{{short description|Irish hymenopterist and naturalist, and architect}} {{Use British English|date=October 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}} {{Infobox scientist |name = Arthur Wilson Stelfox |birth_name = Arthur Wilson Stelfox |image = |alt= |caption= |birth_date = {{birth date|1883|12|15|df=y}} |birth_place = Belfast, Ireland |death_date = {{death date and age|1972|5|19|1883|12|15|df=yes}} |death_place = Newcastle, County Down, Northern Island |residence = |citizenship = |nationality = |fields = Natural history, Architecture |workplaces = |doctoral_advisor = |academic_advisors = |doctoral_students = |notable_students = |known_for = |author_abbrev_bot = |author_abbrev_zoo = |influences = |influenced = |awards = {{Plainlist| Honorary Fellow of the Linnaen Society}} |signature = |signature_alt = |footnotes = |spouse = {{marriage|Margarita Dawson Mitchell Stelfox|1914}} |children = George Stelfox }}
'''Arthur Wilson Stelfox''' (15 December 1883–19 May 1972) was an Irish naturalist and architect.<ref name="Architect 2015">{{cite web|title=Stelfox, Arthur Wilson|url=http://www.dia.ie/architects/view/5116/stelfox-arthurwilson|website=Dictionary of Irish Architects|publisher=Irish Architectural Archive|accessdate=31 October 2015}}</ref> Stelfox was a recognised authority on Hymenoptera and on non-marine Mollusca especially the genus ''Pisidium''.<ref name="Conchology 27">{{cite journal|last1=McMillan|first1=Nora F.|title=Arthur Wilson Stelfox, 1896 - 1970|journal=Journal of Conchology|volume=27|pages=520–522}}</ref> He also made important contributions to scientific knowledge concerning Irish botany<ref>{{cite book|last1=Foster|first1=John Wilson|last2=Chesney|first2=Helena C G|title=Nature in Ireland : a scientific and cultural history|date=1997|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|location=Montréal|page=179}}</ref> and on identifying and describing remains from prehistoric sites in Ireland.<ref name="Irish Naturalist 17">{{cite journal|last1=Graham|last2=Marcus|last3=Heal|title=Arthur Wilson Stelfox, 1883 - 1972|journal=The Irish Naturalists' Journal|volume=17|issue=9|pages=285–295}}</ref>
==Early years and education== Stelfox was born in Belfast on 15 December 1883 the son of Jennie McIlwaine and James Stelfox.<ref name="Conchology 27" /> He was educated at Campbell College, Belfast and went on to study architecture in Ireland and England, being elected as an associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects on the 2 November 1908.<ref name="Architect 2015" />
Stelfox was an enthusiastic naturalist from his youth, encouraged by his father, who belonged to the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club and by Robert John Welch with whom he would later collaborate.<ref name="Irish Naturalist 17" /> His earliest known specimens are now held in the National Museums Liverpool and were collected in 1898 when he was 15 years of age.<ref name="Conchology 27" />
==Marriage==
It was not until 1903 that Stelfox became an official member of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club<ref name=BNC1904>{{cite journal|title=List of Members|journal=Annual Reports and Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club|date=1904|volume=5|issue=3|page=243|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/109801#page/269/mode/1up|accessdate=28 January 2016}}</ref> and in 1908 he was appointed the Honourable Secretary.<ref name="Irish Naturalist 17" /> In 1909 his future wife Margarita Mitchell was asked to assist him in this role. Mitchell was a talented naturalist in her own right and did valuable work in conjunction with Margaret Williamson Rea on Mycetozoa.<ref name="Women Scientists">{{cite book|last1=Ogilvie|first1=Marilyn|last2=Harvey|first2=Joy|author-link=Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie|author2-link=Joy Harvey|title=The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science Pioneering Lives from Ancient Times to the Mid-Twentieth Century|date=2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1135963436}}</ref> Stelfox and Mitchell married in 1914. The couple subsequently had three children but their daughter and youngest son died in childhood.<ref name="Irish Naturalist 17" />
