Pierre Lesne (9 April 1871 – 10 November 1949) was a French entomologist who specialized in the beetles, particularly the wood boring beetles of the family Bostrychidae. He also took an interest in parasitic Hymenoptera. The term "

phoresy Phoresis or phoresy is a temporary commensalistic relationship when an organism (a phoront or phoretic) attaches itself to a host organism solely for travel. It has been seen in ticks and mites since the 18th century, and in fossils 320 ...

" was introduced by Lesne. He worked at the

Museum of Natural History, Paris The French National Museum of Natural History ( ; abbr. MNHN) is the national natural history museum of France and a of higher education part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is located in Paris, France, within the J ...

Life and work

Lesne was born in

Landrecies Landrecies (; ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. History In 1543, Landrecies was besieged by English and Imperial forces, who were repulsed by the French defenders. In 1794, it was besieged by Dutch forces, who capt ...

, Nord. His grandfather Pierre Joigneaux was an agronomist from the Côte-d'Or. He went to study at Collège Chaptal, and spent time with the insect collections at the museum where he met

Émile Blanchard Charles Émile Blanchard (6 March 1819 – 11 February 1900) was a French zoologist and entomologist. Career Blanchard was born in Paris. His father was an artist and naturalist and Émile began natural history very early in life. When he was ...

, then a blind teacher who needed his hand to be guided on a poster by a preparator while he gave his classes. He also was influenced by

Hippolyte Lucas Pierre-Hippolyte Lucas (17 January 1814 – 5 July 1899) was a French entomologist. Lucas was an assistant-naturalist at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. From 1839 to 1842 he studied fauna as part of the scientific commission on the ex ...

, E.-L. Bouvier, and Charles Brongniart. Lesne introduced the word "phoresy" in 1896. Lesne collected in Algeria and on the Canary Islands. In 1928-29 he collected in Mozambique, then a Portuguese colony. He published more than 240 papers. In 1931 he became a deputy director having lost the position of director to

René Jeannel René Jeannel (23 March 1879 – 20 February 1965) was a French entomologist.Jean-Jacques Amigo, « Jeannel (René, Gabriel, Marie) », in Nouveau Dictionnaire de biographies roussillonnaises, vol. 3 Sciences de la Vie et de la Terre, Perpignan, ...

, and was in the position until his retirement.

References

External links

Biography (in French)

Correspondencia de Pierre Lesne con Ignacio Bolívar.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesne, Pierre 1871 births 1949 deaths French entomologists Coleopterists People from Nord (French department)