James Nathaniel Halbert was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

. He was born 30 August 1872 and died 7 May 1948 in

Dalkey Dalkey ( ; ) is an affluent suburb of Dublin, and a seaside resort southeast of the city, and the town of Dún Laoghaire, in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown in the historic County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. In 1892, Halbert began work at the Science and Art Museum, in

(now the

National Museum of Ireland The National Museum of Ireland ( ga, Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann) is Ireland's leading museum institution, with a strong emphasis on national and some international archaeology, Irish history, Irish art, culture, and natural history. It has thr ...

). He was appointed Technical Assistant in 1904 and then Assistant Naturalist, in place of

George Herbert Carpenter George Herbert Carpenter (1865–1939) was a British naturalist and entomologist, born in the Peckham district of southeast London in 1865, and died in Belfast on 22 January 1939.Henry R. Addison, Charles H. Oakes, William J. Lawson, and Dougla ...

, a few months later. His first publications were on

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

and appeared in the

Irish Naturalist ''The Irish Naturalist'' was a scientific journal that was published in Dublin, Ireland, from April 1892 until December 1924. History The journal owed its establishment to the efforts of several leading Dublin naturalists, notably George ...

starting in 1892. He also worked with other insects, mainly

Neuroptera The insect order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, mantidflies, antlions, and their relatives. The order consists of some 6,000 species. Neuroptera can be grouped together with the Megaloptera and Raphidioptera in the ...

and Hemiptera. He also worked with fresh water

mites Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evi ...

, described more than forty insect

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

and subspecies from Ireland, and was the author of several new

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial ...

Selected works

*With

William Frederick Johnson William Frederick Johnson (1852–1934) was an Irish naturalist primarily interested in Entomology. Biography He was born on 20 April 1852 in Travancore, India, where he spent his youth. A genial and kindly clergyman, he published over 100 pa ...

, A list of the beetles of Ireland. ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy'' 6B: 535-827 (1902). *With James John Francis Xavier King, A list of the Neuroptera of Ireland. ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy'' 28B: 29-112 (1910). *A list of the Irish Hemiptera (Heteroptera and Cicadina). ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy'' 42B: 211-318 (1935). *List of Irish fresh-water mites (Hydracarina) ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy'' 50, B, 4:39-103 (1944)

References

*Beirne, in ''Irish Naturalists Journal'', 9, 1948, pp. 168–171.

External links

* 1872 births 1948 deaths Irish entomologists Scientists from Dublin (city) People from Dalkey {{entomologist-stub