Carl Stål (21 March 1833 – 13 June 1878) was a
Swedish entomologist
Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...
specialising in
Hemiptera
Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from ...
.
He was born at
Karlberg Castle, Stockholm on 21 March 1833 and died at Frösundavik near Stockholm on 13 June 1878.
He was the son of architect, author and officer Carl Stål then Colonel, Swedish Corps of Engineers.
He matriculated at
Uppsala University
Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation.
Initially fou ...
in 1853, studying medicine and passing the medico-philosophical examination in 1857. He then turned to entomology and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Jena in 1859. The same year he became assistant to
Carl Henrik Boheman
Carl Henrik Boheman (10 July 1796 – 2 November 1868) was a Sweden, Swedish entomologist. He collected specimens in Norway and became a curator of the Swedish museum of natural history and described numerous beetle species.
Life and work
Bohem ...
in the Zoological department of the
Swedish Museum of Natural History
The Swedish Museum of Natural History (), in Stockholm, is one of two major museums of natural history in Sweden, the other one being located in Gothenburg.
The museum was founded in 1819 by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, but goes bac ...
in Stockholm, where, in 1867, he was appointed keeper with the title of professor.
He made collecting trips in Sweden and throughout Europe and visited other museums including the collection of
Johan Christian Fabricius
Johann Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is co ...
in Kiel. His study of the Fabrician types resulted in his "Hemiptera Fabriciana". A significant part of Stål's work was the study of insects collected from
Caffraria
Kaffraria, Kaffiria, or Kaffirland, was the descriptive name given to the southeast part of what is today the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Kaffraria, i.e., the land of the Kaffirs, is no longer an official designation (with the term ''kaffi ...
, the majority of which were poorly understood at the time.
Although Stål, who was regarded as the world's foremost worker on Hemiptera, published most on this
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
...
, he also worked on
Orthoptera
Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – gras ...
and to a lesser extent on
Coleoptera
Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...
and
Hymenoptera
Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the 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 parasitic.
Females typi ...
, naming well over 1000 new
genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
and over 1500 new species over his brief career.
In 1869, he was elected a member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...
.
Works (selection)
* Stål. 1860. ''Bidrag till Rio Janeiro-traktens Hemipter-fauna''. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar. 2(7):1–84
* Stål. 1862. ''Hemiptera Mexicana enumeravit speciesque novas descripsit''. Stettiner Entomologische Zeitung. 23
* Stål. 1862. ''Bidrag till Rio Janeiro-traktens Hemipter-fauna''. Öfversigt af Kongliga Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar. 2 3:1-75
* Stål. 1863. ''Hemipterorum exoticorum generum et specierum nonnullarum novarum descriptiones''. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London. 3 1:571-603
* Stål. 1866. ''Hemiptera Africana''. 2:1-181
* Stål. 1866. ''Hemiptera Africana''. 4:1-275
* Stål. 1868. ''Hemiptera Fabriciana. Fabricianska Hemipterarter efter de i Köpenhamn och Kiel förvarade typexemplaren granskade och beskrifne. I.'' Konglika Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar. 7(11):1-148
* Stål. 1870. ''Enumeratio Hemipterorum. Bidrag till en förteckning öfver alla hittills kända Hemiptera, jemte systematiska meddelanden. 1.'' Konglika Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar. 9(1):1-232
* Stål. 1872. ''Enumeratio Hemipterorum. Bidrag till en förteckning öfver alla hittills kända Hemiptera, jemte systematiska meddelanden. 2.'' Konglika Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar. 10(4):1-159
* Stål. 1873. ''Enumeratio Hemipterorum. Bidrag till en förteckning öfver alla hittills kända Hemiptera, jemte systematiska meddelanden. 3.'' Konglika Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar. 11(2):1-163
* Stål. 1874. ''Enumeratio Hemipterorum. Bidrag till en förteckning öfver alla hittills kända Hemiptera, jemte systematiska meddelanden. 4.'' Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar. 12(1):1-186
See also
*
:Taxa named by Carl Stål
References
External links
Carl Stålin
Nordisk familjebok
(, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. The public domain edit ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stal, Carl
1833 births
1878 deaths
Swedish entomologists
Hemipterists
Hymenopterists
Swedish zoologists
Uppsala University alumni
Scientists from Stockholm