Louis Péringuey
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Louis Albert Péringuey MSc (; 9 October 1855,
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
– 20 February 1924,
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
) was a South African
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 ...
who specialised in
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 prehistory.


Biography

Péringuey was a collector for museums in
Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
,
Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...
and
Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
for three years, before emigrating in 1879 to
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
in
Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...
, where he taught French at the
South African College The South African College was an educational institution in Cape Town, South Africa, which developed into the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the South African College Schools (SACS). History The process that would lead to the formation of th ...
and the
Diocesan College The Diocesan College (commonly known as Bishops) is a private, English medium, boarding and day high school for boys situated in the suburb of Rondebosch in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The school was established o ...
. He worked as a volunteer on Coleoptera at the
South African Museum The Iziko South African Museum, formerly the South African Museum (Afrikaans: Suid-Afrikaanse Museum), is a South African national museum located in Cape Town. The museum was founded in 1825, the first in the country. It has been on its present ...
in 1882, and two years later became a member of the permanent staff. Shortly after he also took up an appointment as inspector-general of vineyards. At the age of 37 he married Bertha Marcellis. Three years later, in 1895, he was put in charge of the Invertebrate Collection, and in 1896 becoming assistant director of the Museum. When the post of Director fell vacant in 1906 following Sclater's resignation, the Board of Trustees had no hesitation in appointing Péringuey as director. In the same year he started delivering lectures in forest entomology at the S.A. College, and was awarded a doctorate in Natural Sciences by the
University of the Cape of Good Hope The University of the Cape of Good Hope (), renamed the University of South Africa in 1916, was created when the Molteno government passed Act 16 of 1873 in the Cape of Good Hope Parliament. Modelled on the University of London The Un ...
. Despite financial stringencies, the Museum engaged in an active program of collecting, research and publication. A dearth of transport meant that collectors often had to travel by train, donkey-cart and ox-wagon. He made important contributions in the field of physical anthropology, and produced a set of plaster casts of the San to record their physical appearance. An overcrowded museum made expansion necessary, but the outbreak of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
stopped all construction. Péringuey persuaded the authorities to purchase four old corrugated iron buildings in 1922, which subsequently served as store rooms. Péringuey was powerfully built and tall, dynamic and strong-willed. He had an enormous capacity for work, and a prodigious memory, but was also short-tempered and obstinate, with a great distrust of academics. His dislike of Germans led to his naming the genus ''Bochus'' in the family
Gryllacrididae Gryllacrididae are a family of non-jumping insects in the suborder Ensifera occurring worldwide, known commonly as leaf-rolling crickets or raspy crickets. The family historically has been broadly defined to include what are presently several oth ...
, and the type species ''contemnendus'' (i.e. 'contemptible German'). When the family was revised many years later by an Austrian authority, the taxon was found to be a synonym of ''B. puncticeps'', translating as 'the German with the pointy head'. On 20 February 1924, aged 69, Péringuey died near the Museum while walking home. He wrote ''Descriptive catalogue of the coleoptera of South Africa'' (1897) and many short scientific papers describing new
taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : 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 name and ...
. His collections are divided between the Iziko South African Museum,
Transvaal Museum The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, formerly the Transvaal Museum, is a natural history museum situated in Pretoria, South Africa. It is located on Paul Kruger Street, between Visagie and Minnaar Streets, opposite the Pretoria City ...
,
Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova The Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria is a natural history museum in Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live wi ...
and the collections of the
German Entomological Institute The Senckenberg German Entomological Institute (; SDEI or DEI) is a German entomology, entomological research institute devoted to the study of insects. Founded in 1886, the institute has an extraordinary insect collection and a world-class ento ...
.


Taxon Named after him

Species named after him include * Peringuey's leaf-toed gecko (''Cryptactites peringueyi)'' , * Peringuey's adder (''Bitis peringueyi)'' , and *the cocktail ant ('' Crematogaster peringueyi)''.


Taxon described by him

*'' Scelophysa trimeni'' (1885)


Stellenbosch Archaeological Reserve

In 1899 Péringuey discovered
Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...
stone tool Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a ...
s of the
Acheulean Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated with ''Homo ...
type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...
at a site named Bosman's Crossing near the Adam Tas Bridge at the western entrance to the town of
Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...
in South Africa. A plaque was erected at the site in 1962 by the
Historical Monuments Commission The Historical Monuments Commission (HMC) was the national heritage conservation authority of South Africa from 1923 to 1969. The HMC was the first such body to be established in South Africa and was the predecessor of the National Monuments C ...
with the following text:


References

*Anonym 1924 éringuey, L. A.''Entomologist's Monthly Magazine'' (3) 60 89 *Anonym 1925 éringuey, L. A.''So. African Journ. N. H.'' 5 1-8 *Howard, L. O. 1930 History of applied Entomology (Somewhat Anecdotal) ''Smiths. Miscell. Coll''. 84 X+1-564. *Poggi, R. & Conci, C. 1996 éringuey, L. A. ''Mem. Soc. Ent. Ital.'' 75


External links

* Iziko
Details - Descriptive catalogue of the coleoptera of South Africa / by L. Péringuey. - Biodiversity Heritage Library


University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peringuey, Louis Albert South African entomologists 1855 births 1924 deaths French emigrants Immigrants to the Cape Colony Scientists from Bordeaux Cape Colony naturalists