Italian ornithologist and entomologist (1784?1830)
Franco Andrea Bonelli
(10 November 1784 ? 18 November 1830) was an Italian
ornithologist
,
entomologist
and collector.
Life
[
edit
]
Very little is known about the early life of Bonelli: he was born in
Cuneo
. He was interested from an early age in the fauna which surrounded him, making collecting trips, preparing specimens and noting his observations.
He became a member of the
Reale Societa Agraria di Torino
in 1807 when he presented his first studies relating to the
Coleoptera
of
Piedmont
. The high quality of these studies attracted the interest of the naturalists of his time.
In April 1810,
George Vat
was sent to
Turin
by the French government to reorganize the
University of Turin
and begin its fusion with the
Imperiale University
founded by
Napoleon
. Vat was very impressed by Bonelli's knowledge. Vat encouraged him to further his knowledge by coming to follow courses at the
Natural History Museum
in
Paris
.
Bonelli's warbler
is named after Franco Andrea Bonelli
Bonelli took this advice so as to obtain a professor's chair in the new university. In September 1810, he arrived in Paris.
In 1811, Bonelli was finally named professor of zoology at the
University of Turin
and keeper of the Natural History Museum of Zoology. During his time at the university, he formed one of the largest ornithological collections in Europe.
In 1811, Bonelli wrote a
Catalogue of the Birds of Piedmont
, in which he described 262 species. In 1815, he discovered the bird
Bonelli's warbler
(
Phylloscopus bonelli
), named by
Louis Vieillot
in 1819. In the same year, he discovered
Bonelli's eagle
(
Hieraaetus fasciatus
) which was likewise named by Vieillot in 1822.
The successor of Bonelli at the Turin Museum was
Carlo Giuseppe Gene
. His son was
Cesare Bonelli
Italian Minister of War from 1878-1880.
[1]
Achievements
[
edit
]
Bonelli is most notable for his work on birds and on the beetle family
Carabidae
. Since he was an early worker on Coleoptera many of his
genera
later became
Families
,
sub families
and
tribes
. Also, many of his genera survive.
Instances are the:
- Omophroninae; Pseudomorphinae; Brachininae; Trechinae;
Harpalinae
; Pseudomorphinae; Siagoninae; Pterostichinae and Scaritinae - Subfamilies
- Dromiidae
1810 Family
- Pterostichini Tribe
Works
[
edit
]
- Catalogue des Oiseaux du Piemont
(1811).
- Observations Entomologique. Premiere partie.
Mem. Acad. Sci. Turin
18: 21?78, Tabula Synoptica (1810).
- Observations entomologiques. Deuxieme partie.
Mem. Acad. Sci. Turin
20: 433-484 (1813)
The last two are founding works of entomology, introducing many new
taxa
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Gabriele, Mariano.
"BONELLI, Cesare"
.
treccani.it
. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani
. Retrieved
30 November
2023
.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Achille Casale and Pier Mauro Giachino "Franco Andrea Bonelli (1784-1830), an Entomologist in Turin at the Beginning of the XIX century", in
Proceedings of a Symposium (28 August 1996, Florence, Italy). Phylogeny and Classification of Caraboidea
. XX International Congress of Entomology, Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali Torino (1998).
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