Andy Lehrer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Andy Z. Lehrer
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| Born | May 16, 1930 Iaşi, Romania
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| Died | February 6, 2014 (aged 83) Israel
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| Occupation | Entomologist |
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Notable work
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Fragmenta Dipterologica |
Andy Z. Lehrer (born May 16, 1930 – died February 6, 2014) was a Romanian scientist who studied insects. He was known as an entomologist. From 1996 until he passed away, he worked as a researcher at the University of Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Andy Lehrer spent many years studying different kinds of flies. He focused on "flesh flies" and "blow flies" from all over the world. He was born in Iaşi, Romania, and died in Israel when he was 83 years old.
For a long time, he published his own science journal called Fragmenta Dipterologica. He wrote almost all the articles in this journal himself!
A Scientific Debate About Flies
In science, people often group living things into categories. This helps us understand them better. For example, a "genus" is a group of very similar animals, and a "family" is a larger group that includes several genera.
In 2005, Andy Lehrer suggested a new way to group some flies that belong to the Bengalia genus. He thought they should be split into 11 new genera and even a new "family" called Bengaliidae.
However, another scientist named Rognes disagreed with some of Lehrer's ideas in 2006. Rognes said that the new family Lehrer suggested was too similar to a group that already existed. He also felt that some of Lehrer's new genera were not truly different enough from the original Bengalia genus.
Why the Disagreement?
This disagreement shows that scientists sometimes have different ideas about the best way to classify animals. There isn't always one perfect way to group them.
- Some scientists believe that the larger group of flies called Calliphoridae (which includes blow flies) might not be a "natural group." This means it might contain flies that are not as closely related as once thought.
- Another reason for the debate was that some of Lehrer's new groups were based mostly on male flies. This made it very hard for other scientists to identify female flies and place them into the correct new groups.
- Also, Lehrer didn't study all the known species of Bengalia flies when he made his new classifications. This meant that some of his "new" species might actually have been the same as species already discovered.
Today, most major sources for fly classification do not use Lehrer's 10 new genera or 18 of his new species. This is a normal part of science, where new ideas are discussed and tested by many researchers.
