Pierre Capdeville (1908 – 2 March 1980) was a French

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

. He specialised in

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

of the Parnassiinae subfamily.

His life

A short necrology has been published by Jacques Rigout. He was a technician of value, an alumnus of the

École polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

Works

After a first note published in the journal Alexanor, Pierre Capdeville wished to publish a more detailed study on the ''Parnassius apollo''. Jean Bourgogne, then director of the publication, found the work too voluminous. He contacted then the company

Sciences Nat Sciences Nat was the academic publisher specialising in entomology of the Societé Sciences Nat. The society was established in 1971 and based in the rue de la Mare in Paris. Three years later it moved to the rue des Alouettes and later to Venet ...

which looked for authors. This work was published in 6 parts bilingual French-German. As author, Pierre Capdeville took care himself of all the part illustration, maps and photography of specimens of his collection. He had in preparation two other works, one on the individual variations of ''

Parnassius apollo The Apollo or mountain Apollo (''Parnassius apollo''), is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. Etymology The species is named in the classical tradition for the deity Apollo. Subspecies Subspecies include: * ''Parnassius apollo apollo'' L ...

'', the other one on the genus '' Parnassius'' of the

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

. Towards the end of his life it is the artist who overrode the technician. He realized watercolors of lepidoptera, with which a series of 4 were published.Capdeville (P.), 1979. Faune et Flore Pittoresques de Provence,

, Venette His important collection was bequeathed to the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...

in Paris.

Entomological terms named after him

* ''Imbrasia capdevillei'' Rougeot, 1979 * ''Parnassius epaphus capdevillei'' Epstein, 1979 * ''Peridinium capdevillei'' Balech, 1959 * ''Protoperidinium capdevillei'' Balech, 1959

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capdeville, Pierre French lepidopterists 1908 births 1980 deaths 20th-century French zoologists École Polytechnique alumni