Leo Zehntner (19 December 1864 in Reigoldswil – 3 April 1961 in Liestal) was a Swiss naturalist.
He studied natural sciences in Basel and Bern, and following graduation (1890), he worked as an assistant to entomologist Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure in Geneva.
In 1894 he began work as a zoologist at the Pasuruan inspection station on Java, where he dealt with pests that plagued sugar cane plantations.
In 1901 in Salatiga (Java) he opened an inspection station for cacao cultivation.
[1][2] From 1906 to 1918 he served as director of the agricultural institute for the State of Bahia in Brazil, during which, he is credited with the discovery of eight new plant species.