Edmond de Selys-Longchamps

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Edmond de Selys

Baron Michel Edmond de Selys-Longchamps (born May 25, 1813 in Paris , † December 11, 1900 in Liège ) was a Belgian politician and entomo and ornithologist . The often found spelling "Sélys-Longchamps" of his name (ie with accent aigu ) is incorrect . Selys-Longchamps himself always used the Liège long-established family name "Selys" without an accent, even in the acceptable, frequently used short form. Its author 's abbreviation is Selys-Longch. without an accent.

Live and act

Selys-Longchamps is considered one of the most important researchers in the field of dragonflies . His wealth enabled him to amass and describe one of the largest collections of Neuroptera . The majority of his collection is now in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels.

Selys-Longchamps was a wealthy Belgian aristocrat. He was home educated and never attended university. Nevertheless, he became one of the leading researchers in the field of Odonata (worldwide), Neuroptera (worldwide) and Orthoptera (mainly Europe). He was also an eminent ornithologist. As a representative of some political groups, he became a councilor for Waremme in the Belgian parliament in 1846 . In 1855 he became a member of the Belgian Senate . Between 1880 and 1884 he was elected President.

His early interest in birds is evidenced by a book of pictures of Belgian species that he painted at the age of 16. Ornithology remained an interest of his all his life and he created a collection of birds in Waremme, which included both European and exotic species such as the giant alk , which was already extinct at the time . He was also interested in mammals . At the age of 18 he wrote his first work, a list of the insects of Liège . In 1837 he published a list of the Odonata and Lepidoptera of Belgium.

From this point on he created publications on Odonata almost continuously. These were mostly monographs, but some synopses were also included. The only family to which he did not dedicate a synopsis was that of the Libellulidae .

In 1845 he met Hermann August Hagen and began to work with him, which in 1850 resulted in the comprehensive European work "Revue des Odonates". Hagen also supported Selys' work on some synopses and monographs. This led to Selys being named in the catalog of William Forsell Kirby as the first descriptor of some species, although in reality this was Hagen. However, Selys is still the actual author of over 1000 species descriptions.

He was married to Sophie Caroline (1818-1869), the daughter of the Belgian geologist Jean Baptiste Julien d'Omalius d'Halloy .

Memberships

When La Société Cuvierienne was founded in 1838 , he was one of the 140 founding members of the society.

Works

Odonata (selection)

  • 1840. Monograph des Libellulidées d'Europe . Roret, Paris & Bruxelles.
  • 1842. Faune belge. Première partie. Indication méthodique des mammifères, oiseaux, reptiles et poissons, observés jusqu'ici en Belgique. Faune Belge i-xii + 1-310
  • Note sur une nouvelle Mésange d'Europe . In: Bulletins de l'Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique . tape 10 , 1843, p. 24–86 ( online [accessed January 8, 2013]).
  • 1850. Revue des Odonates ou Libellules d'Europe. Mémoires de la Société Royale des Sciences de Liège 6: i-xxii, 1-408. With Hermann August Hagen.
  • 1853. Synopsis des Calopterygines. Bulletin de l'Académie royale des Sciences de Belgique (1) 20: 1-73 (reprint 1-73).
  • 1854. Synopsis of the Gomphines. Bulletin de l'Académie royale des Sciences de Belgique 21: 23-114.
  • 1858. Monograph of the Gomphines. Mémoires de la Société Royale des Sciences de Liège 9: 1-460, 23 pls.
  • 1862. Synopsis des agrionines, seconde légion: Lestes. Bulletin de l'Académie Royale des Sciences de Belgique (2) 13: 288-338 (reprint 1-54).
  • 1871. Synopsis des Cordulines. Bulletin de l'Académie royale des Sciences de Belgique (2) 31: 238-316; 519-565.
  • 1876. Synopsis des agrionines, cinquième légion: Arion (suite). Le genre Agrion. Bulletin de l'Académie royale des Sciences de Belgique (2) 41: 247-322, 496-539, 1233-1309 (reprint 1-199).
  • 1883. Synopsis of Aeschnines. Première partie: Classification. Bulletin de l'Académie des Sciences de Belgique 3 (5): 712-748.

credentials

  • WF Kirby: A synonymic catalog of Neuroptera Odonata, or dragonflies . Gurney and Jackson, London 1890.
  • Rudolf Blasius , Michel Edmond, Baron de Selys-Longchamps , Journal of Ornithology, Volume 49, Number 3, July 1901, pages 361–381 Complete article, freely accessible
  • Société Cuvierienne: List of the Premiers Fondateurs de La Société Cuvierienne, Association universelle pour l'avancement de la Zoologie, de L'Anatomie comparée et de la Palaeontologie . In: Revue Zoologique par La Société Cuvierienne . tape 1 , 1838, p. 189-192 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Société Cuvierienne, p. 191.
personal data
SURNAME Selys-Longchamps, Edmond de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Selys-Longchamps, Baron Michel Edmond de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian politician and entomologist
DATE OF BIRTH May 25, 1813
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 1900
Place of death Liege