George Basil Popov MBE (1922, in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

– 22 December 1998, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

), was a Russian-British entomologist born in Iran, his father having been employed there by the Imperial Bank of Persia. Popov became an authority on the

Desert locust The desert locust (''Schistocerca gregaria'') is a species of locust, a periodically swarming, short-horned grasshopper in the family Acrididae. They are found primarily in the deserts and dry areas of northern and eastern Africa, Arabia, and ...

. George Popov was appointed to the Middle East Anti-Locust Unit by

Boris Uvarov Sir Boris Petrovitch Uvarov (3 November 1886 – 18 March 1970) was a Russian-British entomologist best known for his work on the biology and ecology of locusts. He has been called the father of acridology. Biography Boris Petrovitch Uvarov wa ...

in 1943. His interest in migratory locusts and other grasshoppers (

acridology Orthopterology is the scientific study of the order Orthoptera, which includes grasshoppers, crickets, locusts and some other insects. Someone that studies in this field is an orthopterist. The term is derived from the Ancient Greek words (''orth ...

) saw him visit

Socotra Socotra, locally known as Saqatri, is a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean. Situated between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, it lies near major shipping routes. Socotra is the largest of the six islands in the Socotra archipelago as ...

(an expedition for Desert Locust Survey Nairobi),

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. His base was at the Anti-Locust Research Centre in London, working from there until his retirement in 1984. After retirement he remained active, embarking on programs for the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

and others. Popov's knowledge of the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

led to his receiving the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal (1995) from the Royal Society for Asian Affairs. In 1957 Popov undertook a study on the locusts of Socotra. This led to his paper on the saltatorial Orthoptera of Socotra, and the first systematic description of its vegetation. The many botanical specimens collected during his studies of locusts were donated to the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

between 1966 and 1997. A species of

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates. They range from . Geckos are unique among lizards ...

, '' Pristurus popovi'', is named in his honor.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Popov", p. 210).

Selected publications

* ''"Atlas of Desert Locust Breeding Habitats"'' FAO (1997) * ''"A Revision of the Grasshopper Genus Orthochtha and Allies"'' with L.D.C. Fishpool (1992)
''"The Oothecae of Locusts of the Sahel"'' (1990)
* ''"Nymphs of the Sahelian grasshoppers: An illustrated guide"'' (1989) * ''"Acridoidea of eastern Arabia"'' Journal of Oman Studies Special Report, 2, 113-148 (1980) * ''"A Revision of the Genus Poekilocerus Audinet-Serville 1831"'' with D.K.McE. Kevan (1979) * ''"Environmental and behavioral processes in a Desert Locust outbreak"'' Nature 219: 446-450. with J. Roffey, J. (1968) * ''"The Vegetation of Socotra"'' J. Linn. Soc. 55:362, 706–720, November 1957 (1957) * ''"The saltatorial Orthoptera of Socotra"'' Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 43:359, 370 with Uvarov (1957)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popov, George Basil Russian entomologists British entomologists Orthoptera 1922 births 1998 deaths Place of birth missing 20th-century British zoologists Iranian emigrants to the United Kingdom Members_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire