In Memoriam |
Corresponding author: Thomas Sobczyk ( thomassobczyk@aol.com ) Academic editor: David C. Lees
© 2021 Thomas Sobczyk, Wilfried R. Arnscheid, Michael Greeff.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Sobczyk T, Arnscheid W, Greeff M (2021) In Memoriam: Peter Hättenschwiler 26.09.1927–17.08.2021. Nota Lepidopterologica 44: 249-256. https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.44.76454
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At the age of 93, Peter Hättenschwiler (Fig.
Peter was born on September 26th 1927 at St. Gallen (Switzerland). After school, he started an apprenticeship as a precision mechanic at the former Zellweger AG at Uster (ZH). He remained closely associated with this town during his whole life. Peter worked on the development of machines for testing yarns, especially of silk, and on the establishment of quality standards, which are still relevant today as the “Uster Statistics”. Due to his professional activities as a customer consultant, he visited many countries and on these occasions he took advantage of many opportunities to collect Bagworm moths. Later on he advanced to become the company’s chief technology officer and continued to work with silk until after his retirement.
The fact that Bagworm moths became his lifelong passion probably is closely connected with his decades-long friendship with Prof. Dr. Willi Sauter. Sauter received his doctorate in 1956 with a thesis on the morphology and systematics of the Swiss species of the genus Solenobia auct. (=Dahlica Enderlein) with Prof. Dr. Jakob Seiler (1886-1970) at ETH Zurich. Later he was considered one of the best European psychid experts. He encouraged and supported Peter in 1977, based on the knowledge gained together, to describe the first three new taxa, later followed by many others. One of these (Dahlica sauteri) he dedicated to his friend.
Already about 30 years ago, I (TS) was fascinated during my first contacts with Peter by his careful way of handling his collection objects. Packages which I received from him were small works of art, showing accurately placed different stamps; small jars filled with a special mix of alcohol and formalin containing the wingless females of the Psychidae were individually wrapped in pink tissue paper and packed in absorbent cotton. It was only later during visits to Uster that we got to know each other personally.
It was Peter´s warm-heartedness and willingness to help which deeply impressed me (TS). He supported me with literature, exactly and precisely pinned psychid specimens and expertise, which he freely shared without any reservation. Thus, over time, a friendly collaboration developed. Peter was a family man. His family supported Peter’s entomological work with the careful rearings, travel companionship and their own collections during their holiday trips. He was married to his wife Ruth for 65 years. They have three children, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. At Christmas time, Peter´s annual summaries written jointly with Ruth, were eagerly awaited by our family. (Fig.
On our silver wedding in 2016 my wife Ute and me (TS) took a trip to New Zealand to the Bay of Islands. We also searched for Scoriodyta species there and were succesful. As a small episode on the side, it may be noted that I noticed after our return that Peter had collected Scoriodyta at that same place almost 35 years earlier for his revision of that genus. When I shared this with him, he reported with a smile that the occasion of his trip was also his silver wedding anniversary.
Peter’s kindness of heart was almost proverbial. When I (WRA) met Peter in 1974 as a young entomologist on the occasion of my first small essay about Bagworm moths in the “Entomologische Zeitschrift”, he literally bound me to the psychids, eventually with his extensive experience and knowledge as well as with the already described and excellently pinned specimens which he always generously exchanged. Hence, Peter’s support was one reason that I have remained faithful to psychids until today.
One of his mentors was the well-known Austrian psychid expert Leo Sieder (1887-1980). When I (WRA) visited Leo in Klagenfurt in 1975 he told me that Peter had a very close personal relationship with him which went far beyond the regular exchange of Bagworms and expertise. In the 1960th Sieder gave his large psychid collection to the Karlsruhe Natural History Museum due to health reasons. Because he missed his work with his beloved Psychidae, shortly thereafter he fell into a deep psychological crisis. It is characteristic for Peter’s empathy that he was able to convince the old man to start collecting Bagworms again to overcome his problems. The result was several more boxes of valuable material and Sieder’s health improved over the years. Similarly, after the death of my son Christian in 2000, followed by a difficult time of grief, I (WRA) was convinced by Peter to resume my entomological activities, of course with an extensive package with literature and Psychidae from him.
