907). ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' 7(1/2): 1–73.
*1945: "Notes on ''Culex alpinus'' Linnaeus and ''Aëdes nigripes'' (Zett.)." ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' 7: 99–106.
*1946: "Differential Characters of the Female ''Aëdes nigripes'' (Zett.) and ''A. nearcticus'' Dyar." ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' 7: 184–187.
*1948: "Contribution to the Knowledge of the Danish and Fennoscandian Mosquitoes. Culicini." ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' Suppl. I: 1–567.
*1953: "The type specimens of ''Aëdes nigripes'' (Zett.)." ''
Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift
The ''Norwegian Journal of Entomology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering entomology, and arthropodology more in general, with an emphasis on Norway. It was established in 1920 as the ''Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift'', obta ...
'' 9: 86–92.
*1960: "Oversikt over entomologien i Norge gjennom 200 år" (Overview of Entomology in Norway over Two Hundred Years). ''Fauna'' 13: 57–71.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Natvig, Leif Reinhardt
Norwegian entomologists
Scientists from Oslo
1894 births
1975 deaths
20th-century Norwegian zoologists