Hans Fruhstorfer

Hans Fruhstorfer (7 March 1866 Passau, Germany – 9 April 1922 in Munich) was a German explorer, insect trader and entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera. He collected and described new species of exotic butterflies, especially in Seitz's Macrolepidoptera of the World. He is best known for his work on the butterflies of Java.

His career began in 1888 when he spent two years in Brazil. The expedition was financially successful and led to his becoming a professional collector. Next he spent some time in Ceylon, then in 1890 he went to Java for three years, visiting Sumatra. Between 1895 and 1896 he collected in Sulawesi, Lombok and Bali. In 1899, he went on a three-year journey to the United States, the Oceania, Japan, China, Tonkin, Annam and Siam, returning via India.

Following his travels, he settled in Geneva where he wrote monographs based on the specimens in his extensive private collection. Many of these were incorporated into Seitz. In taxonomy he made extensive use of the structure of the male genitalia. Fruhstorfer, in these years also studied Palearctic butterflies, Orthoptera and botany. No longer travelling himself, Fruhstorfer employed the collectors Hans Sauter de:Hans Sauter (Entomologe) in Formosa and Franz Werner in New Guinea.

Fruhstorfer's collections are deposited at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, the Natural History Museum (BMNH) in London and the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, as well as in many other museums.

Fruhstorfer died in Munich on 9 April 1922, following a failed operation for cancer.

The Hans Fruhstorfer Collection

Works

Partial list:

"Verzeichnis der von mir in Tonkin, Annam und Siam gesammelten Nymphaliden und Besprechung verwandter Formen", Wiener entomologische Zeitung 25: 307-362, pls. 1,2. (1906)

"Family Pieridae", in Adalbert Seitz (ed.) The Macrolepidoptera of the world 9: 119-190, pls. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart. (1910)

"Family Lycaenidae", in Seitz ibid. 9: 803-901, pls. (part) Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart. (1915–1924)

Wikispecies (see below) provides another list and links to digitised papers by Fruhstorfer

References

• The Entomologist, by Royal Entomological Society of London, British Trust for Entomology 1922 - Page 144 Google books
• Otakar Kudrna 1985: "European butterflies named by Hans Fruhstorfer" in Nachrichten des entomologischen Vereins Apollo (Suppl.) 5 : 1-60.
• Gerardo Lamas: "A Bibliography of the Zoological Publications of Hans Fruhstorfer (1886* - 1922†)" in Entomofauna, 26 6): 57-100. pdf

External links

• BHL Martin, L. The Fruhstorfer collection of butterflies: catalogue of types with general account and list of the more interesting forms. Includes biography
• Lepidopterology Biography
• BRD

Wikispecies has information related to: Hans Fruhstorfer