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.
The Malagasy millipede genus Zehntnerobolus commemorates his name,[REF] as does taxa with the specific epithet of zehntneri,[REF] an example being the cactus species Quiabentia zehntneri.