Carlo Emery (25 October 1848,

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

– 11 May 1925) was an Italian

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 ara ...

. He is remembered for Emery's rule, which states that insect social parasites are often closely related to their hosts. Early in his career Carlo Emery pursued a course in general medicine, and in 1872 narrowed his interests to ophthalmology. In 1878 he was appointed Professor of Zoology at the

University of Cagliari The University of Cagliari ( it, Università degli Studi di Cagliari) is a university in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. It was founded in 1606 and is organized in 11 faculties. History The ''Studium Generalis Kalaritanum'' was founded in 1606 alon ...

, remaining there for several years until 1881 when he took up an appointment at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in contin ...

as Professor of Zoology, remaining there for thirty-five years until his death. Emery specialised in

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typic ...

, but his early work was on

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describe ...

. Prior to 1869, his earliest works were a textbook of general zoology and papers on fishes and molluscs. From 1869 to 1925 he devoted himself almost entirely to the study of ants. Emery published extensively between 1869 and 1926 describing 130

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

and 1057

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

mainly in Wytsman's ''Genera Insectorum'' series. Emery’s collections of Hymenoptera are in Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova. His Coleoptera are in

Museo Civico di Zoologia The Museo Civico di Zoologia is a natural history museum in Rome, central Italy. It is situated next to the Bioparc ( Zoo) and can be entered by the Zoo or through the entrance on via Ulisse Aldrovandi. Founded in 1932, it is said to continue ...

di Roma. He died at Bologna in 1925.

References

* Anonym 1925: mery, C.''Entomologist's Monthly Magazine'' (3) 61:209 * Conci, C. 1975: Repertorio delle biografie e bibliografie degli scrittori e cultori italiani di entomologia. ''Mem. Soc. Ent. Ital.'' 48 1969(4) 904–905

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Hymenopterists 1848 births 1925 deaths 19th-century Neapolitan people Italian entomologists University of Cagliari faculty {{entomologist-stub