Ödön Tömösváry (''Edmund Tömösváry'', October 12, 1852 in Magyaró – August 15, 1884 in Déva) was Hungarian naturalist,

myriapodologist Myriapodology is the scientific study of myriapods which includes centipedes and millipedes. The field of myriapodology can also cover other myriapods such as pauropods and symphylans. Those who study myriapods are myriapodologists. Societies * I ...

and

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

. In 1883 he made the seminal description of peculiar sensory organ of

myriapods Myriapods () are the members of subphylum Myriapoda, containing arthropods such as millipedes and centipedes. The group contains about 13,000 species, all of them terrestrial. The fossil record of myriapods reaches back into the late Silurian, ...

, known today as the temporal organ or

organ of Tömösváry Tömösváry organs, also known as temporal organs or postantennal organs are specialized paired sensory organs found in certain groups of myriapods (e.g. centipedes and millipedes) and hexapods (e.g. springtail Springtails (Collembola) form th ...

. He attended secondary school in

Kolozsvár ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Status , subdivision_name2 = County seat , settlement_type = City , l ...

and university of Selmecbánya. Tömösváry completed his university studies in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

in 1881, and his doctoral thesis concerned the anatomical structure of the respiratory organ of ''

Scutigera coleoptrata ''Scutigera coleoptrata'', also known as the house centipede, is a species of centipede that is typically yellowish-grey and has up to 15 pairs of long legs. Originating in the Mediterranean region, it has spread to other parts of the world, whe ...

''. In his scientific career Tömösváry wrote 57 papers. When he arrived in the Lower

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , ...

region to study the Columbatch fly (

Simuliidae A black fly or blackfly (sometimes called a buffalo gnat, turkey gnat, or white socks) is any member of the family Simuliidae of the Culicomorpha infraorder. It is related to the Ceratopogonidae, Chironomidae, and Thaumaleidae. Over 2,200 spec ...

) he became sick with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

. Because of this continuing illness he wasn't able to work as a zoologist and in the last year of his life he worked as a teacher at Kassa. He died on August 15, 1884 in Déva. Tömösváry described 32 new myriapod species: 10 of

Diplopoda Millipedes are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derived from this feature. Each double-legged segment is a re ...

, 19 of

Chilopoda Centipedes (from New Latin , "hundred", and Latin , "foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', lip, and New Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an ...

, 2 of

Pauropoda Pauropods are small, pale, millipede-like arthropods. Around 830 species in twelve families are found worldwide, living in soil and leaf mold. They look rather like centipedes, or millipedes, and may be a sister group of the latter. However, this ...

, and one

Symphyla Symphylans, also known as garden centipedes or pseudocentipedes, are soil-dwelling arthropods of the class Symphyla in the subphylum Myriapoda. Symphylans resemble centipedes, but are very small, non-venomous, and only distantly related to both ...

species. He introduced two new genera, ''Edentistoma'' Tömösváry, 1882 = ''Anodontastoma'' Tömösváry, 1882 and ''Trachypauropus'' Tömösváry, 1882.

References

* Korsós Z
Ödön Tömösváry (1852–1884), Pioneer of Hungarian Myriapodology
''Bulletin of the British Myriapod and Isopod Group''. 19, pp. 78–87, 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomosvary, Odon 1852 births 1884 deaths People from Mureș County Hungarian entomologists 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Myriapodologists Tuberculosis deaths in Romania