Ewald Heinrich Rübsaamen (20 May 1857, Haardt – 17 March 1919, Metternich) was a German teacher, artist, and amateur entomologist who studied gall forming insects, especially the gall midges (

Cecidomyiidae Cecidomyiidae is a family of diptera, flies known as gall midges or gall gnats. As the name implies, the larvae of most gall midges feed within plant tissue, creating abnormal plant growths called galls. Cecidomyiidae are very fragile small in ...

), and worked on pest control in grapes, most importantly on ''

Phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belongs to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs); orig ...

''.

Rübsaamen was the second son of Johann Franz and Emilie Mathilde Johanne. His father manufactured precision mechanical instruments for mines. After school at

Weidenau Weidenau is a suburban part (Stadtteil) of the city Siegen in Germany. Weidenau, a northern part of Siegen, shares borders with Niedersetzen in the north, Geisweid in the north-west, the central part of Siegen in the south, Birlenbach (Siegen), ...

, Ewald entered the gymnasium in

Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...

and in 1875 went to study mathematics at the Technical College in Karlsruhe. He however gave up studies after four semesters and began to train in art and returned to work as an arts teacher in Hilchenbach. He worked in a primary school in Steinhauserberg from 1878 and then moved to Siegen to head a private school. He also began to study botany and zoology. He took a special interest in gall insects including midges and related nematoceran flies. He described numerous species from collections. In 1891, following the death of his father, the family moved to Berlin and he worked at the Plant Physiology Institute while also attending the Royal Art School. He worked for

Karl August Möbius Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl of Austria, last Austrian Emperor * Karl (footballer) (born 1993), Karl Cac ...

at the

Museum für Naturkunde The Natural History Museum () is a natural history museum located in Berlin, Germany. It exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history and in such domain it is one of three major museums in Germany alongside Naturm ...

. In 1909 he headed the state phylloxera control unit in Rhineland and was titled a professor in 1912 by the Ministry of Agriculture. His sister Rosa Wilhelmine Henriette (1852-1922) returned to Siegen and became a poet of repute. Rübsaamen clashed with the entomologist

Jean-Jacques Kieffer Jean-Jacques Kieffer (1857 in Guinkirchen – 1925 in Bitche) was a French naturalist and entomologist who specialised in the study of parasitic insects. Educated as a priest, Kieffer taught natural science in Bitche, Lorraine while working ...

on various matters. His archives are in the

Humboldt University Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humboldt ...

and his specimens are in the Stuttgart Museum of Natural History. Rübsaamen was a member of the

Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (), in short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded on 1 January 1652, based on academic models in Italy, it was originally named the ''Academi ...

in Halle from 1917. He began to suffer from various illnesses of the heart and lung and died at the age of 61. File:Bathypolypus valdiviae1.jpg, ''Bathypolypus valdiviae'' File:Austrorossia mastigophora.jpg, ''Austrorossia mastigophora'' File:Benthoctopus levis.jpg, ''Benthoctopus levis'' File:CirrothaumaMurDraw2.jpg, ''Cirrothauma murrayi'' File:Velodona togata.jpg, ''Velodona togata''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rübsaamen, Ewald Heinrich German entomologists 1857 births 1919 deaths German scientific illustrators 19th-century German illustrators 20th-century German illustrators