Ubirajara Ribeiro Martins (8 July 1932 – 26 May 2015) was a Brazilian

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 ...

Biography

Martins was born on 8 July 1932, in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. He concluded his studies at the

Universidade Federal de Viçosa The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

in 1954 with a bachelor's degree in

agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...

. Martins then proceeded to work at the

Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo The Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo (, abbreviated MZUSP) is a public natural history museum located in the historic Ipiranga (district of São Paulo), Ipiranga district of São Paulo, Brazil. The MZUSP is an Museum education, ...

where he obtained his PhD in 1975 and conducted his research until his death in 2015. He was a colleague of

Werner Bokermann Werner Carlos Augusto Bokermann (4 July 1929 - 1 April 1995) was a Brazilian zoologist who specialized in herpetology and ornithology. He collected and described numerous new species. Life Bokermann was born in the city of Botucatu, in the interi ...

, who named one frog species after him ('' Bokermannohyla martinsi''). He himself described many new species of beetles, and often co-authored other descriptions. He was president of the Brazilian Entomological Society from 1983 to 1986. Bira, as he was kindly called by his colleagues and students, worked at the Museum of Zoology of University of São Paulo since 1959. He became one of the most important coleopterists of his time and an expert in the South American

Cerambycidae The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns (whose larvae are often referred to as roundheaded borers), are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by anten ...

References

1932 births 2015 deaths Scientists from São Paulo Brazilian entomologists {{Brazil-scientist-stub