Maximilian Spinola ( it, Massimiliano Spinola; July 10, 1780 – November 12, 1857) was an Italian

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 ...

Background

Spinola was born in

Pézenas Pézenas (; Languedocien: ''Pesenàs'') is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Name The name "Pézenas" is derived from the older name ''Piscenae'', probably from the Latin word ''piscenis'', meaning fi ...

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The family of Spinola was of very long standing and had great wealth and power in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

. Maximilian Spinola was a descendant of the famous Spanish General

Ambrogio Spinola, marqués de los Balbases Ambrogio Spinola Doria, 1st Marquess of Los Balbases and 1st Duke of Sesto (1569-25 September 1630) was an Italian ''condottiero'' and nobleman of the Republic of Genoa, who served as a Spanish general and won a number of important battles. He i ...

(1569–1630) and much of his wealth derived from land held in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. He was linked to Camillo Pallavicini.

Research

He received many

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s from his properties in Spain and South America. He also made extensive, and expensive purchases especially of large showy

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

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 and

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

s. His entomological contributions were mainly in the orders

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 ...

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...

and

Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, Reduviidae, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. ...

. Spinola made very important contributions to

entomology Entomology () is the science, 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 ...

, describing many

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 ...

, especially in Spinola M. M., 1850.''Tavola sinottica dei generi spettanti alla classe degli insetti Arthroidignati, Hemiptera Linn., Latr. - Rhyngota Fab. - Rhynchota Burm.'' Memoria del Socio Attuale signor Marchese Massimiliano Spinola Modena, Dal tipi delle R.D. Camera. ''Soc. Ital. Sci.'', T.25, pt.1: 138 pp. He is listed, as Count Maximilian Spinola, as an ordinary member of the

Entomological Society of London The Royal Entomological Society is devoted to the study of insects. Its aims are to disseminate information about insects and improving communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological Society of London ...

in the Society's first volume of transactions published in 1836. At that time he lived in

. Spinola's

(with types purchased from Dejean),

(with types purchased from Audinet-Serville and

Amédée Louis Michel le Peletier, comte de Saint-FargeauLepeletier Amédée is a French masculine forename. Notable people with the forename include: Persons * Amédée, stage name of Philippe de Chérisey (1923-1985), French writer, radio humorist, surrealist and actor *Amédée Artus (1815-1892), French condu ...

and specimens from the

Pierre André Latreille Pierre André Latreille (; 29 November 1762 – 6 February 1833) was a French zoologist, specialising in arthropods. Having trained as a Roman Catholic priest before the French Revolution, Latreille was imprisoned, and only regained his freedom ...

Collection),

collection is in Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali in

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 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Other specimens are in Museo di storia naturale dell'Università di Pisa. Most of his type specimens are extant and in good condition. He died in

Tassarolo Tassarolo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about southeast of Alessandria. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 598 and an area of .All de ...

Alessandria Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin. Alessandria ...

, Italy.

Works

partial list *1806. ''Insectorum Liguriæ Species Novæ aut Rariores, quas in agro Ligustico nuper detexit, descripsit, et iconibus illustravit''. Tom. 1. xvii+159 pp. Genuæ. *1808. ''Insectorum Liguriae species novae aut rariores, quae in agro Ligustico nuper detexit, descripsit et iconibus illustravit Maximilianus Spinola, adjecto Catalogo spiecierum auctoribus jam enumeratarum, quae in eadam regione occurrunt'', Vol. 2. Gravier, Genuae. *1839. Compte rendu des hyménoptères recueillis par M. Fischer pendant son voyage en Égypte, et communiqués par M. le Docteur Waltl a Maximilien. ''Annales de la Société Entomologique de France'' 7: 437-546. *1839 Essai sur les Fulgorelles, sous-tribu de la tribu des Cicadaires, ordre des Rhynchotes ''Ann. Soc. ent. France'' 8, 133-137, 339-454 *1843. Sur quelques Hyménoptères peu connus, recueillis en Espagne, pendant l’année 1842, par M. Victor Ghiliani, voyageur-naturaliste. ''Annales de la Société Entomologique de France'' (2)1: 111-144. *1851. Hyménopteros. in Gay, C., ''Historia Fisica y Politica de Chile. Zoologia''. Vol. 6. Casa del author, Paris. pp. 153–569. *1853. Compte rendu des hyménoptères inédits provenants du voyage entomologique de M. Ghiliani dans le Para en 1846. ''Memoire della Reale Accademia della Scienze di Torino'' (2)13: 19-9

Notes

References

* *Baker, D. B. 1999: The Faunae Ligusticae Fragmenta of Massimiliano Spinola (1805).''Beiträge zur Entomologie'', Berlin 49 (1): 141-146 *Gestro, R. 1915. Ricordo di Massimiliano Spinola. ''Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria'' 47:33-53.

External links

*
Internet Archive
Digital version of Compte rendu des Hyménoptères inédits Provenants du voyage entomologique de Vittore Ghiliani, M. Ghiliani dans la Para en 1846.''Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino, Volume: 13, Series 2, Pages: 19-94 1853.
EOL
''

Encyclopedia of Life The ''Encyclopedia of Life'' (''EOL'') is a free, online encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science. It is compiled from existing trusted databases curated by experts and with the assistance of non ...

'' Taxa described by Spinola.Complete.Images. Type Spinola into the search box.
Gaedike, R.; Groll, E. K. & Taeger, A. 2012: Bibliography of the entomological literature from the beginning until 1863 : online database - version 1.0 - Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spinola, Maximilian Italian entomologists Hymenopterists 1780 births 1857 deaths 19th-century Italian zoologists