Johan August Wahlberg (9 October 1810, in Lackarebäck, Sweden – 6 March 1856, in

Lake Ngami Lake Ngami is an endorheic lake in Botswana, north of the Kalahari Desert. It is seasonally filled by the Taughe River, an effluent of the Okavango River system flowing out of the western side of the Okavango Delta. It is one of the fragmented re ...

, Bechuanaland) was a Swedish

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and explorer. Wahlberg started studying

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

at the

University of Uppsala Uppsala University (UU) () is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially founded in the 15th century, the university rose to s ...

in 1829, and later forestry, agronomy and natural science, graduating from the Swedish Forestry Institute in 1834. In 1832 he joined Professor Carl Henrik Boheman, a famous entomologist, on a collecting trip to Norway. In 1833 and 1834 he travelled in Sweden and Germany on forestry research projects. He joined the Office of Land Survey and was appointed an engineer in 1836, becoming an instructor at the Swedish Land Survey College. He travelled in southern Africa between 1838 and 1856, sending thousands of natural history specimens back to Sweden. He was exploring the Okavango area along with Frederick Joseph Green (1829-1876) when he was killed, along the Thamalakane river about 10 km northwest of Maun in today's Botswana, by a wounded

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

. Before his death was known in Sweden, on October 8, 1856 he was elected a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

, since the news of his death had not reached Stockholm at this time. He is thus the only member of this academy who has been elected after his death.

Legacy

Wahlberg is commemorated in

Wahlberg's eagle Wahlberg's eagle (''Hieraaetus wahlbergi'') is a bird of prey that is native to sub-Saharan Africa, where it is a seasonal migrant in the woodlands and savannas. It is named after the Swedish naturalist Johan August Wahlberg. Like all eagles, it ...

''Aquila wahlbergi'' ( Sundevall 1851), Wahlberg's honeyguide ''Prodotiscus regulus'' (Sundevall 1850), Wahlberg's cormorant ''Phalacrocorax neglectus'', Wahlberg's epauletted fruit bat ''Epomophorus wahlbergi'', the bush squeaker ''Arthroleptis wahlbergii''

Smith Smith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England ** List of people ...

, 1849 (a frog), and a tree ''Entada wahlbergi''. He is also commemorated in the scientific names of four species of lizards: '' Homopholis wahlbergii'', '' Pachydactylus wahlbergii'', '' Panaspis wahlbergii'', and '' Trachylepis wahlbergii''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Wahlberg", p. 278).

Works

*with Wallengren HDJ (1857). "''Kafferlandets Dag-fjärilar, insamlade åren 1838—1845. Lepidoptera

Rhopalocera 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 ...

, in Terra Caffrorum. Annis 1838-1845'' ". ''K. svenska VetenskAkad. Handl.'' 2 (4): 5—55. (in Swedish). *with Wallengren HDJ (1864). "''

Heterocera Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (suborder Rhopalocera ...

-Fjärilar, samlade i Kafferlandet'' ". ''K. svenska VetenskAkad. Handl.'' 5 (4): 1-83. (in Swedish). Wahlberg's South African

Coleoptera 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 ...

were described by Carl Henrik Boheman and

Olof Immanuel von Fåhraeus Olov (or Olof) is a Swedish form of Olav/Olaf, meaning "ancestor's descendant". A common short form of the name is ''Olle''. The name may refer to: * Olle Åberg (1925–2013), Swedish middle-distance runner * Olle Åhlund (1920–1996), Swed ...

*Boheman CH (1851). ''Insecta Caffrariae annis 1838-1845 a J.A. Wahlberg collecta. Coleoptera''. (Volume 1). Stockholm: Fritze & Norstedt 8 + 625 pp. (in Latin). *Fahraeus OJ in Boheman CH (1851). ''Insecta Caffrariae annis 1838-1845 a J.A. Wahlberg collecta. Coleoptera''. (Volume 1). Stockholm: Fritze & Norstedt pp. 299–625. (in Latin). Wahlberg's herpetological specimens were made available by Sunderwall to Andrew Smith, and to

André Marie Constant Duméril André Marie Constant Duméril (1 January 1774 – 14 August 1860) was a French zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the National Museum of Natural History (France), Muséum national d'histoire naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became pr ...

and

Gabriel Bibron Gabriel Bibron (20 October 1805 – 27 March 1848) was a French zoologist and herpetologist. He was born in Paris. The son of an employee of the Museum national d'histoire naturelle, he had a good foundation in natural history and was ...

. These formed the basis for new species descriptions, including in *Smith A (1849). ''Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa''. London: Lords Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury. (Smith, Elder and Co., printers). 48 Plates + unnumbered pages of text.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wahlberg, Johan August 1810 births 1856 deaths Deaths due to elephant attacks Swedish ornithologists 19th-century Swedish zoologists Swedish entomologists Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences People from Mölndal Municipality