Jacob Hübner (20 June 1761 – 13 September 1826, in
Augsburg
Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...
) was a German
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 ...
. He was the author of ''Sammlung Europäischer Schmetterlinge'' (1796–1805), a founding work of entomology.
Scientific career
Hübner was the author of ''Sammlung Europäischer Schmetterlinge'' (1796–1805), a founding work of
entomology
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 ...
. He was one of the first specialists to work on the European
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...
. He described many new
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
, for example ''
Sesia bembeciformis'' and ''
Euchloe tagis
''Euchloe tagis'', the Portuguese dappled white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae.
It ranges through southern Europe where it is found from Portugal to northwestern Italy and northern Africa (there are local populations in Morocco and Alg ...
'', many of them common. He also described many 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 ...
.
He was a
designer
A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...
and
engraver and from 1786 he worked for three years as a designer and engraver at a
cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
factory in
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
. There he collected
butterflies
Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...
and
moth
Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...
s including descriptions and illustrations of some in ''Beiträge zur Geschichte der Schmetterlinge'' (1786–1790) along with other new species from the countryside around his home in Augsburg.
Hübner's masterwork "Tentamen" was intended as a discussion document. Inadvertently published, it led to subsequent confusion in
classification
Classification is the activity of assigning objects to some pre-existing classes or categories. This is distinct from the task of establishing the classes themselves (for example through cluster analysis). Examples include diagnostic tests, identif ...
. His publications were issued in sections, some after his death, often without associated publication dates.
Arthur Francis Hemming, secretary of the
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries.
Orga ...
, summarized all the citations of Hübner's proposed taxonomic names, thereby constraining the possible dates of publication leading to the acceptance of Hübner's works as valid taxonomic publications.
Works
* 1786–1790: ''Beiträge zur Geschichte der Schmetterlinge''
Contributions to the history of butterflies" Augsburg
* 1793: ''Sammlung auserlesener Vögel und Schmetterlinge, mit ihren Namen herausgegeben auf hundert nach der Natur ausgemalten Kupfern''
Collection of choice birds and butterflies, issued with included names on 100 naturally colored copperplate prints"* 1796–1805: ''Sammlung Europäischer Schmetterlinge''
Collection of European butterflies"* 1806: ''Tentamen determinationis, digestionis atque denominationis singularum singularum stirpium Lepidopterorum, peritis ad inspiciendum et dijudicandum communicatum''
Preliminary examination, an attempt to fix, arrange and name the individual races of Lepidoptera to experts for examination and the expression of an opinion"* 1806–1824: ''Geschichte europäischer Schmetterlinge''
History of European butterflies"* 1806–1834 (with
C. Geyer and
G.A.W. Herrich-Schäffer): ''Sammlung exotischer Schmetterlinge''
Collection of exotic butterflies"(2 vols.), Augsburg
* 1816
''Verzeichnis bekannter Schmetterlinge'' Directory of known butterflies" Augsburg.
* 1822
''Systematisch-alphabetisches Verzeichnis aller bisher bey den Fürbildungen zur Sammlung europäischer Schmetterlinge angegebenen Gattungsbenennungen'' Systematic-alphabetic directory of all genus names hitherto issued with the depictions of European butterflies" Augsburg: published by the author.
References
Francis Hemming
Arthur Francis Hemming, CMG, CBE (9 February 1893 – 22 February 1964) was an English entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera. He was mostly known, both professionally and socially, by his middle-name as Francis Hemming.
Hemming was a Brit ...
. ''Hübner: A bibliographical and systematic account of the entomological works of Jacob Hübner, and of the supplements thereto by
Carl Geyer
Peter Carl Friedrich Geyer (1802–1889) was a German entomologist who wrote and illustrated various supplements to Jacob Hübner's works on Lepidoptera.
Carl Geyer was by profession an artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity r ...
,
Gottfried Franz von Frölich, and Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer.'' London:
Royal Entomological Society of London
The Royal Entomological Society is a learned society devoted to the study of insects. It aims to disseminate information about insects and to improve communication between entomologists.
The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological S ...
, 1937. 2 volumes.
Bibliography
*
(Essays on Jacob Hübner, Gottlieb Tobias Wilhelm, Christian Friedrich Freyer
Christian Friedrich Freyer (25 August 1794, in Wassertrüdingen – 11 November 1885, in Augsburg) was a German entomologist mainly interested in Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects w ...
, Johann Friedrich Leu, Jakob Friedrich Caflisch and Andreas Wiedemann)Calhoun, J. V. (2018). ''John Abbot, Jacob Hübner, and Oreas helicta (Nymphalidae: Satyridae)''. News of the Lepidopterists' Society. 60:159–163.
External links
Biolib StueberScans of ''Nachtschmetterlinge''
taxa described by Jacob Hübnerat
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 aggregates content to form "pages" for every known species. Content is compiled from existing trusted ...
Type Hubner into the search box
*"ITIS" Taxon author
Hübnerfor another list
Jacob HübnerWorks by Jacob Hübner at
Biodiversity Heritage Library
The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open-access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL operates as a worldwide consortium of natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hubner, Jacob
German lepidopterists
1761 births
1826 deaths
German taxonomists
18th-century German zoologists
19th-century German zoologists
18th-century German writers
18th-century German male writers
19th-century German writers
19th-century German male writers