Besides some essays on silk and yarn production, Peter´s entomological publications are significant. They deal exclusively with the Psychidae over a period of 50 years. He published more than 50 papers, 20 of them in the “Nota Lepidopterologica”. The faunistic treatment of the Psychidae in the Swiss “Schmetterlinge und ihre Lebensräume” (Hättenschwiler 1997) is to be emphasized as a good example of the profound research on this family with aids for species determination and equipped with excellent photos. (Fig.
Peter introduced the family group names of Placodominae (Sauter & Hättenschwiler 1991) and Scoriodytinae (Hättenschwiler 1989). Altogether he described 31 taxa, but it is difficult to identify his main focus or special interests in the Psychidae, because Peter’s publications cover a wide range. Due to his enormous notoriety as a leading Bagworm specialist, many entomologists have turned to Peter with their questions. Thus, a very broad spectrum of different publication themes has resulted over time, with descriptive taxonomy probably accounting for the largest proportion.
Travels took him to many countries in Europe and other continents, for example to the USA, China and New Zealand.
As a very active member, he was the soul of the Entomological Society of Zurich and its president from 1968 to 1974 and he became honorary member in 1979. Peter was associated with all important Psychidae specialists worldwide, for example Dr. Wolfgang Dierl (1935-1996) in Munich, Dr. Jean Bourgogne (1903-1999) in Paris, Leo Sieder in Klagenfurt, Dr. Donald R. Davis (*1934) in Washington, Dr. Gaden Robinson (1949-2009) in London and Prof. Toyohei Saigusa (*1937) in Japan. But he was also in contact with specialists of other Lepidoptera families, e.g. with Dr. Chunsheng Wu from China, Ole Karsholt (*1948) in Copenhagen, Erik van Nieukerken (*1952) in Leiden and many others. The type specimens of the species described by him and also other specimens are deposited in numerous museums and private collections. He greatly supported the psychid research of many other lepidopterists and these achievements are evident by the acknowledgements in numerous publications.
After his move to the Tertianum “Residenz Brunnehof” in Uster in 2017 Peter transferred his entire collection of about 40,000 specimens (mainly Psychidae) and associated archival materials to the Entomological Collection of ETH Zurich.
With the passing of Peter Hättenschwiler, lepidopterology has lost an outstanding specialist. All who knew him will miss his friendly manner, his helpfulness and his competent professional advice.
We sincerely thank his daughter Sereina Parpan-Hättenschwiler (Uster) for her support and information about Peter’s life. We would also like to thank Don Davis for reviewing the manuscript and linguistic corrections.
Hättenschwiler P (1963) Eine Raupe von Talaeporia tubulosa mit anormalem Sack. Entomologische Zeitschrift Frankfurt 73: 139.
Hettenschwiler H [sic!] (1966). Als Psychidensammler in den USA. – Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft 39 (1/2): 258.
Hättenschwiler P (1969) Narycia astrella neu für die Schweiz (Lep. Psychidae). Mitteilungen der Entomologischen Gesellschaft Basel N. F. 19 (1): 13.
Hättenschwiler P (1970) Die Säcke der Schweizer Psychiden-Arten. Mitteilungen der Entomologischen Gesellschaft Basel N. F. 20 (1): 1–15.
Hättenschwiler P (1974) Abwehrverhalten einer Psychidenraupe (Lepidoptera). Mitteilungen der Entomologischen Gesellschaft Basel N. F. 24: 132–133.
Hättenschwiler P (1977) Neue Merkmale als Bestimmungshilfe bei Psychiden und Beschreibung von 3 neuen Solenobia Dup. Arten (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). – Mitteilungen der Entomologischen Gesellschaft Basel N. F. 27 (2): 33–60.
