Herbert Willoughby Ellis

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Herbert Willoughby Ellis FRES FGS (28 June 1869-15 October 1943) was a British entomologist.[1][2][3]

Biography[edit]

Ellis was born in Woodville, Burton-upon-Trent. He attended Nuneaton School and Coppers Hill College before training as an electrician.[1]

In 1890 he joined the Birmingham Natural History and Philosophical Society. He served as a Vice-President of the society in 1907 and then from 1910 to 1939, and as its President in 1908 and 1909. Ellis was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society in 1900 and he served on its council in 1924, 1931, 1936, and 1938.[1] He was also a member of the British Ornithologists' Union and a Fellow of the Geological Society of London.

Ellis was an avid collector of entomology, especially of coleoptera and amassed a large reference collection. He was responsible for finding and recording the discovery of Arhopalus ferus (then as "Criocephalus polonicus") as new to Britain.[4] He also corresponded and exchanged specimens with William Gabriel Blatch,[5] acquiring some of Blatch's collection after his death.[6]

After his death, Reginald Wagstaffe and Walter Douglas Hincks (both naturalists) were instrumental in purchasing part of his collection for the Yorkshire Museum.[1] Over 100,000 specimens were purchased in 1945.[7]

Select publications[edit]

  • 1901. "Bagous cylindricus, Payk., in Bedfordshire", Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation 8, 140.
  • 1903. "Coleoptera in the Isle of Wight", Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation 15, 130-131.
  • 1903. Criocephalus polonicus (Molsch.): A Genus and species of Longhorn Coleopteran new to Britain, Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation 15, 259-260.
  • 1904. "Coleoptera", in The Victoria History of the Counties of England - A History of Warwickshire" I, 77-124.
  • 1913. "Insects", in British Association for the Advancement of Science: A Handbook for Birmingham and the Neighbourhood, 502-528.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Denton, M. (1993). Ground Beetles in the Yorkshire Museum. North Yorkshire County Council. pp. 5–8.
  2. ^ Blair, K.G. (1943). "Obituary: Willoughby-Ellis, Herbert". Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. 79: 280.
  3. ^ Cockayne, E.A. "Obituary: Ellis, Herbert Willoughby". Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London. 8: 69.
  4. ^ "Criocephalus polonicus (Molsch.): A Genus and species of Longhorn Ceoleoptera new to Britain". Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation. 15: 259–260. 1903.
  5. ^ "Blatch, William Gabriel". UK Coleoptera. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  6. ^ Horace (1905). "Reviews and Notices of Books: The Coleoptera in the Victoria History of the County of Warwick". 17: 165–166. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ Simms, Colin (1968). "A List of Botanical and Zoological Collections at the Yorkshire Museum, York". The Naturalist. 904: 85–89.