Manfred Koch (entomologist)

Manfred Koch (born July 30, 1901 in Dresden , † May 29, 1972 ibid) was a German lepidopterist (butterfly scientist) and insect trader.

Life

Manfred Koch first studied at the commercial college in Berlin. He then worked in a managerial position in industry until 1945. Since he was already busy with insects in his early youth, in 1941, together with Adolf Müller and Otto Bang-Haas , he donated a medal named after Johann Christian Fabricius , which according to the statutes was given to the author of the best German-language entomological publication of the year or to a particularly deserving German-speaking scientist is awarded for his complete work. The Fabricius Medal is still awarded annually by the German Society for General and Applied Entomology .

After 1945 he made entomology his profession and organized the first post-war entomology conference in Dresden as early as 1946. Scientifically, he mainly worked on taxonomic problems of the rams (Zygaenidae) in the beginning. Later he also devoted himself to problems of applied entomology, for example the control of forest pests. He practiced light trapping as a scientific method and wrote numerous publications on the breeding and preparation of insects. Koch was a pioneer of European migratory butterfly research, which he enriched with interesting theoretical approaches.

Manfred Koch has written numerous publications on butterflies. His best-known work is the original four-volume We Determine Butterflies , which appeared for the first time between 1954 and 1961. Almost all of the large butterfly species occurring in Germany and their caterpillars are depicted in it. There is also valuable information about the occurrence, flight times and forage plants of the caterpillars. The work is still published today and is known far beyond the circles of experts as “the cook”.

Koch was awarded the Leibniz Medal of the Academy of Sciences in 1968 .

literature

• W. Ebert, Bernhard Klausnitzer : In memory of Manfred Koch. In: Entomological News. 17, 3, 1973, pp. 25-32.

Web links

• Article in Stadtwiki Dresden