William George Howes (4 December 1879 – 20 February 1946) was a New Zealand

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 ...

and businessman.

Early life

Howes was born in 1879 at Southbridge. He was one of five surviving children of Cecilia Brown and William Howes, a post office clerk and accountant from England. His elder sister

Edith Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English word , meaning ''wealth'' or ''prosperity'', in combination with the Old English , meaning ''wiktionary:strife, strife'', and is in common usage in this form in English language, Englis ...

, who would become a writer and educationalist, was born in 1872 before the family migrated to New Zealand.

Career

Howes authored scientific papers on entomology, concentrating on New Zealand

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

, and described numerous species new to science. The species '' Molophilus howesi'' was named in his honour. Howes was a member of a number of organisations including the

Royal Entomological Society The Royal Entomological Society is a learned society devoted to the study of insects. It aims to disseminate information about insects and to improve communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological S ...

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

American Entomological Society The American Entomological Society was founded on March 1, 1859. It is the oldest continuously operating entomological society in the Western Hemisphere and one of the oldest scientific societies in the United States. Headquartered in Philadelp ...

, the Otago Chamber of Commerce, New Zealand Institute, Otago Acclimatisation Society where he sat on the council, and the Dunedin Naturalists Field Club for which he was president for many years. For a quarter of a century, Howes was one of the directors of the Portobello Marine Biological Station. Owing to his acknowledged entomological expertise, Howes was invited to be part of the 1924 Chatham Islands expedition. Howes was involved in the planning, establishment and management of the aquarium at the

New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition The New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition was a world's fair held in Dunedin, New Zealand, from 17 November 1925 until 1 May 1926, celebrating New Zealand and the South Seas. It was the third such exhibition held in Dunedin, with ...

in 1925 on

Logan Park, Dunedin Logan Park is a sporting venue in the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. It lies on land reclaimed from the former Lake Logan. Features The park contains both football and rugby grass and artificial pitches, known as both Dunedin Artificial Tur ...

. When this was unable to be funded by the Acclimatisation Society or the City Corporation, Howes and others registered a private company Aquarium Ltd "to carry on the business of an aquarium at the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition at Dunedin."

Death

Howes died suddenly on 20 February 1946 at Dunedin where he had lived most of his life. He was buried at

Andersons Bay Cemetery Andersons Bay Cemetery is a major cemetery in the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located to the southeast of the city centre, on a rocky outcrop which forms the inland part of Lawyers Head, a promontory which juts into the Pacific Ocean. ...

. He was survived by his wife Beatrice and four children.

Gallery

Image:Argyrophenga_antipodum_by_W._G._Howes.png, Argyrophenga antipodum Image:Chrysophanus_boldenarum_by_W._G._Howes.png, Chrysophanus boldenarum Image:Chrysophanus_sallustrius_by_W._G._Howes.png, Chrysophanus sallustrius Image:Dasyuris_transaureus_by_W._G._Howes.png, Dasyuris transaureus Image:Larentia_cinnabari_by_W._G._Howes.png, Larentia cinnabari Image:Morrisonia_mollis_by_W._G._Howes.png, Morrisonia mollis Image:Morrisonia_pansicolor_by_W._G._Howes.png, Morrisonia pansicolor Image:Morrisonia_pascoei_by_W._G._Howes.png, Morrisonia pascoei Image:Morrisonia_sequens_by_W._G._Howes.png, Morrisonia sequens

References

External links