Sergiusz Graf von Toll (22 November 1893 – 19 December 1961) was a Polish

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

who specialised in

microlepidoptera Microlepidoptera (micromoths) is an artificial (i.e., unranked and not monophyletic) grouping of moth families, commonly known as the "smaller moths" ( micro, Lepidoptera). These generally have wingspans of under 20 mm, so are harder to iden ...

and particularly

Coleophoridae The Coleophoridae are a family of small moths, belonging to the huge superfamily Gelechioidea. Collectively known as case-bearers, casebearing moths or case moths, this family is represented on all continents, but the majority are found in temp ...

. He was a member of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

Education

Toll was born on 22 November 1893 in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, the son of Alexander Toll and his wife Adelaide (or Anna). He had four elder brothers and sisters. He came from a noble family; his great-grandfather, General Karol Toll, was made a count by

Nicholas I of Russia Nicholas I, group=pron (Russian language, Russian: Николай I Павлович; – ) was Emperor of Russia, List of rulers of Partitioned Poland#Kings of the Kingdom of Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 18 ...

and the family owned Uniejów Castle at

Łódź Voivodeship Łódź Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province is named after its capital and largest city, Łódź, pronounced . Łódź Voivodeship is bordered by six other voivodeships: Masovian Voivodeship ...

in central Poland. He received his schooling in Warsaw and went to the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

where he studied law. During World War I, the university was evacuated to

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

in Russia, and while there, he added

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

to the subjects he was studying. In 1918, he was awarded his PhD in law. He had already developed his interest in butterflies and moths and while in Russia he studied the

lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

of the Rostov region.

Career

left, Uniejów Castle After the war, the family's castle was confiscated, and his parents moved to

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

in North Poland. By 1924, Toll had returned to Poland. In 1930 he started work as an apprentice at the National Scientific Institute in Bydgoszcz, and between then and 1934 he studied the

of the region, joining the Polish Entomological Society and founding its North Silesian branch. By 1937 he was working at the

Silesian Museum Silesian Museum in Katowice (; ) is a museum in the city of Katowice, Poland. History The museum was founded in 1929 by the Silesian Sejm, while the region was recovering from the Silesian Uprisings. In the XX century interbellum, the Siles ...

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

, and also doing teaching work. His interest in Lepidoptera continued, and after World War II he became the head of the Nature Conservancy Department of the Directorate of State Forests. He became a member of the editorial board of the '' Microlepidoptera Palaearctica'', and was writing the

section, a volume with 1500 pages and 5000 drawings. He had nearly finished this monograph in 1961 when he developed

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

, and died of heart failure soon after surgery.

Research

Toll's research was mainly concentrated on the smaller moths of the

Microlepidoptera Microlepidoptera (micromoths) is an artificial (i.e., unranked and not monophyletic) grouping of moth families, commonly known as the "smaller moths" ( micro, Lepidoptera). These generally have wingspans of under 20 mm, so are harder to iden ...

group, specialising from 1929 on the

Tortricidae The Tortricidae are a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths or leafroller moths, in the order Lepidoptera. This large family has over 11,000 species described, and is the sole member of the superfamily Tortricoidea, although the genu ...

and

Nepticulidae Nepticulidae is a family of very small moths with a worldwide distribution. They are characterised by eyecaps over the eyes (see also Opostegidae, Bucculatricidae, Lyonetiidae). These pigmy moths or midget moths, as they are commonly known, inc ...

families, and from 1939 onwards, on the

family, on which he was still working when he died. He reared many

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

s at home, and worked out the life cycle of a number of species. He accumulated a large collection of insects, and donated about 40,000 specimens to the Municipal Museum at Rostov. About 100,000 specimens were given to the of the

. He also collected about 8,000 bird eggs and 12,000 butterflies and moths during his time living in

. He

scientifically described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it diffe ...

over 200 lepidopteran species, and undertook faunal surveys of several parts of Poland. Sergiusz Toll Jozefina Toll graves

List of works

*Toll, S.Gr.v., 1936. Untersuchung der Genitalien bei Pyrausta purpuralis L. und P. ostrinalis Hb., nebst Beschreibung 11 neuer Microlepidopteren-Arten. Ann. Mus. Zool. Polonici 11:403–413, pis. 47–49.Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, Vol.84
/ref>
Toll, S.Gr.v., 1941, Die Genitalien der europäischen Hyponomeuta. – Zeitschrift des Wiener Entomologen-Vereines (26): 170–176, Pl. XVII-XX.
*Toll, S.Gr.v., 1953. Rodzina Eupistidae Polski.''Documenta Physiographica Poloniae'' 32 (1952): 1–292, pl. 1-38.

References

External links

www.nhm.ac.uk – National History Museum: Bibliographic record on Sergiusz Graf von Toll
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toll, Sergiusz Graf von Polish entomologists Polish lepidopterists 1893 births 1961 deaths University of Warsaw alumni People from Łódź Voivodeship 20th-century Polish zoologists