Latreille was born in Brives-la-Gaillarde, Corrèze. In 1798 he was given the task of arranging the entomological collection at the recently organized Museum d'Histoire Naturelle (Jardin des Plantes) in Paris; in 1814 he became a member of the French Academy of Sciences, and in 1821 he was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honor. He was professor of zoology in the veterinary school at Alfort near Paris, and in 1830, when the chair of zoology of invertebrates at the Museum was divided after the death of Lamarck, Latreille was appointed professor of zoology of crustaceans, arachnids and insects, the chair of molluscs, worms and zoophytes being assigned to Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville.