Warwick Estevam Kerr
Warwick Estevam Kerr | |
|---|---|
| Born | 9 September 1922 Santana do Parnaíba, São Paulo, Brazil |
| Died | 15 September 2018 (aged 96) Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo |
| Education | Mackenzie Presbyterian University, São Paulo; University of São Paulo (D.Sc.) |
| Known for | Work on sex determination of bees |
| Awards | National Order of Scientific Merit |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Agricultural engineering, genetics, entomology |
| Institutions | University of California at Davis; Columbia University, National Institute of Amazonian Research, Manaus, Amazonas; Universidade Estadual do Maranhão, São Luís, Maranhão; Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Minas Gerais |
| Academic advisors | Theodosius Dobzhansky |
Warwick Estevam Kerr (9 September 1922 – 15 September 2018) was a Brazilian agricultural engineer, geneticist, entomologist, professor and scientific leader, notable for his discoveries in the genetics and sex determination of bees. The Africanized bee in the western hemisphere is directly descended from 26 Tanzanian queen bees (Apis mellifera scutellata) accidentally released by one of his assistant bee-keepers. When reassembling a hive, the assistant forgot to install the queen excluder. This occurred in 1957 in Rio Claro, São Paulo in the southeast of Brazil from hives operated by Kerr, who had interbred honey bees from Europe and southern Africa.