Theodor Becker (zoologist)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Theodor Becker 1920

Theodor Becker (born June 23, 1840 in Wahlstorf (Holstein) , † June 30, 1928 in Liegnitz ) was a German civil engineer and entomologist .

Life

Theodor Becker was born the son of a landlord in Wahlstorf. He attended high school in Ploen and then studied at the Technical University of Hanover and at the ETH Zurich Engineering . In Hanover in 1860 he became a member of the Slesvico-Holsatia Landsmannschaft, later the Slesvico-Holsatia Corps . In 1868 he first settled in Kiel as an independent architect. He took part in the Franco-German War as a volunteer for the Order of St. John .

In 1874 he accepted the election of the city of Liegnitz as its town planning officer and moved there. His buildings, which were regarded as permanent monuments by his contemporaries, included the old waterworks and the Reichsbank. After two electoral terms as town planning officer, he retired as a building clerk at the age of 47 and from then on devoted himself to his scientific studies in research on the Diptera .

His first publication appeared in 1887 after a stay in St. Moritz . To research the Diptera, he carried out numerous extensive research trips that took him to Dalmatia , Egypt , Algeria , Tunisia , Madeira , the Canary Islands , Corsica (1907), the Basses-Alpes and the Dauphiné (1908), and the Urals (1909), to Jemtland and Lapland (1910), to the Pyrenees (1911) and to southern Hungary (1912).

Between 1894 and 1900 he sighted and described different Diptera families , namely the genus Chilosia , the Scatomyziden Sapromyziden, Lonchaeiden, Ephydriden and Pipunculiden. In a series of works, he described the chloropid family (1910-1912) and the dolichopodid family (1917-1919) across all continents . He wrote his last publication in 1926 at the age of 86.

collection

Becker's Diptera collection is in the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin.

Honors

  • In 1904 he was elected a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina .
  • In 1920, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, the University of Wroclaw awarded him the honorary doctorate of Dr. phil. hc
  • In 1920, on July 13th, the German dipterologists dedicated a 448-page commemorative publication to him in the Zoological Yearbooks with a total of 18 articles.
  • Numerous newly discovered dipteras were named after Theodor Becker.

Fonts

  • Contributions to the knowledge of the Diptera fauna of St. Moritz. In: Entomologische Zeitschrift, Vol. 31, 1887, pp. 93-141; 1. Continuation, same there, Vol. 33, 1889, pp. 169–191.
  • Revision of the genus Chilosia Meigen. In: Nova Acta of the Leopoldinisch-Carolinische Akademie der Naturforscher, Vol. 62, 1894, pp. 197-521.
  • Dipterological studies. I. Scatomyzidae. In: Entomologische Zeitschrift, Vol. 39, 1894, pp. 77-196.
  • Dipterological studies. II. Sapromyzidae. In: Entomologische Zeitschrift, Vol. 40, 1895, pp. 171-264.
  • Dipterological studies. III. Lonchaeidae. In: Entomologische Zeitschrift, Vol. 40, 1895, pp. 313-344.
  • Dipterological studies. IV. Ephydridae. In: Entomologische Zeitschrift, Vol. 41, 1896, pp. 91-276.
  • Dipterological studies. V. Pipunculidae. In: Entomologische Zeitschrift, Vol. 42, 1897, pp. 25-100, Vol. 45, 1900, pp. 215-252.
  • Chloropidae. A monographic study. I. part. Palearctic region. In: Arch. Zool. (Budapest), Vol. 1, 1910, pp. 33-174. Addendum, p. 197-200.
  • Chloropidae. A monographic study. Part II. Ethiopian region. In: Ann. Mus. nat. Hungar., Vol. 8, 1910, pp. 377-443.
  • Chloropidae. A monographic study. III. Part. The Indo-Australian region. In: Ann. Mus. nat. Hungar., Vol. 9, 1911, pp. 35-170.
  • Chloropidae. A monographic study. IV. Part. Nearctic region. In: Ann. Mus. nat. Hungar., Vol. 10, 1912, pp. 21-120.
  • Chloropidae. A monographic study. V. part. Neotropical region. In: Ann. Mus. nat. Hungar., Vol. 10, 1912, pp. 121-234. Addendum, pp. 235-256.
  • Dipterological studies. Dolichopodidae. I. part. In: Nova Acta of the Leopoldine-Carolinian Academy of Natural Scientists, Vol. 102, No. 2, 1917, pp. 113-361.
  • Dipterological studies. Dolichopodidae. Part II. In: Nova Acta of the Leopoldine-Carolinian Academy of Natural Scientists, Vol. 103, No. 3, 1918, pp. 204-315.
  • Dipterological studies. Dolichopodidae. III. Part. In: Nova Acta of the Leopoldine-Carolinian Academy of Natural Scientists, Vol. 104, No. 2, 1919, pp. 35-212.
  • Ephydridae. The flies of the Palearctic region. Delivery 10 by Erwin Lindner, 1926.

Theodor Becker wrote a total of 117 entomological publications or was involved in them.

literature

  • Festschrift for Theodor Becker in Liegnitz . In: Zoological Yearbooks, Department for Systematics, Geography and Biology of Animals , Volume 43, 1920, Issue 1–4. ( Digitized version )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Corps Slesvico-Holsatia, Corpsliste , winter semester 1981/82, p. 19, no. 072
  2. ↑ Diptera & Siphonaptera collections in the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin ( Memento of the original from March 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.naturkundemuseum-berlin.de
  3. ^ List of members Leopoldina, Theodor Wilhelm Johannes Becker (with picture)
personal data
SURNAME Becker, Theodor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German civil engineer and entomologist
DATE OF BIRTH June 23, 1840
PLACE OF BIRTH Wahlstorf (Holstein)
DATE OF DEATH June 30, 1928
Place of death Liegnitz