Vauvert
Vauvert (; ) is a commune in the far south of the Gard department in southern France. It was known as ''Posquières'' in the Middle Ages. The commune comprises the town of Vauvert and the villages of Gallician and Montcalm.
(
Gard
Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;Army of the Eastern Pyrenees, was a French physician,
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 ...
and naturalist.
Biography
Destined to enter the orders, he abandoned the seminary in 1784 and turned to medicine.
He studied at the
University of Montpellier
The University of Montpellier () is a public university, public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous opera ...
where he became a doctor of medicine in 1787. At the same time, he became interested in entomology and botany, particularly with
Antoine Gouan
Antoine Gouan (15 November 1733 – 1 September 1821) was a French naturalist who was a native of Montpellier. Gouan was a pioneer of Linnaean taxonomy in France.
He began his studies in Toulouse, later returning to Montpellier, where he studied ...
.
He participated unsuccessfully in the competition for the medicine professorship of 1789-1790 opened on the death of professors Jean Sabatier and Jean-Charles de Grimaud.
He died on active service during the campaign of 1794, when he had gone to serve voluntarily as a military doctor in hospitals.
Works
On December 20, 1787, he read to the Royal Society of Sciences of Montpellier a memoir containing observations on a new genus of insect. The
protonym
In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...
''Dorthesia'', given to a
scale insect
Scale insects are small insects of the Order (biology), order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient g ...
, was created in its honour following this first description on the leaves of a
euphorbia
''Euphorbia'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family (biology), family Euphorbiaceae.
Euphorbias range from tiny annual plants to large and long-lived trees, with perhaps the tallest being ''Eu ...
(''Euphorbia charachias'') near Nîmes. The species ''Dorthesia characias'' was described by .
John Obadiah Westwood
John Obadiah Westwood (22 December 1805 – 2 January 1893) was an English people , English entomologist and archaeologist noted for his artistic talents. He published several illustrated works on insects and antiquities. He was among the first ...
described the species ''Dorthesia seychellarum'' later called ''Icerya seychellarum''. The name ''Dorthesia'' was changed to ''Dorthezia'' and then to ''Orthezia''.
The same year, he joined the Royal Society of Sciences of Montpellier. He successively published various productions relating to natural history and rural economy:
* Observations of a singular phenomenon, caused by a multitude of black ants (''Formica nigra'') gathered in the atmosphere, which they obscure like a cloud;
* Research on the pine processionary caterpillar;
* Memories on how to protect chestnut trees from caterpillar damage, on the insects that devour young plants, on those that damage wheat and
alfalfa
Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, ...
;
* Memory on the
clematis
''Clematis'' is a genus of about 380 species within the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. Their garden hybrids and cultivars have been popular among gardeners, beginning with ''Clematis'' 'Jackmanii', a garden staple since 1862; more cultivars ...
meadows
A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable condition ...
, to multiply and improve the
fodder
Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food ...
in his regions;
* Overview of the Mediterranean
aggradation
Aggradation (or alluviation) is the term used in geology for the increase in land elevation, typically in a river system, due to the deposition of sediment. Aggradation occurs in areas in which the supply of sediment is greater than the amount o ...
s in the Lower Languedoc.
In 1788, he won the prize of the Royal Society of Sciences of Montpellier by writing the
eulogy
A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a term o ...
of Pierre Richer de Belleval.
He published a number of entomological articles in the “Mémoires de la Société royale d'agriculture de France” of which he was a corresponding member.
He was a member of the
Linnean Society of London
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...
and he corresponded with James Edward Smith.
He was also a competent geologist. We owe him a dissertation on the rolled pebbles of the Rhône composed with the Baron de Servières and dissertations on other stones around
Nîmes
Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...