Maximilian Rudolph Standfuss (6 June 1854, Schreiberhau – 22 January 1917, Zürich) was a German-Swiss

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 ...

specializing in

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

. He studied theology at the University of Halle and natural sciences at the University of Breslau, where in 1879 he received his PhD in zoology. For many years, he was curator, and later director, of the collections at the entomological museum of Eidgenössische Polytechnikum in Zürich. In 1892 he obtained his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

and he subsequently worked as a lecturer at the Polytechnic and at the University of Zürich. In 1915 he received the title of professor. In 1908–10 he served as president of the Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Zürich. He is best remembered for his breeding experiments with

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

and moths under artificial conditions; e.g. taking the cocoons of central European butterflies and breeding them at various temperatures. He discovered that when the temperature was very low, the butterfly emerged from the cocoon with a coloration that was different from the central European species, but similar to varieties of that species found in colder climates — when the temperature was high, the same European cocoons produced varieties that were to be found in tropical regions.

Selected works

* ''Lepidopterologisches'', 1884 – Lepidopterology. * ''Handbuch für Sammler der europäischen Grossschmetterlinge'', 1891 – Manual for collectors of Macrolepidoptera. * ''Handbuch der paläarktischen Gross-Schmetterlinge für Forscher und Sammler'', 1896 – Manual of Palaearctic Macrolepidoptera for researchers and collectors * ''Experimentelle zoologische Studien mit Lepidopteren'', 1898 – Experimental zoological studies of Lepidoptera.Most widely held works about Max Standfuss
WorldCat Identities

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Standfuss, Max 1854 births 1917 deaths People from Karkonosze County University of Halle alumni University of Breslau alumni Academic staff of ETH Zurich Swiss lepidopterists