In October 1925, the couple jointly found the first confirmed record of the rare slime mold ''Diderma lucidum'' in Ireland, at Powerscourt Waterfall.<ref name="INJ1973" /> In 1947 they found the first occurrence of the alpine myxomycete ''Lepidoderma carestianum'' in the British Isles, at Ben Lawers; the specimen was not identified until 1965.<ref name="INJ1973" />
==Natural History career== thumb|Assorted Hymenoptera. Arranged by Julia Suits, photographed by Alex Wild; Produced as part of the Insects Unlocked Project at The University of Texas at Austin. Around 1908, amongst other work, Stelfox assisted with the Clare Island Survey, visiting the Island and the surrounding area on numerous occasions, researching and writing the section of the Survey Report on non-marine mollusks. In 1911 he published a paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy and next year he was elected a member of that Academy.<ref name="Irish Naturalist 17" /> One of Stelfox's most influential papers on Mollusca was on the ''Pisidium'' fauna of the Grand Junction Canal which was published in 1918. This was regarded by Arthur Erskine Ellis as having "revolutionised the hitherto very unsatisfactory treatment of the genus...".<ref name="Irish Naturalist 17" />
However it was not until 1920 that Stelfox was able to make a living from his passion when he obtained employment at the National Museum of Ireland.<ref name="Conchology 27" /> He was appointed as Assistant Naturalist and specialized in Hymenoptera.<ref name="Smithsonian Finding Aid">{{cite web|title=SIA RU007379, Stelfox, Arthur Wilson 1883-1972, Arthur Wilson Stelfox Papers, 1904-1967|url=http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_217535|website=Smithsonian Institution Archives|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|accessdate=31 October 2015}}</ref> Stelfox recognised the enormous value of the Alexander Henry Haliday Hymenoptera collection held at the National Museum of Ireland and undertook the task of curating and caring for it. In doing so he added significantly to the scientific knowledge of many species by ensuring the correct identification and labelling of specimens and the cross referencing of Haliday's notes.<ref name="Irish Naturalist 17" /> Despite this specialization Stelfox proved his standing as a naturalist by publishing papers on a total nine Orders of insects and was regarded as an authority on molluscs, Irish plants and other aspects of natural history.<ref name="Irish Naturalist 17" />
From 1924 Stelfox and his assistant Eugene O'Mahony were solely responsible for the Museum's zoological collections. As a result, he was often called upon to identify remains uncovered from prehistoric sites across Ireland and undertook a serious amount of work that informed scientists of the ecology in Ireland over 1000 years prior.<ref name="Irish Naturalist 17" /> During this time Stelfox also continued to make significant contributions to the scientific knowledge on Irish flora and fauna by describing many new species. In his free time he continued to undertake field trips adding to his significant personal collections of mollusks and insects.<ref name="Irish Naturalist 17" />
Despite his scholarship Stelfox refused offers of Honorary Doctorates but in 1947 was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Linnean Society. In 1948 Stelfox retired from his position at the National Museum of Ireland but continued to undertake numerous field trips and collect plants, molluscs and insects.<ref name="Irish Naturalist 17" />
==Stelfox's collections==
In 1951 he donated his collection of ''Pisidium'' molluscs to Rev H. B. Herrington who subsequently gave it to the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan. His enormous collection of over 90,000 specimens of Hymenoptera along with the majority of his field books were donated to the Smithsonian Institution in 1966.<ref name="Conchology 27" /><ref name="Smithsonian Finding Aid" /> This collection was regarded by Dr K. V. Krombein as "The largest and most complete collection of Irish Hymenoptera ever made". Other scientifically and historically significant documents are held by Dr. Michael P. Kerney of the British Museum, Nora Fisher McMillan of the National Museums Liverpool and Stelfox's family.<ref name="Conchology 27" />
