Victor Antoine Signoret (6 April 1816, Paris – 3 April 1889, Paris) was a French pharmacologist, physician and

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 ...

. In 1845 Signoret gained his doctorate in pharmacology at the University of Paris. His thesis was entitled ''De l'Arsenic considéré sous ses divers points de vue''. Pharmacology made him a wealthy man and he made many collecting trips mainly in Europe but also in Asia Minor. His very important collection is in the Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria although there is significant material in La Specola museum in Florence. Signoret worked on

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. ...

, and is considered to be one of the first great students of Coccoidea (

mealybug Mealybugs are insects in the family (biology), family Pseudococcidae, unarmored scale insects found in moist, warm habitats. Many species are considered pest (animal), pests as they feed on plant juices of greenhouse plants, house plants and sub ...

s and

scale insect Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient grouping than the ...

s). He established methods for the preparation of slides for the examination of mealybug morphology. He wrote over 80 papers, including a ''Revision du groupe des Cydnides'' (1881–1884) and he was a Member of the

Entomological Society of France 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 ...

, as well as an honour Fellow of the Entomological Society of London.

References

Sources

*Jean Gouillard (2004). ''Histoire des entomologistes français, 1750-1950''. Édition entièrement revue et augmentée. Boubée (Paris) : 287 p. *Jean Lhoste (1987). ''Les Entomologistes français. 1750-1950''. INRA Éditions : 351 p. *Anthony Musgrave (1932). ''Bibliography of Australian Entomology, 1775-1930, with biographical notes on authors and collectors'', Royal Zoological Society of News South Wales (Sydney) : viii + 380. {{DEFAULTSORT:Signoret, Victor Antoine French entomologists Presidents of the Société entomologique de France 19th-century French physicians Zoologists with author abbreviations Scientists from Paris 1816 births 1889 deaths