Richard to the streets

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Paul Richard zur Strassen (born November 20, 1926 in Frankfurt am Main ; † October 31, 2013 ) was a German entomologist .

Life

Richard zur Strassen was the eldest son of Otto zur Strassen (full professor at the Zoological Institute of the University of Frankfurt 1914–1937) and his wife Emma, ​​nee. Prior. From 1956 he was with Marlies zur Strassen, b. Günther, married. They have one daughter and four sons.

In 1944 Richard zur Strassen was drafted into the Wehrmacht, was taken prisoner by the Soviets in May 1945 and returned home sick in autumn 1946. From 1948 to 1956 he studied biology at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt with a focus on coleopterology (beetle science) and received his doctorate under Hermann Giersberg on the subject: “On the ecology of the Velleius dilatatus FABRICIUS, a guest at Vespa crabro LINNAEUS Staphyliniden (Ins.Col.) ". In May 1956 he went to Pretoria in South Africa to the Ministry of Agriculture to examine fringed-winged birds ( Thysanoptera or Thrips) in various grasslands.

In 1959 he returned to Germany and began as an assistant, from 1960 as a research assistant to Elli Franz at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt. In 1963 Richard zur Strassen took over the management of the newly created Entomology I section ( Coleoptera , Thysanoptera , Strepsiptera ). In the following decades he built one of the largest and most diverse collections of Thysanoptera in the world. For this purpose he undertook numerous expeditions to European, African, Asian and North American countries. He has looked after Humboldt and DAAD scholars from all over the world on several occasions , who have been incorporated into the Thysanoptera customer in his section. In 1991 Richard zur Strassen retired from active service. In the following years he wrote the illustrated identification book "The terebrant Thysanoptera of Europe", which appeared in 2003 in the series "Die Tierwelt Deutschlands" (Part 74). Richard zur Strassen described more than 150 recent and fossil fringe-winged birds, as well as 14 species of beetles, e.g. B. a number of African pill-makers and a hymenoptera.

He published well over 200 publications, including the Red Lists of Endangered Thysanoptera in Germany and Austria. He wrote the chapters on the beetles and fringed wings for Grzimek's animal life , worked on the fringed wings of Europe as part of the Fauna-Europaea project and wrote the “Thysanoptera” chapter for A. Kaestner's textbook on special zoology.

In 1988 he was presented with the Wilhelm Hoos plaque of the German Pest Control Association for his services to applied entomology. Richard zur Strassen is a founding member of the Austrian Entomological Society and was active on the board of the German Society for General and Applied Entomology for many years . In 1993 he received the Meigen Medal of the DGaaE for his pioneering work in Thysanoptera research. (The 1991 entry in Kovac is likely to be an error).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/Beitraege-zur-Entomologie_65_0197-0208.pdf
  2. ↑ a b c d Damir Kovac: Dr. Richard zur Strassen on his 80th birthday. In: Entomologica Austriaca. 14, 2007, pp. 301-304 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
  3. ↑ Alfons Evers: Laudation for the award of the Meigen Medal (PDF; 128 kB).
personal data
SURNAME To the streets, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zur Strassen, Paul Richard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entomologist
DATE OF BIRTH November 20, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 2013