Adolpho Ducke

Adolpho Ducke (October 19, 1876 in Trieste, Italy – January 5, 1959 in Fortaleza, Brazil), also referred to as Adolfo Ducke and occasionally misspelled "Duque", was a notable entomologist, botanist and ethnographer of Amazonia.

Recruited by Emílio Goeldi, Ducke started to work in Amazônia as an entomologist for the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, but due to the influence of botanists Jacques Hüber and Paul Le Cointe he became a botanist. He travelled all regions of Amazônia to study the complicated tree system of the rainforest. He published 180 articles and monographs mainly about the Leguminosae. He described 900 species and 50 new genera. In 1918 he continued his work for the Paraense Museum where he collaborated with other institutions, such as the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden and the Instituto Agronômico do Norte. In the first half ot the 20th century he became one of the most respected authorities on the Amazonian flora. In 1954 his concerns about the future of the Amazonian forest led him made a suggestion to the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA) for the creation of a nature reserve. He was unable to witness the fulfilment of his dream because he died in Fortaleza in 1959. In 1963 the Reserva Florestal Adolpho Ducke was established and named in his honour. There is also a botanical garden east of Manaus that was named for him, as is the phytochemical research laboratory at the museum in Belém.

Ducke's entomological type material is located at the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi in Belém, the Natural History Museum of Bern, the Museu de Zoologia of the University of São Paulo, and The Natural History Museum, in London. Ducke's general classification of the Neotropical social wasps is still used.