Charles Edwin Clarke
Birth date1885
Birth placeDunedin, New Zealand
Death dateSeptember 17, 1952
FieldsEntomology

Charles Edwin Clarke (1885 – 17 September 1952) was a New Zealand dentist and amateur entomologist, who specialised in collecting lepidoptera and coleoptera.

Biography

Clarke was born in 1885.[1] in Dunedin.[2] Clarke worked as a dentist as a profession, and collected specimens as a hobby. Most of Clarke's specimens were collected between the 1910s and 1940s,[3] and Clarke published findings in the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand between 1920 and 1934.[4]

In 1915, a moth specimen collected by Clarke from Flagstaff Hill, Dunedin was used by George Howes to describe the moth species Hydriomena clarkei, which Howes named after Clarke.[5]

Clarke discovered and identified numerous moth species between 1920 and 1936, including Ericodesma cuneata, Heterocrossa sanctimonea and Asterivora urbana.[3] Clarke's specimens were also used by New Zealand entomologists to describe new species, including Edward Meyrick in 1924 describing Atomotricha prospiciens,[6] George Hudson to describe Asaphodes glaciata in 1925,[7][8] and by entomologist Alfred Philpott, who described Proteodes clarkei in 1926, naming the species after Clarke.[9]

In 1929, Clarke donated much of his insect collection to Auckland War Memorial Museum.[3] Using Clarke's collections, Philpott described numerous moth species,[3] including Archyala culta, Orocrambus clarkei, Paramorpha marginata and Zapyrastra stellata.[10][11][12][13][14]

Clarke died on 17 September 1952.[1] After his death, Clarke's collection of beetles was acquired by Auckland War Memorial Museum and the British Museum.[3]

Over 5,500 specimens by Clarke are found in the collections of Auckland War Memorial Museum.[3] In addition to these, Clarke's specimens are found in the Otago Museum,[4] Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa[15] and the British Museum.

Personal life

Clarke was a close friend of New Zealand coleopterist Ernest Richard Fairburn.[4]

Taxa named by Clarke

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ Wikidata item Q56481291
  2. ^ "Clarke, Charles Edwin". Biographies of the Entomologists of the World. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Clarke, the Christmas critter collector". Auckland War Memorial Museum. 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  4. ^ Harris, Anthony C. (2012). "Entomologists at Mt. Algidus". The Weta. ' (44): 41–47.
  5. ^ Howes, W. G. (1916). "New Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. ' (49): 274.
  6. ^ Wikidata item Q45922947
  7. ^ Dugdale, J. S. (1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa". Fauna of New Zealand. 14: 173. Archived from the original on 27 January 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  8. ^ Hudson, George Vernon (1925). "Descriptions of three new species of Lepidoptera from New Zealand.". Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. 61: 220–221. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  9. ^ Wikidata item Q63100760
  10. ^ Philpott, Alfred (1931). "Notes and descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 62: 26–36. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  11. ^ Wikidata item Q58676529
  12. ^ Wikidata item Q45083134
  13. ^ Philpott, Alfred (1931). "Notes and descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 62: 26–36.
  14. ^ Wikidata item Q109466059
  15. ^ "Charles Edwin Clarke". Te Papa. Retrieved 7 June 2024.