Antonio Berlese (26 June 1863, Padua - 24 October 1927, Florence) was an Italian entomologist.
Berlese worked on pest insects notably of fruit trees. He published over 300 articles and a book Gli insetti loro organizzazione, sviluppo, abitudini e rapporti con l’uomo (in two volumes, 1909 and 1925); also a series entitled Acari, Myriapoda et Scorpiones hucusque in Italie reperta which appeared in 101 numbers between 1882 et 1903 and which contained over 1,000 figures by Berlese himself. He was a specialist in Hemiptera Coccoidea.
With his brother, Augusto Napoleone Berlese (1864-1903), a plant (particularly, mushroom) disease specialist, he founded the Revista di Patologia vegetale in 1892. In 1903 he founded the review Redia, which he edited until his death. This publication promoted zoological studies in agriculture, forestry, and in urban contexts, with an emphasis on entomology, acarology and nematology. The aim was to increase taxonomic knowledge of groups with pest species.
Berlese invented the Berlese funnel (which was subsequently modified by Albert Tullgren and is sometimes known as a Tullgren funnel), a device for extracting soil insects and other micro fauna from leaf litter, which is still very widely used. The illustration shows how it works: a funnel (E) contains the soil or litter (D), and a heat source (F) such as an electric lamp (G) heats the litter. Animals escaping from the desiccation of the litter descend through a filter into a preservative liquid (A) in a receptacle (B).
Works [link]
Partial publication list for 1896 giving an idea of his output.
- Le cocciniglie Italiane viventi sugli agrumi. Parte II. I. Lecanium. Riv. Patol. Veget. 3: 49-100(1896).
- with Leonardi, G.. Diagnosi di cocciniglie nuove. Riv. Patol. Veget. 4: 345-352 (1896).
- with Leonardi, G. Diagnosi di cocciniglie nuove. Riv. Patol. Veget. 4: 1-352 (1896).
- with Leonardi, G. Le cocciniglie Italiane viventi sugli argumi. Parte III. I Diaspiti. [Cap. I. Note di sistematica e descrizione delle specie.] Riv. Patol. Veget. 4: 74-170 (1896).
- with Leonardi, G. Diagnosi di cocciniglie nuove. Riv. Patol. Veget. 4: 345-352 (1896).
References [link]
- Translated from French Wikipedia.
- Conci, C. 1975: Repertorio delle biografie e bibliografie degli scrittori e cultori italiani di entomologia. Mem. Soc. Ent. Ital. 48 1969(4) 817-1069.
- Conci, C. & Poggi, R. 1996: Iconography of Italian Entomologists, with essential biographical data. Mem. Soc. Ent. Ital. 75 159-382, Portrait.
