Robert F. Sternitzky (August 25, 1891 - May 1980) was a United States

lepidopterist Lepidopterology ()) is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the two superfamilies of butterflies. Someone who studies in this field is a lepidopterist or, archaically, an aurelian. Origins Post-Renaissance, the r ...

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

. Butterfly and moth specimens he collected are in a number of collections, including those of the

Harvard Museum of Natural History The Harvard Museum of Natural History (HMNH) is a natural history museum housed in the University Museum Building, located on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It features 16 galleries with 12,000 specimens drawn fr ...

, the Essig Museum of Entomology (at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

Manitoba Museum The Manitoba Museum, previously the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, is a human and natural history museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as well as the province's largest, Not-for-Profit, not-for-profit centre for Heritage centre, heritage and science e ...

, Nova Scotia Museum, and the

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) 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. With ...

. He collected primarily in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. In 1930, he described ''Plebejus icarioides moroensis'' (Morro Bay blue or Morro blue), having taken the type specimen at Morro Beach, in

San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra fou ...

, California, on June 1, 1929; it is now known as '' Aricia icarioides moroensis''. In 1937, he described the "Bay checkerspot", ''Euphydryas editha'' var. ''bayensis''; it is now known as '' Euphydryas editha bayensis''. In 1945, he described the subspecies '' Parnassius clodius strohbeeni''. He was accompanied on some collecting trips by Charles Henry Ingham. He painted a plate depicting seventeen

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e and

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

e, in color, for John Adams Comstock's ''Butterflies of California''. The book was published in 1927 in very small editions, and is now rare. A facsimile edition was published in 1989; Sternitzky's is the only plate reproduced in color. In April 1948 he notified the

Lepidopterists' Society The Lepidopterists' Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of Butterfly, butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera). Founded in 1947 and based in the United States, it has an international focus and membership. Publications The s ...

of a change of address, to

Laytonville Laytonville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Mendocino County, California, United States. It is located north-northwest of Willits, at an elevation of . The population was 1,152 at the 2020 census, down from 1,227 at the 2010 census. Geog ...

Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza") is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United S ...

. The same issue carried his advertisement, both for specimens sold commercially, and his services as an illustrator for museums. He died in 1980. Some of his specimens were purchased by Cyril Franklin dos Passos. The species ''

Nemeris sternitzkyi ''Nemeris sternitzkyi'' is a species of geometrid moth in the family Geometridae The geometer moths are moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were p ...

'' was named in his honor by

Frederick H. Rindge Frederick Hastings Rindge (December 21, 1857 – August 29, 1905) was an American business magnate, patriarch of the Rindge family, real estate developer, philanthropist, and writer, of Los Angeles, California. He was a major benefactor to his ...

in 1981, as had been ''Parnassius phoebus sternitzkyi'' (Sternitzky's parnassian), by

James Halliday McDunnough James Halliday McDunnough (10 May 1877 – 23 February 1962) was a Canadians, Canadian Linguistics, linguist, musician, and Entomology, entomologist best known for his work with North American Lepidoptera, but who also made important contributio ...

, in 1936; the latter is now known as '' Parnassius smintheus sternitzkyi''.

Claude Lemaire Claude Lemaire (21 February 1921 – 5 February 2004) was a French entomologist. He specialised in Lepidoptera Saturniidae. Studies * Graduate Diploma of Civil Law, Faculty of Law of Paris * Graduate Diploma of Political Economy, Faculty of Law of ...

et al. have questioned the accuracy of some of the locations on Sternitzky's specimen labels.

Papers

* * * *

References

External links

''Parnassius clodius strohbeeni'' types
- images, including labels {{DEFAULTSORT:Sternitzky, Robert F. 1891 births 1980 deaths American lepidopterists 20th-century American zoologists People from Laytonville, California Taxon authorities