Theodor Gottlieb von Scheven


Theodosius Gottlieb von Scheven was a pastor and German entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera.

Early life

Von Scheven was born on 3 January 1751 on Usedom, as third son of deacon Joachim Nikolaus von Scheven and pastor's daughter Katharina Maria von Scheven. He studied in Bützow and at the University of Halle.

As pastor

He was a pastor, serving from 1777 to 1789 in Altwarp, then as pastor primarius in Neuwarp from 22 May 1789 until his death in 1810.

As naturalist

Von Scheven described Zygaena lonicerae in 1777 in "Beyträge zur Naturgeschichte der Insekten. Erstes Stück" in Der Naturforscher volume 10 pages 88–101 Tab. II. In that same paper, he described three additional moths that are not currently considered valid taxa: Sphinx caffra, Sphinx scabiosae and Sphinx schaefferi
He also described Crabro scutellatus in 1781.
Some of his work on bagworm moths, particularly his observations on the reproductive methods of "Bombyx vestita", was cited in volumes I and IV of William Kirby and William Spence's An Introduction to Entomology, and described by Kirby as an "excellent elucidation of the history of this tribe, whose mode of generation is so singular".

Publications

He published several entomological papers, including in Der Naturforscher and in Johann Kaspar Füssli's Neue Magazin für Liebhaber der Entomologie in 1782.
Some of his published works include: