Peter Jörgensen ("Pedro Jorgensen") (3 August 1870 in Sønderby,

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...

– June 1937 in

Villarrica, Paraguay Villarrica del Espíritu Santo (), is a city in Paraguay. Located in the middle of the Oriental Region of the Paraguayan territory, it is the capital of the Guairá Department. It was founded by the Spanish Captain Ruy Diaz de Melgarejo on May 1 ...

) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

early 20th century

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 ...

, active particularly in Argentina and Paraguay.

Life

Peter Jörgensen was educated as a teacher of English and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

1889. In 1892, he contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

— a condition he suffered from throughout the remainder of his life. In 1906, he joined his friend

Anders Christian Jensen-Haarup Anders Christian Jensen-Haarup (8 January 1863 – 30 January 1934) was a Danish entomologist who specialised in Hymenoptera. He was born in Nim and died in Silkeborg. Jensen-Haarup was a teacher. In September 1904, he went to the province o ...

on a trip to the Mendoza Province in western

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in the hope that the arid Andean climate would be beneficial to his health. The two naturalists made extensive

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 ...

collections, which were either sold (e.g. to the German entomologist Heinrich FrieseFriese 1908) to cover their travel expenses or were sent to specialists for identification. They also published short accounts (in

) of their adventures in Argentina. Jörgensen moved on to Paraguay, where he settled near Villarrica. He committed his life to a small farm and further entomological research. He also became a plant collector for several American museums. He was found murdered at his farm in June 1937.

Bibliography

* Jørgensen, P. (1906): Beitrag zur Biologie der Blattwespen (Chalastogastra). Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Insektenbiologie, 2: 347-351. * Jørgensen, P. (1906): De danske Arter af Bladhvepseslægten Pontania Costa (Chalastogastra). - Entomologiske Meddelelser, 3: 113-126. * Jörgensen, P. (1909) Beobachtungen über Blumenbesuch, Biologie, Verbreitung usw. Der Bienen von Mendoza. (Hym.). Teil I. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift, 1909, Heft 1: 53-65
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* Jörgensen, P. (1909) Beobachtungen über Blumenbesuch, Biologie, Verbreitung usw. Der Bienen von Mendoza. (Hym.). Teil II. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift, 1909, Heft 2: 211-227
Full text
* Kieffer, J.J. & Jörgensen, P. (1910) Gallen und Gallentiere aus Argentinien. Zentralblatt für Bakteriologie und Parasitenkunde (Abt. 2), 27: 362-444. Here, a new species was described as ''Centrodiplosis falcigera'' Jorgensen & Kieffer, which Kieffer subsequently moved to a newly erected genus '' Jorgensenia'', named so in the honour of Peter Jörgensen. * Jörgensen, P. (1912) Los crisídidos y los Himenópteros aculeatos de la Provincia de Mendoza. Anales del Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires, 22: 267-338
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* Jörgensen, P. (1912) Beitrag zur Biologie einiger südamerikanischer Bienen, Anhang. Beschreibung von Megalopta (Megaloptella) ipomoeae n. sp. Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Insektenbiologie, 8: 268-272
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* Jörgensen, P. (1912) Revision der Apiden der Provinz Mendoza, Republica Argentina (Hym.). Zoologisches Jahrbuch, Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere, 32: 89-162
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* Jörgensen, P. (1912) Berichtigungen und Ergänzungen sur "Revision der Apiden der Provinz Mendoza, Republica Argentina (Hym.)". Zoologisches Jahrbuch, Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere, 33: 643-644. * Jörgensen, P. (1913): Los Tenthredinoidea (Hym.) de la República Argentina. Anales del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Buenos Aires, 24: 247-288 + 3 plates. * Jörgensen, P. (1916): Las mariposas Argentinas (Lepidoptera): familia Pieridae. Anales del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Buenos Aires, 28: 427-520. * Jörgensen, P. (1921): Sobre algunos nuevos enemigos de la yerba maté, Ilex paraguariensis. Revista de la Sociedad Científica del Paraguay, Asunción, 2: 27-30. * Jörgensen, P. (1924): Sobre dos casos de hermafroditismo en las mariposas (Lepidoptera). Revista de la Sociedad Científica del Paraguay, Asunción, 1 (6): 89-90. * Jörgensen, P. (1924): Observaciones biológicas de Lepidópteros sudamericanos. Revista de la Sociedad Científica del Paraguay, Asunción, 1 (6): 84-89. * Jörgensen, P. (1930): Los Castniidae de la Argentina y Paraguay. Revista de la Sociedad Entomológica Argentina, 3 (14): 175-180. * Jörgensen, P. (1932): Lepidopterologisches aus Südamerika. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift Iris, 46 (1): 37-66. * Jörgensen, P. (1934): Neue Schmetterlinge und Raupen aus Südamerika. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift Iris, 48: 60-78. * Jörgensen, P. (1935): Lepidópteros nuevos o raros de la Argentina y del Paraguay. Anales del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, Entomología, Buenos Aires, 38: 85-130 + 4 plates.

