Founded in Florence on April 16, 1950, the Italian National Academy of Entomology is a well-established association representing the entire national entomological community in Italy. In 1954, it was recognized as a Moral Entity by decree of the President of the Republic.

The ANIE serves as a national reference point for research and dissemination in entomology. It promotes spreading scientific knowledge about insects at all levels through regular public meetings, publications, and national and international conferences.

“Being named an honorary member of the Italian National Academy of Entomology is especially satisfying as it is a distinction awarded by my peers, fellow entomologists,” Xavier Bellés stated.

About Xavier Bellés

Xavier Bellés i Ros is a Catalan biologist specializing in entomology. He currently serves as a research professor ad honorem at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) within the Insect Metamorphosis Evolution group at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE).

He graduated in Biological Sciences in 1971 from the University of Barcelona, where he also earned his doctorate. His research has focused on insect hormones, their regulation, and their role in key biological processes such as reproduction and development. In this field, he has supervised 21 doctoral theses.

From November 2004 to June 2008, he coordinated the Natural Resources area at CSIC. He was also a co-founder and the first director of the IBE, a position he held from its inception in 2008 until February 2017. He is a full member of the Institute for Catalan Studies and the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona, and a corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences of Madrid. He is also an honorary member of the Spanish Society of Evolutionary Biology and has received the Narcís Monturiol Medal for Scientific Merit from the Government of Catalonia.

Over the past 15 years, his work has focused on studying insect metamorphosis. As a summary of this topic, in 2020, he published the book "Insect Metamorphosis: From Natural History to Regulation of Development and Evolution" through Academic Press. In total, he has authored 11 books and 382 scientific articles. Additionally, he has made significant contributions to beetle systematics, describing 32 genera and 89 new species for science, as well as to the history of science and the study of medieval literature, with contributions to the Bestiary. In this field, he has received the Scientific Literature Award from the Catalan Research Foundation and the Bronze Prisma from the House of Sciences in La Coruña.

Convinced of the importance of scientific outreach, Xavier Bellés actively works to bring scientific knowledge closer to society.