László Papp (entomologist)


László Papp Hungarian zoologist, entomologist, parasitologist awarded with the Széchenyi Prize, ordinary member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and fellow of the Royal Entomological Society. Renowned research professor in the field of community ecology and systematics of Diptera. Older brother of the heart surgeon professor Lajos Papp.

Biography

He started his university studies at the Eötvös Lorand University science faculty in 1965, received his MSc degree in biology in 1970 and the university doctorate in 1971.. He became an employee at the Zoology Department of the Hungarian Natural Hisory Museum, where he had worked for ten years, then became a primary school teacher in biology for two years in Vecsés. He started teaching at the University of Veterinary Medicine in 1982 and returned to the HNHM in 1986. He became the head of the Animal Ecology Research Group of the HAS and the HNHM and also received a teaching professor assignment. Besides his work in the collections of the HNHM he had been teaching classes at the Veterinary University, University of Szeged, University of Debrecen and Eötvös Lorand University.

Research

His main research area is morphology and taxonomy of imagoes and larvae of two-winged insects, and the population structure and community ecology of flying insects as well as research on rare insect species and their nature conservation. His collecting expeditions and taxonomic work made a major contribution to the Diptera collections in the HNHM, thanks to these efforts more than half of the presently existing specimen holdings is connected to his activities
During his work in insect systematics and zoological nomenclature he discovered and authored 7 family-group names, 94 genus-group names and 548 species-group names new to science; at the same time there have been 32 species-group names and one genus-group name established in honor of him. He also reported 700 species new to the Hungarian fauna for the first time. He is notable for his work as book series editor. Together with Béla Darvas and Árpád Soós he published several books used as fundamental works by the international community of entomologists.

Awards and prizes