Hättenschwiler P (1978) The status of Proutia eppingella Tutt, 1900 (Lepidoptera: Psychidae). Entomologist’s Gazette 29: 219–220.
Hättenschwiler P (1980a) Einige Angaben zum Sammeln von Psychiden. Mitteilungen der Entomologischen Gesellschaft Basel N. F. 30 (2): 70–72.
Hättenschwiler P (1980b) Liste der in der Schweiz heimischen Psychiden (Lep., Psychidae). Mitteilungen der Entomologischen Gesellschaft Basel N. F. 30 (3): 129–132.
Hättenschwiler P (1980c) Sackbau bei Psychiden-Raupen. Mitteilungen der Entomologischen Gesellschaft Basel N. F. 30 (3): 133–139.
Hättenschwiler P (1981) Eine neue Dahlica (= Solenobia auct.) aus Spanien (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). Nota lepidopterologica 4 (1/2): 21–26.
Hättenschwiler P (1982) Eine neue Reisseronia aus dem Peloponnes (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). Nota lepidopterologica 5 (1): 25–29.
Hättenschwiler P (1984) Die Gattung Leptopterix oder Oreopsyche ardanazi (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). Nota lepidopterologica 7 (2): 143–147.
Hättenschwiler P (1985a) Zwei neue Psychiden aus dem West-Himalaya (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). Nota lepidopterologica 8 (1): 25–28.
Hättenschwiler P (1985b) Psychidae. pp. 128–151, pl. 7 In: Heath J,Emmet A (Eds). The moths and butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland 2. Great Horkesley, Harley books.
Hättenschwiler P (1985c) Les Psychides de Romandie. Bulletin Romand d’Entomologie 3: 81–89.
Hättenschwiler P (1989) Genus Scoriodyta Meyrick, 1888, a new subfamily and description of new species and forms. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 167: 51–63.
Hättenschwiler P (1990a) Eine neue Dahlica-Art (Lep. Psychidae) aus dem Waadtländer Jura. Mitteilungen der Entomologischen Gesellschaft Basel N. F. [1989] 39 (4): 142–149.
Hättenschwiler P (1990b) Melasina christenseni sp. n. (Lepidoptera, Psychidae), eine neue Psychidae aus dem südlichen Peloponnes. Nota lepidopterologica 12 [1989] (4): 257–261.
Hättenschwiler P, Chao CL (1990) A new Proutia species from China (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). Nota lepidopterologica 12: 262–268.
Sauter W, Hättenschwiler P (1991) Zum System der paläarktischen Psychiden (Lep., Psychidae). 1. Teil: Liste der paläarktischen Arten. Nota lepidopterologica 14: 69–89.
Hättenschwiler P (1992) Megalophanes turatii (Staudinger, 1877) neu für die Schweiz Lep., Psychidae). Mitteilungen der entomologischen Gesellschaft Basel N. F. 42 (2): 40–45.
Hättenschwiler P (1994a) Die mittel- und westeuropäischen Arten der Gattung Pseudobankesia mit Beschreibung von zwei neuen Arten (Lep., Psychidae). Mitteilungen der entomologischen Gesellschaft Basel N. F. 44 (3/4): 109–121.
Hättenschwiler P (1994b) Naturschutzgebiet Hochfelden, Psychidae: 43–45. In: Neujahrsblatt der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Zürich.
Hättenschwiler P (1995) Lepidoptera Tineoidea I. (Psychidae). In: Minelli A, Ruffo S, La Posta L: Checklist delle specie della Fauna Italiana 81: 5–9.
Hättenschwiler P (1996a) Sciopetris karsholti, eine neue Psychidae aus Tunesien (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). Nota lepidopterologica 19 (1/2): 107–112.
Hättenschwiler P (1996b) Dahlica wehrlii (Müller-Rutz, 1929) wieder gefunden. Beschreibung des Weibchens und Ergänzungen zur Kenntnis des Männchens und der Ökologie (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). Nota lepidopterologica 18 [1995] (3/4): 225–232.
