Edward Saunders, FRS (22 March 1848 – 6 February 1910) was an English

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 ara ...

, who specialised in

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 describe ...

Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from to arou ...

and

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typic ...

Life

Saunders was born at East Hill,

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its nam ...

, on 22 March 1848, the youngest of seven children of William Wilson Saunders (known for sponsoring the collecting expeditions of

Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British natural history, naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution thro ...

), who was a treasurer for the Linnean Society. Schooled at Reigate, he was interested in natural history like his siblings. He joined the business of his father at

Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exte ...

, studying entomology in his spare time. His earliest publication was ''Coleoptera at Lowestoft'' in the first volume of the ''Entomologists’ Monthly Magazine'' when he was sixteen years old. He would later become an editor of the Magazine. His ''Catalogus Buprestidarum'' of 1871 was "''a work whose importance was immediately recognised, and which has ever since remained a classic. In order to render the synonymies ... as reliable as possible, he undertook the only foreign tour of his life, visiting in succession all the chief museums of Europe and examining personally the

types Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type In computer science and computer programming, a data type (or simply type) is a set of possible values and a set of allo ...

''". Saunders was a Fellow of the Entomological Society, the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

and the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

(FRS, June 1902). Saunders lived at Reigate, Wandsworth, and Bromley, and settled in Woking in 1887. He married Mary Agnes Brown in 1872 and eight of their twelve children lived beyond him. He died at Bognor on 6 February 1910, and was buried in

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regi ...

Family

In 1872, Saunders married Mary Agnes Brown; they had eight sons and four daughters.

Works

Saunders published, with scientific papers in entomological journals: *1871 ''Catalogus Buprestidarum synonymicus et systematicus'' Janson, London. *1892
The Hemiptera Heteroptera of the British Islands
'London. *1896,
The Hymenoptera Aculeata of the British Isles
' London.

References

Sources

* *

External links

Edward Saunders titles at BHL
* * * English entomologists English coleopterists 1848 births 1910 deaths Fellows of the Royal Entomological Society Burials at Brookwood Cemetery Hymenopterists Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Linnean Society of London {{UK-entomologist-stub