The Stelfox Collection at the Ulster Museum includes his vascular plants, as well as Myxomycete collected by his wife Margarita, and her associate Margaret Williamson Rea.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hackney |first1=Paul |title=Additional Notes on the Herbarium of the Ulster Museum |journal=The Irish Naturalists' Journal |date=1973 |volume=17 |issue=9 |pages=318 |jstor=25537631 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25537631 |issn=0021-1311}}</ref>
==Death==
Stelfox died in hospital after a short illness on 19 May 1972;<ref name="Conchology 27" /> his wife having predeceased him in August the year prior.<ref name="INJ1973">{{Cite journal |issn=0021-1311 |volume=17 |issue=9 |pages=296–297 |title=Margarita Dawson Stelfox, 1886-1971 |journal=The Irish Naturalists' Journal |date=1973 |jstor=25537622}}</ref>
==Taxa named in Stelfox's honour==
Several taxa have been named in Stelfox's honour including ''Heterospilus stelfoxi'' a species of parasitoid wasp.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Marsh|first1=Paul|last2=Wild|first2=Alexander|last3=Whitfield|first3=James|title=The Doryctinae (Braconidae) of Costa Rica: genera and species of the tribe Heterospilini|journal=ZooKeys|date=6 November 2013|issue=347|pages=1–474|doi=10.3897/zookeys.347.6002|pmid=24222723|pmc=3822444|doi-access=free}}<!--|accessdate=31 October 2015--></ref>
==Publications==
Stelfox published a significant number of scientific papers during his lifetime. A few highlights include * [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/108052#page/211/mode/1up A List of Land and Freshwater Molluscs of Ireland]. ''Proc. R. Ir. Acad.,'' '''29''': 65-164 * [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/108051#page/145/mode/1up Mollusca - Land and Fresh Water (Clare Island Survey)]. ''Proc. R. Ir. Acad.,'' '''31''': (Sect. 2.; Pt. 23.) 1-64 * [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/99533#page/310/mode/1up Researches into the hereditary characters of some of our British Mollusca.] ''J. Conchol.,'' '''15''': 268-275 * A List of the Hymenoptera aculeata of Ireland ''Proc. R. Ir. Acad.,'' '''37''': 201-355 * Description of six new species of Bassine Ichneumon flies ''Proc. R. Ir. Acad.,'' '''46''': 109-119 * Description of five new species of Alysiidae (Hymenoptera). ''Proc. R. Ir. Acad.,'' '''47''': 1-16 * The species of the genus ''Eclytus'' so far found in Ireland (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). ''Proc. R. Ir. Acad.,'' '''64''': 509-511 * (With Kuiper, McMillan and Mitchell) The Late Glacial and Post-Glacial Mollusca of the White Bog, Co Down. ''Proc. R. Ir. Acad.,'' '''72''': 185-207
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120524063049/http://www.botanicgardens.ie/herb/books/natural/awstelfox.jpg Photo of Stelfox] from the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070629152618/http://www.botanicgardens.ie/conserve/buxbaumii.htm Conservation of Carex buxbaumii] *[http://www.habitas.org.uk/literature/index.html Publications list (partial but 336 papers)] *[http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_217535 Arthur Wilson Stelfox Papers, 1904-1967] from the Smithsonian Institution Archives *[https://transcription.si.edu/project/7818 Arthur Wilson Stelfox digitized & transcribed Hymenoptera field notes 1921 -1926] *[https://transcription.si.edu/project/7819 Arthur Wilson Stelfox digitized & transcribed Hymenoptera field notes March 1929 - April 1931] *[https://transcription.si.edu/project/7783 Arthur Wilson Stelfox digitized & transcribed non-marine Mollusca field notes June 1911 - September 1917]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stelfox, Arthur Wilson}} Category:20th-century Irish botanists Category:Irish entomologists Category:Hymenopterists Category:1883 births Category:1972 deaths Category:20th-century Irish zoologists Category:Scientists from Belfast Category:People educated at Campbell College Category:Architects from Belfast