Dorothea "Dora" Ilse (9 October 1898 – 21 October 1979) was a German

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

who researched color identification in butterflies.

Personal life

Ilse was born in Honnef am Rhein,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. She completed her school education in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, then moving to

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

and later to

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

. She returned to Berlin in 1931, before moving to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

in 1933. In 1935 she relocated to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

, where she lived until 1952 and taught biology in schools. Ilse then moved to

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, where she remained until 1955. Her whereabouts from 1955 until her death in Munich in 1979 are unknown.

Career

Ilse received her PhD from the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. From there she relocated to Bonn to work as a Scientific Assistant at the hereditary biological archive in Bonn. She returned to Berlin in 1931, as a Scientific Guest Researcher at the

Kaiser Wilhelm Institute The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science () was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by the Max Planck Society. The Kaiser Wilhelm Society was an umbrella organi ...

for Biology in Berlin Dahlem. She expected to move to Munich to work for the Munich Zoological Institute at the end of 1933, upon invitation by soon-to-be Nobel Prize-winner

Karl von Frisch Karl Ritter von Frisch, (20 November 1886 – 12 June 1982) was a German-Austrian ethology, ethologist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973, along with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz. His work centered on investi ...

. However, the discriminatory law “On the Restoration of the Civil Service,” of 7 April 1933 prevented her from doing so on account of her Jewish origins. Ilse instead took up a position as an assistant at the Zoological Institute, alongside which she undertook unpaid work producing educational films. In 1935 she moved in exile to

, where she lived until 1952, teaching biology in schools. She also published articles in ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'' and ''Proceedings of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow'', and in 1938–39 gave a series of lectures in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

, supplemented by her scientific films. Ilse resumed her activity as a zoologist between 1952 and 1955, at the

University of Pune Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Pune, is a public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshkhind. The uni ...

, India, where she helped to establish the Zoological Institute.

Research

Ilse studied aspects of

animal behavior Ethology is a branch of zoology that studies the behaviour of non-human animals. It has its scientific roots in the work of Charles Darwin and of American and German ornithologists of the late 19th and early 20th century, including Charle ...

, including

animal navigation Animal navigation is the ability of many animals to find their way accurately without maps or instruments. Birds such as the Arctic tern, insects such as the Monarch (butterfly), monarch butterfly and fish such as the salmon regularly Animal mi ...

, in

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

. Her research had a particular focus on the

great spangled fritillary The great spangled fritillary (''Speyeria cybele'') is a North American butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Description Its wingspan ranges from . It is characterized by its orange colour above with five black dashes near forewing base and sev ...

(''Argynnis aglaja''). Through her observations, she noted butterflies' preference for blue, crimson, and violet flowers. Ilse's research proved that butterflies have a sense of color, and that most butterflies discover flowers on their first approach through their color and scent. Her experiments also showed that butterflies, like other insects, can be trained.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilse, Dora 1898 births 1979 deaths German entomologists Women entomologists University of Göttingen alumni 20th-century German zoologists