von Teleutotje » Samstag 25. April 2020, 12:22
Now, why is this book so important for me? It was written in 1920, so 100 years ago, and though it was really good for those myrmecologists at that time, it is old and probably for a big part out of date. So, why is it important for me?
H. Kutter was one of those great myrmecologists that I personally contacted. It was about Kutter, H., 1978, “Hymenoptera: Formicidae.” Insecta Helvetica, Fauna 6a: 404 ills. This book is a supplement to Kutter, H., 1977, “Hymenoptera, Formicidae.” Insecta Helvetica, Fauna 6: 1-298. At that moment I had Fauna 6 and was looking for Fauna 6a. At last, without a copy found, I wrote Kutter. Sadly, his answer came and he told me there weren’t any exemplars left of the little book (Lucky for me, I found an exemplar by a second hand bookstore and still have it in my collection.). This was in the last years of his life.
Kutter was one of the great myrmecologists that came from Switzerland. He was a student from A.-H. Forel and just like Forel, a Swiss neuroanatomist and psychiatrist, Kutter was a Swiss pharmacist with his own Ant Pharmacy („Ameisenapotheke“). His research about ants was a “great hobby” for him that made him one of the great myrmecologists. Like you can see in his Fauna 6, it was a very big and incredible job to do.
But there was still one more thing great about him, he discovered that little ant Teleutomyrmex schneideri, the Final Ant, Kutter, H., 1950, “Über eine neue, extrem parasitische Ameise. 1. Mitteilung.” Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft 23: 81-94. The description of this species took 14 pages, but the original series took 100 pages, in total 4 articles, his article, Stumper, R., 1951, “Teleutomyrmex schneideri Kutter (Hym. Formicid.). II. Mitteilung. Über die Lebensweise der neuen Schmarotzerameise.” Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft 24: 129-152, Brun, R., 1952, “Das Zentralnervensystem von Teleutomyrmex Schneideri Kutt. (Hym. Formicid.). III. Mitteilung.” Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft 25: 73-86 and Gösswald, K., 1953, “Histologische Untersuchungen an der arbeiterlosen Ameise Teleutomyrmex schneideri Kutter (Hym. Formicidae).” Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft 26: 81-128. All this work was reviewed and more in Kutter, H., 1968 ("1969"), “Die sozialparasitischen Ameisen der Schweiz.” Neujahrsblatt. Naturforschende Gesellschaft in Zürich 171: 1-62.
After 24 years in his life he published a little book about ants and how to keep them, Kutter, H., 1920, “"Gehe hin zur Ameise!" Anleitung zur selbständigen Ameisenforschung.” Naturwissenschaftliche Beobachtungsbücher 1-2: 164 pp. What he thought and what he wished about ants is included in it and it is the almost “starting point” about his ant-work. His publications run from 1913 to 1986 and are very important for Europe. So, why can’t they put it online? The book-series/magazine is already death, the author is death, all his publications are for the rest free to read (except a very few of them… including this little book!). Maybe, on a beautiful day…
Teleutotje
" Tell-oo-toat-yeh "
" I am who I am , I think ... "