Legacy

Jörgensen's extensive collection activity in understudied regions and his meticulous descriptions of specimens resulted in numerous new species being described by himself and by specialists around the world, with whom he corresponded. Heinrich Friese described 143 new taxa of Argentine bees collected in part by Jörgensen and Jensen-Haarup. Also the British-American

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell received specimens from Jörgensen and erected new species based on them. Today, a small fraction of his collections are kept in the Zoological Museum of the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

. The monotypic

ant lion The antlions are a group of about 2,000 species of insect in the neuropteran family Myrmeleontidae. They are known for the predatory habits of their larvae, which mostly dig pits to trap passing ants or other prey. In North America, the larvae ...

genus '' Joergenia'' Esben-Petersen (1933) was named in his honour. Two

gall midge Cecidomyiidae is a family of flies known as gall midges or gall gnats. As the name implies, the larvae of most gall midges feed within plant tissue, creating abnormal plant growths called galls. Cecidomyiidae are very fragile small insects us ...

genera are named for him: ''Jorgensenia'' Kieffer, 1913, and ''Jorgenseniella'' Maia, 2005 (

Diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

: Cecidomyiidae).Gagné, R.J. & M. Jaschhof (2014) A Catalog of the Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) of the World, 3rd edn

/ref> A number of insect species have similarly been named for him, e.g. '' Pontania joergenseni'' Enslin 1916 ( Symphyta: Tenthredinidae), '' Tessella jorgenseni'' (Schaus, 1921) ( Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) and '' Eurota joergenseni'' Orfila, 1931 ( Lepidoptera: Arctiidae).

Notes

References

* Cockerell, T.D.A. (1909). A new bee of the genus ''Halictus'' from the Argentine. Flora og Fauna, 11: 9. * Friese, H. (1908) Die Apidae "(Blumenwespen)" von Argentina nach den Reisenergebnissen der Herren A. C. Jensen-Haarup und P. Jörgensen in den Jahren 1904-1907. Naturhistorisk Forening for Jylland, Silkeborg, 116 pp. * Esben-Petersen, P. (1933). New and little-known Neuroptera. Meddelelser fra Dansk Naturhistorisk Forening, 94: 109-123. * Lizer y Trelles, C. A. (1942). La coleccion Coccidologica de Pedro Jorgensen. Notas del Museo de la Plata 7: 69-80. * Rasmussen, Claus (2007) Anders Christian Jensen-Haarup & Peter Jørgensen. * Stange, L. A. (1970). Revision of the ant-lion tribe Brachynemurini of North America. Univ. California Publ. Ent. 55: 1-192. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jorgensen, Peter 1870 births 1937 deaths Hymenopterists Danish lepidopterists Danish people murdered abroad People murdered in Paraguay 1937 murders in Paraguay