Anthony Adrian Allen
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Anthony Adrian Allen (1 July 1913 – 23 June 2010) was a British entomologist who published several hundred scientific papers, in particular on the Coleoptera (beetles) of the British Isles. He was active for much of the middle and late 20th century. He formed a bridge between the great entomologists of last century, and the present generation, many of whom benefitted from his knowledge and guidance.


Introduction

Anthony Adrian Allen, almost universally known as A.A. Allen, was an
entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...
specialising in the beetles (
Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...
) of the
British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
. He has been described as 'one of the best known British coleopterists'.Barclay, M.V.L. (''& Editorial Panel'') 2010. A.A. Allen. The Coleopterist 19(3); p.150. He was a pupil and friend of several prominent late 19th-early 20th century entomologists, including
Horace Donisthorpe Horace St. John Kelly Donisthorpe (17 March 1870 – 22 April 1951) was an eccentric British myrmecologist and coleopterist, memorable in part for his enthusiastic championing of the renaming of the genus '' Lasius'' after him as ''Donisthorp ...
and Phillip Harwood.


Faunistic work

Allen is perhaps best known for his work on the British beetle fauna, which includes more than 4,000 species.Duff, A.G. (ed.) Checklist of Beetles of the British Isles, 2008 edition. http://www.coleopterist.org.uk/checklist2008%20A5.pdf During his career he published hundreds of papers and scientific notes on the subject, mostly in the
Entomologist's Monthly Magazine ''Entomologist's Monthly Magazine'' is a British entomological journal, founded by a staff of five editors – T. Blackburn, H. G. Knaggs, M.D., R. McLachlan, F.L.S., E. C. Rye and H. T. Stainton – and first published in 1864. The journal ...
. He had a subsidiary interest in the British fauna of flies
Diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advance ...
and true bugs
Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from ...
, on which he also published.


Taxonomic work

Allen was one of the few 20th century British faunists to describe new species to science from the
British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
. Over a 62 year period Allen described 13 new species of beetle, of which four remain valid. The apparently high rate of
synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...
of his species results from the fact he was primarily dealing with taxonomically difficult groups of beetles. The four valid species described by Allen are:
Staphylinidae The rove beetles are a family (biology), family (Staphylinidae) of beetles, primarily distinguished by their short elytra (wing covers) that typically leave more than half of their abdominal segments exposed. With over 66,000 species in thousand ...
: ''Aleochara phycophila'' Allen 1937 ''Acrotona benicki'' (Allen 1940)
Scraptiidae The family Scraptiidae is a small group of tenebrionoid beetles sometimes called false flower beetles. There are about 400 species in 30 genera with a world-wide distribution. The adults are found on flowers, sometimes in large numbers, but are a ...
: ''Scraptia testacea'' Allen 1940
Chrysomelidae The beetle family Chrysomelidae, commonly known as leaf beetles, includes over 37,000 (and probably at least 50,000) species in more than 2,500 genera, making it one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle families. Numerous s ...
: ''Longitarsus fowleri'' Allen 1967 As may be expected for species that remained undiscovered until the mid 20th century, all four valid species described by A.A. Allen are uncommon, and are given
conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...
. ''Longitarsus fowleri'' is the most widespread of the four, being associated with
teasel ''Dipsacus'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Caprifoliaceae. The members of this genus are known as teasel, teazel or teazle. The genus includes about 15 species of tall herbaceous biennial plants (rarely short-lived perennial plants ...
on chalk downland in southern Britain. ''Scraptia testacea'' is regarded as an indicator species of good quality
ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, ancient woodland is that which has existed continuously since 1600 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). The practice of planting woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 1600 i ...
and parkland. Since their description, three of the species have been found in other European countries but the rove beetle ''Aleochara phycophila'', a
parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...
of seaweed-flies from the south coast of England, is still known only from the
type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...
and has never been recorded again.Welch, R.C. 1997. ''The British species of the genus ''Aleochara'' Gravenhorst (Staphylinidae).'' The Coleopterist 6 (1): 1-45 ''Longitarsus fowleri'' is named in honour of Coleopterist
William Weekes Fowler William Weekes Fowler (January 1849 – 3 June 1923 ) was an English clergyman and entomologist mainly interested in beetles. Biography Son of the Reverend Hugh Fowler, Vicar of Barnwood, Gloucestershire, Fowler was educated at Rugby School an ...
.


Honorifics

Allen received the rare accolade of having two British beetle species named by colleagues in his honour, the ground-living
weevil Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small – less than in length – and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several fa ...
''Trachyphloeus alleni'' Donisthorpe, 1948 and the latridiid plaster beetle ''Corticaria alleni'' Johnson, 1974. However, the former, named by the myrmecologist and coleopterist
Horace Donisthorpe Horace St. John Kelly Donisthorpe (17 March 1870 – 22 April 1951) was an eccentric British myrmecologist and coleopterist, memorable in part for his enthusiastic championing of the renaming of the genus '' Lasius'' after him as ''Donisthorp ...
, was later placed in
synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...
with the widespread ''Trachyphloeus asperatus'' Boheman, 1843.


Collection

A.A. Allen's almost comprehensive collection of British Beetles, including most of his
type specimens In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes t ...
, was presented to the
Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...
in October 2010. The Museum intends to digitally scan the 38 drawers, and make them available as high resolution images on the internet "''as a scientific resource, and as a permanent record of A.A. Allen’s immense contribution to the understanding of the British Coleoptera''". The whereabouts of his collections of other orders, if they still exist, is unknown.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Anthony Adrian 1913 births 2010 deaths English coleopterists British naturalists