Hättenschwiler P (1996c) Eine neue Montanima-Art aus dem Altai-Gebiet (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). Nota lepidopterologica 18 [1995] (3/4): 233–238.
Hättenschwiler P (1996d) Eine neue, im Februar-März fliegende Ptilocephala-Art aus dem südlichen Spanien (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). Nota lepidopterologica 18 [1995] (3/4): 239–246.
Sauter W, Hättenschwiler P (1996) Psychidae. Pp. 39–46. – In: Karsholt O,. Razowski J. The Lepidoptera of Europe. A distributional Checklist. Apollo Books, Stenstrup.
Hättenschwiler P (1997) Psychidae. 165–308, 509–518. – In: Pro Natura - Schweizer Bund für Naturschutz (Edit.): Schmetterlinge und ihre Lebensräume. Band 2: 1–679.
Hättenschwiler P (1998) Neue Eumasia Arten aus Mittelspanien und den Malediven und einige Ergänzungen zur Kenntnis der Gattung Eumasia (Psychidae). Nota lepidopterologica 21 (4): 264–282.
Sauter W, Hättenschwiler P (1999) Zum System der paläarktischen Psychiden (Lep., Psychidae). 2. Teil: Bestimmungsschlüssel für die Gattungen. Nota lepidopterologica 22 (4): 262–295.
Hättenschwiler P (2000a) Aggiornamenti alla Checklist delle specie della fauna italiana. Fascicolo 81 - Lepidoptera Tineoidea I. (Psychidae). Bollettino della Società entomologica italiana, Genova 132 (3): 277–278.
Hättenschwiler P (2000b) Typhonia beatricis sp. n., eine möglicherweise aus dem östlichen Mittelmeerraum eingeschleppte Psychide (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). Mitteilungen der Entomologischen Gesellschaft Basel N. F. 50 (1): 2–17.
Hättenschwiler P (2002a) Paarungsversuche mit verschiedenen Arten aus der Gattung Rebelia Heylaerts, 1900 (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). Mitteilungen der entomologischen Gesellschaft Basel N. F. 52 (1): 16–20.
Hättenschwiler P (2002b) Im Jura vermisster Sackträger nach 118 Jahren wieder gefunden (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). Mitteilungen der entomologischen Gesellschaft Basel N. F. 52 (4): 154–156.
Hättenschwiler P (2003) Phalacropterix fritschi, eine neue Psychidae aus der Portugiesischen Algarve (Psychidae). Nota lepidopterologica 26 (1/2): 9–18.
Hättenschwiler P & Scalercio S (2003) Systematik, Morphologie und Verbreitung von Taleporia defoliella Constant, 1895 comb. rev. (Psychidae). Nota lepidopterologica 26 (1/2): 19–26.
Hättenschwiler P, Rezbanyai-Reser L (2003) Oiketicus jamaicana sp. nov., eine neue Psychide aus der Karibik (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) (6. Beitrag zur Insekten-Fauna von Jamaica W. I.). Entomofauna 24: 345–352.
Hättenschwiler P (2004) Acanthopsyche muralis sp. n., ein parthenogenetischer Sackträger aus China und Überblick über die bekannten parthenogenetischen Arten der Psychidae. Nota lepidopterologica 27 (1): 71–78.
Sauter W, Hättenschwiler P (2004) Zum System der paläarktischen Psychiden (Lep., Psychidae). 3. Teil: Bestimmungsschlüssel für die Säcke. Nota lepidopterologica 27 (1): 59–70.
Hättenschwiler P, Alemansoor H (2006) A new species of Amicta Heylaerts, 1881 from the south of Iran (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). Nota lepidopterologica 29 (1/2): 79–87.
Hättenschwiler P, Rezbanyai-Reser L (2007) Beiträge zur Insektenfauna von Jamaika, Westindien (Karibik) 7. Sackträger (Lep., Psychidae). Entomofauna 28: 81–92.
