# Per Abraham Roman

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**Abraham Roman** also **Per Abraham Roman** (1872–1943) was a Swedish [entomologist](/source/Entomology). He specialised in [Ichneumonidae](/source/Ichneumonidae) (the ichneumonid wasps), working on worldwide expedition material in the [Stockholm Natural History Museum](/source/Swedish_Museum_of_Natural_History). His collection is in that institution. Roman made two expeditions to South America. During his 36-year career at the museum, Roman systematically expanded and reorganized the museum's ichneumonid collection, increasing it from about 25,000 to over 120,000 identified specimens. Roman pioneered the use of genital [morphology](/source/Morphology_(biology)) for distinguishing similar-looking [Pimplinae](/source/Pimplinae) species and introduced standardized terminology for describing structural patterns on the rear segment of wasp bodies, a system that became widely adopted in scientific identification guides.

## Life and career

Per Abraham Roman was born at Tjos, [Västergötland](/source/V%C3%A4sterg%C3%B6tland), on 16 November 1872 and trained as a primary-school teacher before reading [zoology](/source/Zoology) at [Uppsala University](/source/Uppsala_University) under [Tycho Tullberg](/source/Tycho_Tullberg). In 1907 he was appointed [amanuensis](/source/Amanuensis) in charge of [Hymenoptera](/source/Hymenoptera) at the [Swedish Museum of Natural History](/source/Swedish_Museum_of_Natural_History) (NRM), a post he retained until his death in [Örebro](/source/%C3%96rebro) on 23 December 1943.[1] Over 36 years he curated and systematically re-arranged the museum's [Ichneumonidae](/source/Ichneumonidae), raising the number of identified specimens from about 25,000 to more than 120,000.[citation needed]

## Expeditions and collecting

Roman twice led privately funded expeditions to Brazil: first to the [Amazon basin](/source/Amazon_basin) and [Pará](/source/Par%C3%A1) (1914–1915) and again to [Bahia](/source/Bahia) and the [Lower Amazon](/source/Lower_Amazon) (1923–1924). Together the journeys yielded about 18,000 [ichneumonids](/source/Ichneumonidae) (the ichneumonid wasps), 4,000 of which—representing 185 new species—were [described](/source/Species_description) by him in a nine-part series published 1924–1932 in *[Arkiv för Zoologi](/source/Arkiv_f%C3%B6r_Zoologi)*. He subsequently joined the Swedish Kamchatka Expedition (1920–1922) and reported 69 new [taxa](/source/Taxon) from eastern Siberia.[2]

## Taxonomic contributions

Roman named roughly 450 new species and 14 new [genera](/source/Genus) of Ichneumonidae; his revision of [Thunberg](/source/Carl_Peter_Thunberg)'s type material (1912) is still the authority for many [Palearctic](/source/Palearctic) taxa. He was an early advocate of genital-[morphology](/source/Morphology_(biology)) characters for separating cryptic [Pimplinae](/source/Pimplinae) species and introduced the term "propodeal carination pattern" that later became standard in [keys](/source/Identification_key).[3]

## Professional service and legacy

Elected to the Entomological Society of Stockholm in 1905, he served as its president (1928–1932) and edited *[Entomologisk Tidskrift](/source/Entomologisk_Tidskrift)* for six volumes. He donated duplicates from his South-American material to museums in Berlin, London and Washington, facilitating global comparative work.[3] Roman's main collection—including [types](/source/Type_(biology))—is housed at the NRM and fully [digitised](/source/Digitization) as part of the [GBIF](/source/GBIF)-Sweden node (project 2020–2023).[1]

## Selected publications

- Beiträge zur den schwedischen Ichneumones pentagoni *journal*? (1919)
- Die Ichneumonidentypen C. P. Thunbergs. *Zoologiska Bidrag fran Uppsala*, 1: 229-293 (1912)
- Ichneumoniden aus den Färöern. Mit 6 Figuren Im Texte, Uppsala 1916 (16 Seiten, *Arkiv för Zoologi* 10: 17) (1916)
- Beiträge zur den schwedischen Ichneumones pentagoni (1919)
- Entomologische Ergebnisse der schwedischen Kamtschatka-Expedition 1920-1922. 33. Ichneumonidae, Subfamilien Pimplinae und Tryphoninae. *Arkiv für Zoologi*, 23A (6): 1-32. (193-)

## References

1. ["Per Abraham Roman (1872-1943)"](https://www.nrm.se/en/forskningochsamlingar/entomology/hymenoptera/roman). [Swedish Museum of Natural History](/source/Swedish_Museum_of_Natural_History). Retrieved 29 April 2025.

1. Spaeth, F. (1931). "Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der schwedischen entomologischen Reisen des Dr A. Roman in Amazonas und Bahia 1914–15 und 1923–24. Cassidinae (Nachtrag)". *Entomologisk Tidskrift*. **53**: 183–187.

1. Tullgren, Albert (1944). "Dr Per Abraham Roman †" (in Swedish). *Entomologisk Tidskrift*. **65**: 9–16.

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