Petar Beron
Born: 14 March 1940, Sofia.
Education: University of Sofia ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’, Faculty of Biology, Geology and Geography, 1963; biologist (1963—1969), scientist (1969—1978), PhD (1975), Associate Professor (since 1978).
Speciality: zoologist.
Specialisations: biospeleology in France (1967), parasitology in Prague (1970).
Employment: Institute of Zoology (1963—1979), National Museum of Natural History, Sofia — director (since December 1993).
Fields of research: acarology, arachnology, biospeleology, parasitology, zoogeography. Special interest in the cave fauna, the fauna of high mountains of the world, bats and their ectoparasites, history of zoology, etc.; creation and maintaining of museum collections and expositions.
Expeditions: leader and participant to many expeditions and travels in more than 80 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America, New Guinea, etc. From 1976 to 1979 — Conservation Officer in charge of National parks in Nigeria.
Teaching: lecturer in zoogeography (Faculty of Biology, University of Sofia) and acarology (University of Plovdiv).
Other activities: President (since 1985) of Bulgarian Federation of Speleology, Member of Parliament (1990—1991 and 2005—2009), Chairman of the Union of Democratic Forces and of it’s Parliamentary Group (1990). Vice-chairman of the Patriotic Union ‘Zashtita’.
Current projects
1. Cave fauna of Bulgaria.
2. Cave fauna of Greece.
3. High mountain fauna of Bulgaria.
4. Cave fauna of South Asia.
5. Descriptions of new taxa of mites of the families Erythraeidae, Smarididae, Anystidae, Teneriffiidae, etc.
6. Acarorum Catalogus — volumes about Listrophoroidea, Myobioidea, Cheyletoidea, Psoroptoidea, etc. of the world.
7. Fauna bulgarica — 2 volumes, ca. 23 families of parasitic mites.
Selected publications
1962 (V. Guéorguiev). Essai sur la faune cavernicole de Bulgarie. — Annales de Spéléologie, 17 (2—3): 285—441.
1972a. Aperçu sur la faune cavernicole de la Corse. Publ. No. 3 du Lab. Souterrain du C.N.R.S. à Moulis, 55 pp.; résumé dans les Ann. de Spéléol., 27 (4): 807—810, Moulis.
1972b. Essai sur la faune cavernicole de Bulgarie. III. Résultats des recherches biospéologiques de 1966 à 1970. — Int. J. Speleol., 4: 285—349.
1973-1974. Catalogue des Acariens parasites et commensaux des Mammifères en Bulgarie. Partie I: Bull. Inst. Zool., Sofia, 37: 167—199; Partie II: idem, 38: 105—136; Partie III: idem, 39: 163—194.
1975. Erythraeidae (Acariformes) larvaires de Bulgarie. — Acta zool. bulg., 1: 45—75.
1978. Aperçu sur la composition, l’origine et la formation de la faune cavernicole de la Stara planina occidentale (Bulgarie). — Int. J. Speleol., 9 (1977/78): 197—220.
1982. Deuxième contribution à l’étude des Erythraeidae (Acariformes) larvaires de Bulgarie. — Acta zool. bulg., 19: 46—56.
1987. Results of the studies of the cave fauna of Greece. — Biologica Gallo-hellenica, 12: 125—131.
1994. Essai sur la faune cavernicole de Bulgarie. IV. Résultats des recherches biospéologiques de 1971 à 1991 et liste des animaux cavernicoles bulgares. — Tranteeva, Sofia, 1: 137 pp.
1995. Revue des recherches sur les Acariens terrestres (Ordre Acariformes, sous-ordre Prostigmata) en Bulgarie. — Historia naturalis bulgarica, 5: 3—12.
1997. On the High Mountain Isopoda Oniscidea in the Old World. — Historia naturalis bulgarica, 8: 85—100.
1999. Biodiversity of the High Mountain Terrestrial Fauna in Bulgaria. — Historia naturalis bulgarica, 10: 13—33.
2000a. Non-insect Arthropoda (Isopoda, Arachnida and Myriapoda) on the high mountains of tropical Africa. — In: Rheinwald, G. (Ed.), Isolated Vertebrate Communities in the Tropics. Proc. 4th Int. Symp., Bonn, Bonn. Zool. Monogr., 46: 153—188.
2000b. Studies on Erythraeoidea (Acari) from Africa. I. The genus Cecidopus and Caeculisoma from Nigeria (Erythraeidae, Callidosomatinae). — Historia naturalis bulgarica, 11: 65—72.
2001. Etude comparative des faunes cavernicoles de la Bulgarie et de la Grèce. — Historia naturalis bulgarica, 13: 53—68.
2002a. On the High-mountain Pseudoscorpionida of the Old World. — Historia naturalis bulgarica, 14: 29—44.
2002b. On the High-mountain Opilionida of the Old World. — Historia naturalis bulgarica, 14: 45—65.
2002c. Zoological Results of the British Speleological Expedition to Papua New Guinea 1975. 11. Acariformes: Smarididae (Trichosmaris papuana sp. n.). — Historia naturalis bulgarica, 15: 73—78.
2004. Cave fauna in Eastern Rhodopes (Bulgaria and Greece). — In: P. Beron & A. Popov (Eds.), Biodiversity of Bulgaria. 2. Biodiversity of the Eastern Rhodopes (Bulgaria and Greece): 791—822. [P. Beron, B. Petrov, P. Stoev].
2005a. Terrestrial cave animals in Bulgaria. — In: Fet V., Al. Popov (Ed.). Monographiae biologicae, 82: 493—526.
2005b. Biodiversity of Acari in Bulgaria. — In: Petrova A. (Ed.), Actual state of the biodiversity in Bulgaria — problems and perspectives. Drakon, Sofia.
2005c. Biodiversity of the cave fauna of Bulgaria. — In: Petrova A. (Ed.), Actual state of the biodiversity in Bulgaria — problems and perspectives. Drakon, Sofia.
2006. Caves and Speleology in Bulgaria [P. Beron, A. Jalov, T. Daaliev] — Pensoft & NMNH—Sofia, 507 pp.
2008. Acarorum catalogus. I. Acariformes: Calyptostomatoidea (Caliptostomatidae), Erythraeoidea (Smarididae, Erythraeoidae). — Pensoft & NMNH—Sofia, 271 pp.
2009. Zoological Results of the British Speleological Expedition to Papua New Guinea 1975. 12. Acariformes: Erythraeidae (Caeculisoma Berlese). — Historia naturalis bulgarica, 20 (in print).
2009. Cave fauna of Bulgaria. [P. Beron, B. Petrov, P. Stoev] (in print).