Hättenschwiler P, Sammut P, Zerafa M (2007) Rediscovery of Sciopetris melitensis Rebel, 1917 and description of its morphology and life history (Psychidae). Nota lepidopterologica 30 (2): 396–406.
Hättenschwiler P (2007) Wie unterschiedlich kann die Grösse der erwachsenen Tiere innerhalb einer Art sein? Beispiele von Sackträgern. – Mitteilungen der entomologischen Gesellschaft Basel N. F. 57 (1): 10–15.
Hättenschwiler P (2008) Informationen zur Biologie der Psychidenlarven und interessante Details zu ihren Säcken (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). Entomo Helvetica 1: 117–127.
Hättenschwiler P (2009) Order Lepidoptera, family Psychidae. In: Arthropod Fauna of the UAE 2: 445–450.
Hättenschwiler P (2010) Psychidae. In: SwissLepTeam. 2010. Die Schmetterlinge (Lepidoptera) der Schweiz: Eine kommentierte systematisch-faunistische Liste. Fauna Helvetica 25: 42–46, 172. CSCF & SEG Neuchâtel.
Hättenschwiler P (2011a) Psychidae: 213. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (ed.): Animal Biodiversity: an outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness. Magnolia Press. Zootaxa 3148.
Hättenschwiler P (2011b) Lebensweise und Beschreibung der Entwicklungsstadien von Pachythelia villosella quadratica de Freina, 1983 (Psychidae: Oiketicinae: Acantopsychini). Nota lepidopterologica 34 (2): 171–177.
Hättenschwiler P, Dewhurst C, Nyaure S, Bonneau L (2013) New bagworms (Lepidoptera, Psychidae) from oil palm plantations in Papua New Guinea. Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft 86: 253–260.
Placodominae Sauter & Hättenschwiler, 1991
Scoriodytinae Hättenschwiler, 1989
Dahlica sauteri (Hättenschwiler, 1977) (Solenobia)
Dahlica simplonica (Hättenschwiler, 1977) (Solenobia)
Dahlica ticinensis (Hättenschwiler, 1977) (Solenobia)
Dahlica rianella Hättenschwiler, 1981
Reisseronia magna Hättenschwiler, 1982
Leptopterix himalayalta Hättenschwiler, 1985
Oreopsyche dellabrunai (Hättenschwiler, 1985) (Standfussia)
Scoriodyta dugdalei Hättenschwiler, 1989
Scoriodyta rakautarensis Hättenschwiler, 1989
Scoriodyta sereinae Hättenschwiler, 1989
Scoriodyta virginella Hättenschwiler, 1989
Scoriodyta suttonensis Hättenschwiler, 1989
Scoriodyta patricki Hättenschwiler, 1989
Typhonia christenseni (Hättenschwiler, 1990) (Melasina)
Proutia chinensis Hättenschwiler & Chao, 1990
Dahlica vaudella Hättenschwiler, 1990
Pseudobankesia casaella Hättenschwiler, 1994
Pseudobankesia contractella Hättenschwiler, 1994
Montanima aurea Hättenschwiler, 1996
Ptilocephala piae Hättenschwiler, 1996
Sciopetris karsholti Hättenschwiler, 1996
Eumasia brunella Hättenschwiler, 1998
Eumasia ziegleri Hättenschwiler, 1998
Typhonia beatricis Hättenschwiler, 2000 (syn. zu Typhonia melana Frivaldski, 1838)
Oiketicoides jamaicana Hättenschwiler & Rezbanyai-Reser, 2003
Phalacropterix fritschi Hättenschwiler, 2003
Acanthopsyche muralis Hättenschwiler, 2004
Amicta sericata Hättenschwiler & Alemansoor, 2006
Manatha conglacia Hättenschwiler, Dewhurst & Nyaure, 2013
Amatissa bilomia Hättenschwiler, Dewhurst & Nyaure, 2013
Amatissa nava Hättenschwiler, Dewhurst & Nyaure, 2013
Peloponnesia haettenschwileri Hauser, 1996
Placodoma haettenschwileri Sobczyk, 2013