Fernando López Tuero
Encyclopedia
Fernando López Tuero was an agricultural scientist and agronomist
who discovered the bug (believed at first to be a germ) which was destroying Puerto Rico
sugar canes.
and Fernando López Tuero, to study the situation. Dr. Stahl concluded that the epidemic was caused by a "germ" in the terrain, however his findings were inconclusive. In 1894 Fernando López Tuero, the head agronomist of the Agronomical Station of Río Piedras, discovered that the cause of the epidemic was the white grub (Phyllophaga
).
The Phyllophaga is a very large genus
(more than 260 species) of New World
scarab
beetle
s in the subfamily Melolonthinae
. These beetles are nocturnal, emerging in great numbers during the night. The adults are chafers, feeding on foliage of trees and shrubs. They may cause significant damage when emerging in large numbers. The larvae (called white grubs) feed on the roots of grasses and other plants.
López Tuero's scientific investigations have been included in Madre Teresa Cortés Zavala's "Fernando López Tuero, La Revista de Agricultura, Industria y Comercio de Puerto Rico y el progreso agrícola de 1885-1898" written for the Escuela de Historia; Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo.
Agronomist
An agronomist is a scientist who specializes in agronomy, which is the science of utilizing plants for food, fuel, feed, and fiber. An agronomist is an expert in agricultural and allied sciences, with the exception veterinary sciences.Agronomists deal with interactions between plants, soils, and...
who discovered the bug (believed at first to be a germ) which was destroying Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
sugar canes.
Agricultural epidemic
In the latter part of the 19th Century, an epidemic was affecting the agricultural industry of Puerto Rico. Among the crops affected was the sugar cane, whose main product "sugar" was vital to Puerto Rico's economy. The Spanish colonial government created an emergency commission composed of scientists, which included Dr. Agustín StahlAgustín Stahl
Dr. Agustín Stahl , was a medical doctor and the first renowned Puerto Rican scientist, with diverse interests in the fields of ethnology, botany and zoology. He advocated Puerto Rico's independence from Spain....
and Fernando López Tuero, to study the situation. Dr. Stahl concluded that the epidemic was caused by a "germ" in the terrain, however his findings were inconclusive. In 1894 Fernando López Tuero, the head agronomist of the Agronomical Station of Río Piedras, discovered that the cause of the epidemic was the white grub (Phyllophaga
Phyllophaga (genus)
Phyllophaga is a very large genus of New World scarab beetles in the subfamily Melolonthinae. Common names for this genus and many other related genera in the subfamily Melolonthinae are May beetles, June bugs, and June beetles. They range in size from and are blackish or reddish-brown in colour,...
).
The Phyllophaga is a very large genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
(more than 260 species) of New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
scarab
Scarabaeidae
The family Scarabaeidae as currently defined consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide. The species in this large family are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family is fairly unstable, with numerous competing theories, and new proposals appearing quite...
beetle
Beetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
s in the subfamily Melolonthinae
Melolonthinae
Melolonthinae is a subfamily of the scarab beetles . It is a very diverse group; distributed over most of the world, it contains many familiar species. Some authors include the scarab subfamilies Euchirinae and Pachypodinae as tribes in the Melolonthinae.Unlike some of their relatives, their...
. These beetles are nocturnal, emerging in great numbers during the night. The adults are chafers, feeding on foliage of trees and shrubs. They may cause significant damage when emerging in large numbers. The larvae (called white grubs) feed on the roots of grasses and other plants.
López Tuero's scientific investigations have been included in Madre Teresa Cortés Zavala's "Fernando López Tuero, La Revista de Agricultura, Industria y Comercio de Puerto Rico y el progreso agrícola de 1885-1898" written for the Escuela de Historia; Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo.
Written works
Among López Tuero's written works are the following:- "Imagen del editor Unitarismo de La Patria Espanola" (ISBN: 9781146505253)
- "Imagen del editor Unitarismo De La Patria Espanola: La Descentralizacion, El Regionalismo, Portugal, Gibraltar, Sintesis Del Unitarismo" (ISBN: 9781146505253)
- "VALORACION DE MATERIAS AGRICOLAS"
- "EL CHACOLÍ SANTANDERINO EN LOS SIGLOS XIII AL XIX"
- "El hombre"
- " ENFERMEDAD DE LA CAÑA DE AZÚCAR Y MODO DE COMBATIRLA"
- "ESTADO MORAL DE LOS FACTORES DE LA PRODUCCION EN CUBA Y PUERTO-RICO"
See also
- List of Puerto Ricans
- Puerto Rican scientists and inventors