Charles Edwin Clarke

Charles Edwin Clarke
Born1885
Dunedin, New Zealand
Died(1952-09-17)September 17, 1952
Scientific career
FieldsEntomology

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

Biography

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Holotype of Hydriomena clarkei, collected by Clarke from Flagstaff Hill, Dunedin used as the basis for George Howes description of the species in 1915

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

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

Taxa named by Clarke

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Holotype of Tatosoma monoviridisata, one of the first species Clarks described in 1920

Bibliography

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  • Clarke, Charles E. (9 August 1920). "Lepidoptera of Auckland and the King-country". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 52: 36–41. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q110226875.
  • Charles Edwin Clarke (12 July 1926). "New species of Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 56: 417–421. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q63101109.
  • Clarke, Charles E. (February 1933). "The Lepidoptera of the Te Anau-Manapouri Lakes Districts". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 63 (2): 112–132. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q62934927.
  • Clarke, Charles E. (May 1934). "Notes and Descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 64: 11–16. ISSN 1176-6166. Wikidata Q110090429.
  • Clarke, Charles E. (1935). "Nymphalidae" (PDF). Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 64: 11–16. ISSN 1176-6166. Wikidata Q89182281.

References

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  1. ^ a b Thwaites, Ian (2015), A Good Place to Be: Auckland Museum People 1929–89, p. 284, Wikidata Q56481291
  2. ^ "Clarke, Charles Edwin". Biographies of the Entomologists of the World. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Clarke, the Christmas critter collector". Auckland War Memorial Museum. 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b c 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. ^ Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia: chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 462. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
  7. ^ Dugdale, J. S. (1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 14: 173. Archived from the original (PDF) 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. ^ A. Philpott (1926). "New Zealand Lepidoptera: Notes and Descriptions". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 56: 396–397. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata 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. ^ Philpott, Alfred (1930). "New Species of Lepidoptera in the Collection of the Auckland Museum". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum. 1: 1–16. ISSN 0067-0464. JSTOR 42905932. Wikidata Q58676529.
  12. ^ John Stewart Dugdale (23 September 1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa". Fauna of New Zealand. 14. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research: 59. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  13. ^ Philpott, Alfred (1931). "Notes and descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 62: 26–36.
  14. ^ Alfred Philpott (1931). "Notes and descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 62: 31. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q109466059.
  15. ^ "Charles Edwin Clarke". Te Papa. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
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