Carl Alexander Clerck (1709-22 July 1765) was a Swedish entomologist and arachnologist. Events January 12 - Two-month freezing period begins in France - The coast of the Atlantic and Seine River freeze, crops fail and at least 24. ... July 22 is the 203rd day (204th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 162 days remaining. ... 1765 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Entomology is the scientific study of insects. ... Arachnology is the scientific study of spiders and related organisms such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, altogether called arachnids. ...

Clerck came from a family in the petty nobility and entered the University of Uppsala in 1726. Little is known of his studies; although a contemporary of Linnaeus, it is unknown whether he had any contact with him during his time in Uppsala. His limited means forced him to leave university early and enter into government service, later ending up working in the administration of the City of Stockholm. The Swedish nobility (Adeln) was historically a privileged class in Sweden. ... Uppsala University Uppsala University (Swedish Uppsala universitet) is a public university in Uppsala, Sweden. ... A painting of Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné  listen, and who wrote under the Latinized name Carolus Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish scientist who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of taxonomy. ... The Stockholm City Hall Stockholm  listen is the capital and the largest city of Sweden. ...

His interest in natural history appears to have come at a more mature age, influenced by a lecture of Linnaeus he attended in Stockholm in 1737. In the following years he collected and categorized a large number of spiders, published together with more general observations on the behaviour of spiders, in his Svenska spindlar ("Swedish spiders", 1757). He also started the publication of Icones insectorum rariorum, a series of detailed but uncommented plates illustrating numerous species of butterflies, left unfinished after the third fascicle (1766) because of Clerck's death. Families Suborder Mesothelae     Liphistiidae (primitive burrowing spiders) Suborder Mygalomorphae     Atypidae (atypical tarantula)     Antrodiaetidae (folding trapdoor spider)     Mecicobothriidae (dwarf tarantulas)     Hexathelidae (venomous funnel-web tarantula)     Dipluridae (funnel-web tarantula)     Cyrtaucheniidae (wafer trapdoor spider)     Ctenizidae (trapdoor spider)     Theraphosidae (tarantula) Suborder Araneomorphae     Hypochilidae (lampshade spider)     Filistatidae (crevice weaver)     Sicariidae (recluse spider)     Scytodidae (spitting... Families Superfamily Hesperioidea: Hesperiidae Superfamily Papilionoidea: Papilionidae Pieridae Nymphalidae Lycaenidae Riodinidae A butterfly is a flying insect of the order Lepidoptera belonging to one of the superfamilies Hesperioidea (the skippers) and Papilionoidea (all other butterflies). ...

He eventually became a friend and correspondent of Linnaeus, who appreciated his work greatly, and through his sponsorship was elected a member of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala in 1756 and of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1764. Detail of the building of the Royal Swedish Society of Sciences in Uppsala. ... The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or , founded in 1739 by King Frederick I, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. ...

References

• Alb. Tullgren, "Clerck, Carl Alexander", Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, vol. 8 (1929).
• Nordisk familjebok, 2nd ed., vol. 5 (1906), col. 432 f (http://runeberg.org/nfbe/0240.html).