Filippo Silvestri
Encyclopedia
Filippo Silvestri was an Italian
entomologist. He specialised in world Protura, Thysanura
, Diplura and Isoptera, but also worked on Hymenoptera
, Myriapoda
and Italian Diptera
. He is also noted for describing and naming the previously unknown order Zoraptera
.
A keen young naturalist, Silvestri became assistant to Giovanni Battista Grassi
(1854-1925), Director of the Institute of Anatomical Research of the University of Rome. In 1904, Silvestri became Director of the Institute of Entomology and Zoology at the agricultural college in Portici (the Laboratorio di Zoologia Generale e Agraria, now Faculty of Agriculture), a position he held for 45 years.
He discovered polyembryony
in the 1930's while working on Litomatix truncatellus Hymenoptera.
His collection is in Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova
. Duplicates of Isoptera are
in the Swedish Museum of Natural History
and a few Diplopoda (millipede) types are in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.
Filippo Sivestri has been entitled a square in his home town, Bevagna, and a high school in Portici, the town where he worked and died.
Publications on termites.
* Descrizioni di due nuove specie di Isoptera dell'Africa. Bollettino del Laboratorio di Zoologia Generale e Agraria, Portici 21:91-95. .( 1928)
Translated from Wikipedia France
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
entomologist. He specialised in world Protura, Thysanura
Thysanura
Thysanura is an order of insects, encompassing silverfish and firebrats, known for their three long caudal filaments.The families Machilidae and Meinertellidae of the jumping bristletails were once included with Thysanura....
, Diplura and Isoptera, but also worked on Hymenoptera
Hymenoptera
Hymenoptera is one of the largest orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees and ants. There are over 130,000 recognized species, with many more remaining to be described. The name refers to the heavy wings of the insects, and is derived from the Ancient Greek ὑμήν : membrane and...
, Myriapoda
Myriapoda
Myriapoda is a subphylum of arthropods containing millipedes, centipedes, and others. The group contains 13,000 species, all of which are terrestrial...
and Italian Diptera
Diptera
Diptera , or true flies, is the order of insects possessing only a single pair of wings on the mesothorax; the metathorax bears a pair of drumstick like structures called the halteres, the remnants of the hind wings. It is a large order, containing an estimated 240,000 species, although under half...
. He is also noted for describing and naming the previously unknown order Zoraptera
Zoraptera
The insect order Zoraptera contains a single family, the Zorotypidae, which in turn contains one extant genus with 34 species, Zorotypus as well as 9 extinct species.-Phylogeny:...
.
A keen young naturalist, Silvestri became assistant to Giovanni Battista Grassi
Giovanni Battista Grassi
Giovanni Battista Grassi was an Italian zoologist, known for work demonstrating that mosquitos carry the malaria parasite Plasmodium in their digestive tract, on the embryological development of honey bees, on parasites, particularly the vine parasite phylloxera, migrations and metamorphosis in...
(1854-1925), Director of the Institute of Anatomical Research of the University of Rome. In 1904, Silvestri became Director of the Institute of Entomology and Zoology at the agricultural college in Portici (the Laboratorio di Zoologia Generale e Agraria, now Faculty of Agriculture), a position he held for 45 years.
He discovered polyembryony
Polyembryony
Polyembryony is the phenomenon of two or more embryos developing from a single fertilized egg . Polyembryony occurs regularly in many plants and animals. The nine banded armadillo, for instance, usually gives birth to four identical young...
in the 1930's while working on Litomatix truncatellus Hymenoptera.
His collection is in Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova
Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova
The Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova is a natural history museum in Genoa, northern Italy.-External links:*...
. Duplicates of Isoptera are
in the Swedish Museum of Natural History
Swedish Museum of Natural History
The Swedish Museum of Natural History , in Stockholm, is one of two major museums of natural history in Sweden, the other one being located in Gothenburg....
and a few Diplopoda (millipede) types are in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.
Filippo Sivestri has been entitled a square in his home town, Bevagna, and a high school in Portici, the town where he worked and died.
Publications on termites.
- . Nota preliminare sui termitidi sud-americani. Bollettino dei Musei di Zoologia e Anatomia Comparata della Universit… di Torino XVI(389):1-8.( 1901)
- Contribuzione alla conoscenza dei Termiti e Termitofili dell'America Meridionale. Redia 1:1-234. .( 1903)
- Isoptera. In: Die Fauna Südwest-Australia. Vol. 2, edited by W. Michaelsen & R. Hartmeyer. pp. 279-314. .( 1909)
- Contribuzione alla conoscenza dei Termitidi e Termitofili dell'Africa occidentale. Bollettino del Laboratorio di Zoologia General e Agraria, Portici 9:1-146. .( 1914)
- Descriptiones termitum in Anglorum Guiana. Zoologica 3(16):307-321. .( 1923)
* Descrizioni di due nuove specie di Isoptera dell'Africa. Bollettino del Laboratorio di Zoologia Generale e Agraria, Portici 21:91-95. .( 1928)
- Nuovo concetto di fasi corrispondenti all'età della colonia negli individui di una stessa specie componenti una colonia di termiti e descrizione di due specie nuove di Syntermes. Bollettino del Laboratorio di Entomologia Agraria, Portici 6:1-14 (1946).
Translated from Wikipedia France