Julius Flohr (11 February 1837 – 8 February 1896) was a German banker and entomologist resident in

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

Early life

Flohr was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, in what was then the

German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire ...

, on 11 February 1837. He was educated there and in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Banking career

In 1859, Flohr moved to

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...

to work as a banker. In 1862, he joined Esteban Benecke & Co., a bank in which he became a life-long partner. Benecke was the

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states th ...

and one of Mexico's first bankers.

Entomological pursuits

Flohr retired from day-to-day banking in 1877 and devoted himself to the study of insects, especially

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s. Interest in

comparative anatomy Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in ...

remained high following the publication of Darwin's ''

On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

'', and Flohr's field work was cited extensively in the ''

Biologia Centrali-Americana The ''Biologia Centrali-Americana'' is an encyclopedia of the natural history of Mexico and Central America, privately issued in 215 parts from 1879 to 1915 by the editors Frederick DuCane Godman and Osbert Salvin, of the British Museum (Na ...

'' encyclopedia. Between 1878 and 1885, British naturalist

Henry Walter Bates Henry Walter Bates (8 February 1825, in Leicester – 16 February 1892, in London) was an English naturalist and explorer who gave the first scientific account of mimicry in animals. He was most famous for his expedition to the rainforests ...

named several species of North American beetle for Flohr, including * '' Bembidion flohri'' * '' Ecteneolus flohri'' * ''

Hybothecus flohri ''Hybothecus flohri'' is a species of woodland ground beetle in the family Carabidae. It is found in Central America and North America. References Further reading * Harpalinae Articles created by Qbugbot Beetles described in 1882 ...

'' In 1884, Flohr accompanied American zoologist

Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American zoologist, paleontologist, comparative anatomist, herpetologist, and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy intereste ...

in Mexico. Cope wrote:

I am indebted to my excellent friend, Dr. Julius Flohr, of the city of Mexico, for a canoe excursion on the
lake Xochimilco Lake Xochimilco (; nah, Xōchimīlco, ) is an ancient endorheic lake, located in the present-day Borough of Xochimilco in southern Mexico City. The lake is within the Valley of Mexico hydrological basin, in central Mexico. History Geolo ...
..Here I had an opportunity of seeing the botany and zoology of the very irregular shores, which are so curiously constructed by the art of the natives ..The ends and shores of the piers are the resting place of innumerable snakes, which can be readily observed from a canoe. The wife of our Indian boatman was particularly acute in detecting these animals before either my friend or myself could see them.

Death

Flohr died in

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

on 8 February 1896. He was eulogized by entomologists

George Charles Champion George Charles Champion (29 April 1851 – 8 August 1927) was an English entomologist specialising in the study of beetles. He was born in Walworth, South London, and the eldest son of George Champion. Biography Encouraged by J. Platt-Barret, ...

in England and

Ernst Gustav Kraatz Ernst Gustav Kraatz (13 March 1831 – 2 November 1909) was a German entomologist. He collected and described numerous beetles including Staphylinidae. Kraatz was born in Berlin on 13 March 1831. He studied law in the University of Heidelber ...

in Germany. Flohr's collection of insect specimens was bequeathed to the

Berlin Zoological Museum The Natural History Museum (german: Museum für Naturkunde) 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 ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flohr, Julius 1837 births 1896 deaths German emigrants to Mexico Mexican bankers German entomologists Mexican entomologists Scientists from Hamburg Entomologists