Horace St. John Kelly Donisthorpe, F.Z.S, F.R.E.S, &c. (March 17, 1870 - April 22, 1951) was an eccentric British myrmecologist and coleopterist, memorable in part for his renaming of the genus Lasius after himself as Donisthorpea, and for his many claims of discovering new species of beetles and ants.
Table of contents |
2 Books by Donisthorpe 3 Other writings 4 Locations in Britain visited by Horace Donisthorpe 5 External Links 6 Detailed work description |
Biography
Educated at Mill Hill House, Leicester and Oakham Grammar School, Donisthorpe went to Heidelberg University to read medicine. However, his 'too sensitive nature' forced him to give up this career, and, being possessed of a private income, from about 1890 he devoted his life to the study of beetles and ants.
Frank Bouskell, who described Donisthorpe as 'his oldest friend', wrote in ERJV, 63, 1951, p.228, upon his death:
"He did his early collecting with me at Bradgate Park, Bardon Hill and Budon Wood where he was first interested in ants and their hosts. About this time I first introduced him to Mr F. Bates, brother of Bates of the Amazons, who later gave him his almost complete collection of Coleoptera. Later on we went to Wicken Fen, the New Forest, Isle of Wight, etc... I should [also] mention our joint trip to South Kerry'. Probably the best known of his collecting grounds was Windsor great park where he had permission to collect extensively and where so many of his important discoveries were made.
Donisthorpe was controversial in part because he was considered overeager in his attempts to identify new species of ants and beetles. In fact, of the 30 new species he identified, 24 were deemed to be insufficiently distinct to be considered separate species. See Insect species and subspecies described by Horace Donisthorpe that were later considered invalid for more details on some of these.
It is, however, accepted that he did indeed identify the following new species: Cercyon aguatilis, Leptacinus intermedius, Ilyobates bennetti, Micrambe aubrooki, Gymnetron lloydi, and Xyleborus sampsoni -- all named to honor his colleagues.
Donisthorpe also wrote two chapters of Wild Life the World Over : Comprising Twenty-Seven Chapters Written by Nine Distinguished World-Traveled Specialists, which was published in 1953, 2 years after his death.
Books by Donisthorpe
The book consists of a preamble detailing the various features of Windsor Great Park and its ancient forests, and a list of the many hundreds of Coleoptera Donisthorpe collected there, with brief habitat details for each species.Other writings
Donisthorpe, as chair of the Zoological Society of London and in his work at the Natural History Museum, London, often wrote of and described new species and species' habits from all around the world in various entomological journals, such as Animals and the Magazine of Natural History.Locations in Britain visited by Horace Donisthorpe
Donisthorpe visited many locations in the British Isles in which he collected and recorded unusual species of British ants:
See also locations in Britain notable for their wildlife and British ants.
External Links
The Coleopterist - Biographical Dictionary of British Coleopterists
Detailed work description
Insect taxa described by Horace Donisthorpe
The following is a partial list of species or subspecies of insect, principally ants, described by Horace Donisthorpe but which were later considered either to be insufficiently distinct to merit species or subspecies status, or to be synonymous with previous valid species. (See also binomial nomenclature.)
From ''New Species of Ants (Hym., Formicidae) from the Gold coast, Borneo, Celebes, New Guinea and New Hebrides.
- Aenictus bidentatus sp. n[ew] (Hymenoptera:Formicidae:Dorylinae) -- described in September, 1942, described from 7 workers. Gold Coast, E.P.Tafo, ix. 1940; ex cocoa. No. 1352. G.S. Cotterell. Type in B.M. (N.H.).
- Rhytidoponera gagates Donisthorpe subsp. waigeuensis subsp. n[ew] (Hymenoptera:Formicidae:Ponerinae Tribe Ectatommini) -- described in September, 1942, described from 19 workers taken by Miss L.E.Cheesman, Dutch New Guinea. Type in B.M. (N.H.).
- Diacamma rugosum Le Guil subsp. waigeuensis subsp. n[ew] (Hymenoptera:Formicidae:Ponerinae Tribe Ectatommini) -- described in September, 1942, described from 2 workers taken by Miss L.E.Cheesman, Dutch New Guinea. Type in B.M. (N.H.).
- Leptogenys walkeri sp. n[ew] (Hymenoptera:Formicidae:Ponerinae Tribe Leptogenyini) -- described in September, 1942, described from a single worker from Port Fila, Efate Is., New Hebrides August 1900. Type in B.M. (N.H.).
- Leptogenys violacea sp. n[ew] (Hymenoptera:Formicidae:Ponerinae Tribe Leptogenyini) -- described in September, 1942, described from 8 workers taken by Miss L.E.Cheesman, Dutch New Guinea. "Nest inside rotten stump in old beetle burrows, heaps of frass below each entrance". Type in B.M. (N.H.).
- Polyrhachis bryanti sp. n[ew] (Hymenoptera:Formicidae:Formicinae Tribe Camponotini) -- described in September, 1942, described from 2 workers taken by G. E. Bryant, Borneo. Type in B.M. (N.H.).
- Polyrhachis hosei sp. n[ew] (Hymenoptera:Formicidae:Formicinae Tribe Camponotini) -- described in September, 1942, described from 4 workers, Borneo. Type in B.M. (N.H.).