Gerstaecker was born in Berlin, where he studied medicine and natural sciences, receiving his PhD in 1855 as a student of Johann Christoph Friedrich Klug. In 1856 he obtained his habilitation for zoology, and soon afterwards, became a curator at the Zoological Museum of Humboldt University. In 1864 he began work as a lecturer at the Landwirtschaftlichen Lehranstalt (Agricultural Educational Facility) in Berlin. In 1874 he became an associate professor for zoology at the University of Berlin, and in 1876, a professor of zoology at the University of Greifswald.[1] He died in Greifswald.
Works
Monographie der Endomychiden (1858) – Monograph on Endomychidae.
'On The Geographical Distribution and Varieties of the Honey-Bee, with Remarks upon the Exotic Honeybees of the Old World, The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Zoology, Botany, and Geology (1863) vol.11, no.3, pp. 270-283.[3]