John Golding Myers (22 October 1897 – 3 February 1942) was a British

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 botanist. Born near

Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, its population was 78,117, making it the List of Warwickshire towns by population, secon ...

, he worked in New Zealand on biological control, followed by work in the UK, the Caribbean and Latin America before moving to Sudan as Government Botanist. He died in Sudan at the age of 44.

Life and career

In 1911 Myers' parents moved to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, where he did well at school, winning a scholarship to

Victoria University College Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he served in Europe in the

New Zealand Expeditionary Force The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight alongside other British Empire and Dominion troops during World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). Ultimately, the NZE ...

. Afterwards, he returned to Wellington to complete his studies, obtaining the

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

and

M.Sc A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

degrees. From 1919 until 1924 Myers was employed as entomologist in the Biological Division of the New Zealand Department of Agriculture, where he worked on the

cattle tick Cattle tick can refer to any of several species of ticks that parasitize cattle, including: * ''Haemaphysalis longicornis'', the Asian longhorned tick * '' Rhipicephalus annulatus'', the North American cattle tick * ''Rhipicephalus microplus The ...

and other pests. In 1922, Myers married Iris H. Woodhouse in Wellington, with whom he had two daughters and a son. In 1924 Myers won the coveted honour of an 1851 Exhibition Scholarship for New Zealand and elected to go to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. There he worked at the entomological laboratory of the

Bussey Institution The Bussey Institute (1883–1936) was a respected biological institute at Harvard University. It was named for Benjamin Bussey, who, in 1835, endowed the establishment of an undergraduate school of agriculture and horticulture and donated land i ...

, eventually obtaining the degree of

Sc.D. A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

In 1925 Myers came to England to represent the New Zealand Government at the Second Imperial Entomological Conference. Afterwards he went to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

at the request of his government to study the natural enemies of the pear leaf-curling midge. In the following year he was appointed to the staff of the Imperial Institute of Entomology to organize the breeding of parasites of injurious insects for export to the Dominions and colonies of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. He did notable work on the

parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...

s of the

blow-fly The Calliphoridae (commonly known as blowflies, blow flies, blow-flies, carrion flies, bluebottles, or greenbottles) are a family of insects in the order Diptera, with almost 1,900 known species. The maggot larvae, often used as fishing bait, ...

and of the timber-infesting

wood wasps Horntails or wood wasps are any of the 150 non-social species of the hymenopteran family Siricidae, a type of wood-eating sawfly. The common name "horntail" derives from the stout, spine-like structure at the end of the adult's abdomen which is ...

, which made possible their export to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and New Zealand. Myers next visited Australia to investigate the passage of dried fruit from the vine to the consumer and was successful in tracing the sources of insect infestation. In 1928 he went to

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

to study the possibilities of the biological control of

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

pests. He traveled all over the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

and to

Guiana The Guianas, also spelled Guyanas or Guayanas, are a geographical region in north-eastern South America. Strictly, the term refers to the three Guianas: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, formerly British, Dutch, and French Guiana respectiv ...

and Surinam in search of parasites and his report, published by the

Empire Marketing Board The Empire Marketing Board was formed in May 1926 by the Colonial Secretary Leo Amery to promote intra-Empire trade and to persuade consumers to 'Buy Empire'. It was established as a substitute for tariff reform and protectionist legislation and ...

, is full of information not only on insect pests and their parasites but also on the general

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

and agriculture of the countries he visited. In 1929 he published his work on the

cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two ...

, ''Insect Singers: A Natural History of the Cicadas''. Myers' work in the West Indies continued up to 1934, when he joined the staff of the

Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in the ...

in Trinidad. Here he under took a number of private expeditions at the request of various planters, collecting and studying the ecology of insect pests in parts of

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. In 1937 Myers was appointed economic botanist to the government of

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ') was a condominium (international law), condominium of the United Kingdom and Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day South Sudan and Sudan. Legally, sovereig ...

, his task being to survey the economic possibilities of the southernmost province of

Equatoria Equatoria is the southernmost region of South Sudan, along the upper reaches of the White Nile and the border between South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Juba, the national capital is the largest city in South S ...

with a view to its future agricultural development. Only preliminary reports of this work are available, but they cover a great variety of subjects and show the usual thoroughness of his approach. Myers never completed the report, as he was killed in a motor accident near

Amadi Amedi or Amadiye (; ; ) is a town in the Duhok Governorate of Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It is built on a mesa in the broader Great Zab river valley. Amedi is known for its celebrations of Newroz. Etymology According to ibn al-Athir, the Arab ...

in Equatoria Province on 3 February. Apart from his many papers on

biological control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or plants by using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or o ...

and related topics, Myers produced a large number of works on insects of the order

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 ...

which showed him to be a morphologist and

systematist Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phyl ...

of note.

References

Other sources

* ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'' Vol 149 April 11, 1942 pg 406 W. E. CHINA. * CAB Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources, 2011, 6, 008, 1-18
"Myers, John Golding (1897-1942)"
JSTOR.org. Retrieved 2020-12-13. {{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, J. G. 1897 births 1942 deaths British entomologists Bussey Institution alumni People from Rugby, Warwickshire Victoria University of Wellington alumni 20th-century British zoologists Military personnel from Warwickshire New Zealand military personnel of World War I New Zealand Army soldiers