Ambroise Marie François Joseph Palisot, Baron de Beauvois was a French naturalist.
Palisot collected insects in Oware, Benin, Saint Domingue, and the United States, from 1786 to 1797. Trained as a botanist, Palisot published a significant entomological paper entitled, "Insectes Receuillis en Afrique et en Amerique". Together with Frederick Valentine Melsheimer, he was one of the first entomologists to collect and describe American insects. He described many common insects and suggested an ordinal classification of insects. He described many Scarabaeidae as well as illustrating them for the first time. The study included 39 Scarabaeus species, 17 Copris species, 7 Trox species, 4 Cetonia and 4 Trichius species. Familiar beetles such as Canthon viridis, Macrodactylus angustatus and Osmoderma scabra were first described by him. Many of the specimens that were labelled from America, were from Africa, and vice versa. He created type localities in America for species such as Dynastes hercules, well outside the natural range.
Palisot's expeditions were described inter alia by Chase and Merrill and a summary is provided here to explain the uncertain origins of his material.