Ignacio “Nacho” Ribera Galán (9 March 1963 – 15 April 2020) was a Spanish

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 authored 104 species, 16 genera, 3 subgenera, and 1 family of

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

s, along with two species of worms (

Nematomorpha Nematomorpha (sometimes called Gordiacea, and commonly known as horsehair worms, hairsnakes, or Gordian worms) are a phylum of parasitoid animals superficially similar to nematode worms in morphology, hence the name. Most species range in size f ...

Career

Born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Ignacio grew up in

Martorell Martorell () is a municipality, county, and city that forms part of the Baix Llobregat Comarques of Catalonia, comarca, in Catalonia, Spain, primarily known for its medieval Pont del Diable, Devil's bridge. It lies at the confluence of the Llobr ...

and was the second of six children. He graduated from the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

in the 1980s with a degree in biology, followed by a PhD from the

Spanish National Research Council The Spanish National Research Council (, CSIC) is the largest public institution dedicated to research in Spain and the third largest in Europe. Its main objective is to develop and promote research that will help bring about scientific and techn ...

. His PhD dissertation was titled "Estudio de los Hydradephaga (Coleoptera) del Pirineo y Prepirineo: morfometría y ecología." Throughout his early career, Ribera worked at the

Scottish Agricultural College Scotland's Rural College (SRUC; ) is a public land based research institution focused on agriculture and life sciences. Its history stretches back to 1899 with the establishment of the West of Scotland Agricultural College and its current orga ...

University of Murcia The University of Murcia () is the primary institute of higher education in Murcia, Spain. With a student population of approximately 38,000, it is the largest university in the Region of Murcia. Founded in 1272 AD, the University of Murcia is ...

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...

, and the

National Museum of Natural Sciences The Canadian Museum of Nature (; CMN) is a national natural history museum based in Canada's National Capital Region. The museum's exhibitions and public programs are housed in the Victoria Memorial Museum Building, a in Ottawa, Ontario. The m ...

in Madrid. In 2008 he obtained a position at the Instituto de Biología Evolutiva (Spanish National Research Council), where he remained until his death. As an entomologist, Ribera focused on the study of water and cave beetles, authoring numerous taxa in the families

Dytiscidae The Dytiscidae, from the Ancient Greek word δυτικός (''dystikos''), meaning "able to dive", are the predaceous diving beetles, a family of water beetles. They occur in virtually any freshwater habitat around the world, but a few species l ...

Hydraenidae Hydraenidae is a family of very small aquatic animal, aquatic beetles, sometimes called "Minute moss beetles", with a worldwide distribution. They are around 0.8 to 3.3 mm in length. The adults store air on the underside of the body as wel ...

, and

Limnichidae Limnichidae, commonly called minute marsh-loving beetles, is a family of beetles belonging to Byrrhoidea. There are at least 30 genera and 350 described species in Limnichidae. They are found worldwide, with the greatest diversity in tropical regi ...

, among others. As of December 2020, eight species have been named for Ribera: *'' Agabus riberae'' *'' Boreonectes riberae'' *'' Deronectes riberai'' *'' Hydraena riberai'' *'' Hydrophilonyces riberae'' *'' Mayetia amicorum'' *'' Paratyphlus riberai'' *'' Trechus riberai''

Personal life

Ribera married Alexandria Cieslak on 8 June 2002 in

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

. Their only child, a son named Bernard, was born in July 2003. Ribera named '' Ochthebius bernard'' for his son and '' Agabus alexandrae'' for his wife. Ribera suffered from kidney problems since the 1980s, requiring dialysis and multiple transplants, including one kidney from his father Andrés. His health rapidly deteriorated in April 2020, before dying on 15 April.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ribera, Ignacio 1963 births 2020 deaths Spanish entomologists Coleopterists University of Barcelona alumni People associated with the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales